Featuring almost fifty objects from the Rubin Museum’s premiere collection of Nepalese art and select loans, Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual illustrates the enduring manifestation of rituals, agrarian festivals, and the natural environment in the art of Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley.
This is the first exhibition connecting well-known deities represented in Nepalese art to rituals and festivals surrounding the rainy season, or monsoon, and highlighting the importance of the seasons to the culture and everyday life of Nepalese people. Through this lens, the exhibition will offer visitors a new understanding of the region and its art, which is already renowned for its high quality and aesthetic appeal.
As life in Nepal faces ongoing threats from natural disasters and climatic changes, Nepalese Seasons poignantly illustrates how the country’s dependence on monsoon rain continues to play an important role in its agriculture, spirituality, social culture, and art.
Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual is organized by the Rubin Museum of Art, New York with guest curator Gautama Vajracharya and with the assistance of Elena Pakhoutova, Curator, Himalayan Art. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition.
Image credit: Flying Naga (detail), Nepal or Tibet; 14th century; gilt copper alloy; repoussé 13.75″ h. x 15.625″ w. x 2″ d.; Rubin Museum of Art C2005.16.18 (HAR 65441)
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Exhibition Catalog
This book, written for the Rubin Museum by renowned scholar Gautama V. Vajracharya, explores the relationships of the well-known deities, their festivals and rituals that are believed to affect nature and ensure the arrival of timely monsoon.