A solo printmaking exhibition by artist Rukumani Shrestha called "Vidambana/Irony" is now on display at the Classic Gallery. Rukumani Shrestha is a visual artist from Bhaktapur, Nepal's cultural capital. She was drawn to dancing, drawing, and painting from the start. She has won numerous dance competitions, including the Live Intercollegiate Dance Competition and Nepal Television's 'Aagan' dance competition. However, she selected printmaking as her academic focus. She has used Nepalese women's painful tears in many socio-political and religious situations as her subject in her works. She used a variety of printmaking techniques for this, including woodcut, colorgraph, surface prints, and others. She has raised concerns about child abuse and women's violence, such as rape cases, in her works.
In conversation with Rukumani, she speaks of her childhood, reminiscing of growing up in a very traditional home, and that her parents used to keep her in strict cultural practices, such as not allowing her to attend temples or the kitchen during her menstruation period. She was quite frustrated as a child, and when she went to college, she majored in painting, where later on she showed the problems of society in her arts. She wanted to encourage women and other young girls that menstruation isn't a bad thing. Rukumani Shrestha has used her art to raise awareness about sexual harassment. Superstition has been practiced in Nepal for a long time, however, it is slowly decreasing. People must transform themselves in order to diminish superstition from society, says Rukumani Shrestha.
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