Call for applications for 2nd Kathmandu International Art Festival 2012: Earth|Body|Mind

Deadline
January 31, 2012: National artists
February 29, 2012: International artists

The Siddhartha Arts Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2nd Kathmandu International Art Festival will take place from November 25 to December 21, 2012. Titled ‘Earth|Body|Mind’, the Festival is dedicated to one of the most critical issues of the 21st century – climate change.

Climate change is not an isolated phenomenon. It is happening globally and similarly, action is needed globally, down from the grassroots level up to the policy makers of a nation. As a critical creative form, art provides a platform for the society to think, analyze and reason. Artists, therefore, are in a unique position to highlight problems of climate change, generate awareness and create dialogues in the public through their artworks.

We invite national and international artists and curators to partake in this event, to create and establish a much-needed global social change.

KIAF is now accepting applications from artists and curators through its website www.artmandu.org, under Participate. The deadline to file submissions is January 31, 2012 for national artists and February 29, 2012 for international artists. The International Selection Committee involves six people:

Dina Bangdel, PhD, Associate Professor of Art History, Virginia Commonwealth University; Jagath Weerasinghe, Artist, Art writer, Professor, Postgraduate Institute of Archeology, Colombo Sri Lanka; Joyce Toh, Senior Curator, Singapore Art Museum; Navin Khadka, BBC News Correspondent, Specializes on Climate Change; Rajeev Lochan, Director, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Salima Hashimi, Curator, Contemporary Artist, Dean of the School of Visual Arts, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan.

Background

KIAF is the biggest art event held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Organized by Siddhartha Art Gallery, the first non-profit Festival was held from October 30 to November 10, 2009.
111 artists from 25 countries showcased their visual interpretations on the Festival’s theme ‘Separating Myth from Reality – Status of Women’. Attended by over 5000 visitors in 6 venues, the event was described by the Mondriaan Foundation ‘an extraordinary project’ and as ‘dawn of a new era’ by national daily The Himalayan Times.

KIAF’s mission is to firmly place Nepal on the global map as a venue for contemporary art, allow for artistic collaboration and exchange among international and local artists and use art as a platform for the society to think, analyze and reason.

Thank you very much for your support. Kindly visit our website www.artmandu.org for details regarding the Festival and circulate this information to your colleagues, friends and networks. For further queries and concerns please write to us at info@artmandu.org

email: info@artmandu.org
office: 977-1-4438979
website: www.artmandu.org