What is KIAF?
The Kathmandu International Art Festival is the largest international art event held in Nepal and will be held as a nonprofit, noncommercial festival every three years by the Siddhartha Arts Foundation. Each edition of the festival is based on a particular theme. The festival is about bringing like-minded individuals together in a contemporary aesthetic experience. This is about art for a social cause.
Mission
To firmly place Nepal on the global map as a venue for the contemporary arts, allow for artistic collaboration and exchange among international and local artists, and use art as a platform for critical reflection and the sensitization of society.
A little bit of history
The Siddhartha Art Gallery organized the first Kathmandu International Art Festival in October 2009. Over 100 artists from 25 countries participated in the two-week exhibition under the theme ‘Separating Myth from Reality – Status of women. The Festival which was held at six different venues across Kathmandu was well attended and received extensive media coverage locally and internationally.
For More: http://artmandu.org/new/1st-kathmandu-international-art-festival/
Inspired and encouraged by the success of the Festival, the Siddhartha Arts Foundation proposes to host the second edition of Kathmandu International Art Festival in November 2012. The Foundation will ensure the long term continuity of the Festival. Entitled ‘Earth|Body|Mind’, the month long Festival is a non-profit endeavor and will be dedicated to one of the most critical issues of the 21st century: Climate change.
The 2nd KIAF seeks to advance the field of arts management and bring professionalism to the contemporary arts scene in Nepal. Collaborating with likeminded individuals and institutions, the 2nd KIAF will realize Kathmandu as an international contemporary arts hub.
About the Organization
Siddhartha Arts Foundation
The Siddhartha Arts Foundation (SAF) arose from a need for an organization that promoted the arts in Nepal beyond the confines of a gallery structure. The Chairperson, Sangeeta Thapa, has run the Siddhartha Art Gallery for 25 years. Thapa envisioned the mega art festivals as an innovative step to promote the arts in Nepal. Occurring every three years, the 2nd Kathmandu International Art Festival (KIAF), is its first endeavor. The Foundation was formally registered on 31 October, 2011, as a nonprofit organization.
The foundation’s role is to serve as a patron for the contemporary arts in Nepal, and to collaborate with like-minded people and organizations to design projects for its promotion and strengthening.
The vision for the foundation is to link itself to the local community by setting up community art projects and working with local and international arts institutions (museums, centres, institutes, universities). It envisions collaborations among the visual arts—painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, digital art, ceramics, installations— and other forms—literature, theatre, music, dance. The foundation initiates artistic programs that stimulate the development of contemporary expression in Nepal, while encouraging an awareness of its rich artistic history.
Board of Directors
| Secretary(Ex-officio) Ministry of Federal Affairs | Parliamentary Affairs, Constituent Assembly and Culture, Nepal |
| Brett Egan | Director, DeVos Institute of Arts Management, John Kennedy Centre, USA |
| Fabio Rossi | Director, Rossi & Rossi, UK |
| J N A van Caldenborgh | CEO, Caldic Collections, The Netherlands |
| Satya Mohan Joshi | Culture Specialist and writer, Nepal |
Advisory Committee
| Abhi Subedi | PhD Professor of English at Tribhuvan University, Nepal |
| Alexander Spacis | PhD Ambassador, European Union Delegation to Nepal |
| Kanak Mani Dixit | Senior Journalist and writer |
| Maura Moynihan | Artist and writer, USA |
| Sanjeev Uprety | PhD Professor of English at Tribhuvan University, Nepal |
Selection Committee (2nd KIAF)
| Dina Bangdel | PhD, Associate Professor of Art History, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA |
| Jagath Weerasinghe | Artist, Art writer, Professor, Postgraduate Institute of Archeology, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Joyce Toh | Senior Curator, Singapore Art Museum |
| Navin Singh Khadka | BBC NewsCorrespondent, Specializes on Climate Change |
| Rajeev Lochan | Director, National Gallery of ModernArt, New Delhi, India |
| Salima Hashmi | Curator, Contemporary Artist, Dean of the School of Visual Arts, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan |
Working Committee (2nd KIAF)
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Sangeeta Thapa | Director |
| Sharareh Bajracharya | Coordinator |
| Nischal Oli | Media Coordinator |
| Sujan Chitrakar | Art Logistics/ Creative Consultant |
| Tulsi Joshi | Accountant |
| Nayantara Gurung Kakshyapati (Photo.Circle) | Photography Creative Consultant |
| Bhushan Shilpakar (Photo.Circle) | Designer of Publications |
| Amit Bajracharya (Pagoda Labs) | Website Designer |
| Raj Kumar Pandey (Temple Travel) | Management of Flights/Cargo |
| Shailaja Kasaju | Accommodation In-Charge |
| Abhilasha Thapa | Intern |
| Raunak Rajbhadari | Intern |
| Porcia Manandhar | Intern |
| Anmol Bajracharya | Intern |
| Sujeena Bajracharya | Intern |
| Pratish Shrestha | Intern |
| Kusum Lama | Intern |
| Bikash Chandra Amatya | Logo Design |
We would also like to thank Kanchan Budathoki,Achal Raj Pandey, Promina Shrestha,Cecelia Rana and Sangya Acharya for their help.