The 11th edition of Kala ka Kura, organised by the Society of Fine Arts Journalists (Sofaj), saw artist Krishna Gopal Ranjit engage in conversation with journalist Devendra Thumkeli, at Nexus Culture Centre, in the Capital. The event which is held every second Wednesday of the month discusses art and the Nepali arts cape.

This iteration of the monthly event saw veteran artist Ranjit recant his earliest inspirations and his unique strain of landscape paintings. Speaking about his introduction to the world of art, he said, “I started drawing from the age of five. When I went to Assam with my father, one

of my relatives drew a picture of a goddess on a chalk-slate, and I remember being really inspired by it. I didn’t erase the picture for more than two weeks and made several attempts to copy it. After that I started painting in earnest and started my journey as an artist.”

Ranjit, who has been credited as being the one of the first few people to popularise commercial art in Nepal and also for the introduction of the billboard culture in Nepal, has also exhibited unique paintings, including ones made from smoke. Speaking about his work, Ranjit

said, “When I worked with Nepal Airlines, I went on a lot of mountains flight to create brochures. Also, as I was born in Pokhara, I have always had a very close relationship with mountains. My artworks too gravitate towards this love and reverence for landscape and, particularly, mountains.” He further added, “Eventually people began asking why I was limited to just one genre (mountain landscape), so I thought of doing art with a unique medium—paintings done with smoke.”

Now, at the age of 84, Ranjit

continues to paint landscapes, abstract and fine art. He also dabbles in unique sculptures made out of super glue and salt.  

The last edition of the monthly Kala Ka Kura featured a conversation with artist Lok Chitrakar about paubha painting scene in Nepal.