A new art website, artsansar.com, was launched in the Capital amid a function held at the Mithila Yain Art Gallery in Thamel on Tuesday. The launch coincided with the opening of the art show, International Group Art Exhibition, at the gallery.

The new website, developed by Optisoft in collaboration with the gallery, aims to provide a platform for artists to display their artworks, articulate their visions and also network with art enthusiasts and potential buyers in the local and the global market.

“The exhibition was organised, in part, to bring light to the website, which plans on promoting Nepali arts in the global market. We plan on having artist’s create profiles on the website and connect with art lovers in Nepal as well as abroad,” said Rakesh Kumar Shah of Optisoft at the launch.

Curator and artist Shyam Sundar Yadav added that the launch of the website is a milestone in the Nepali art sector. He further said that the MithilaYain Gallery would be collaborating with Optisoft to conduct art exhibitions, workshops, camps and residential workshops in the future.

“The launch of the website is a landmark for the art industry in Nepal. Artists usually prefer to

stay aloof and sometimes make very few connections and networks outside their art circles. So they need somebody else to promote them.

This website will help artists who are not in the limelight to connect with like-minded artists and potential buyers,” said the artist Bijay Maharjan at the event.

A beta version of the website is already online.

The international exhibition features 30 artists from five different countries with the genres ranging from traditional art, Mithila art to modern fusions.

It will continue at the gallery until July 29.