Revisiting and remembering the lost sculptures of Kathmandu
13.12.2013 - UNESCO Office in Kathmandu Art exhibition “Revisiting and remembering the lost sculptures of the Kathmandu Valley” Joy Lynn Davis 15-21 December 2013, Patan Museum, Lalitpur
Since the 1960s, thousands of Buddhist and Hindu sculptures have disappeared from Nepal’s public temples, shrines, courtyards, fountains, and fields. Prior to the thefts, they were actively worshipped by their communities as living deities. This exhibition documents community response to the theft of stone sculptures from the Kathmandu Valley. Paintings, interviews, and photographic documentation, weave together narratives of Kathmandu’s sacred spaces, exploring how people respond when religious art objects—that exist, not as commodities, but as vital living community participants—are physically removed.