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The
Spiny Babbler arts festival "Farming the Himalayas" took
place in association with Rotaract Club of Kathmandu Mid-town, a
youth wing of Rotary Club, on March 11 at the Thaibu Village in
Patan district. The festival aimed to encourage local residents,
students, and educators to approach familiar issues through the
arts in non-conventional manners.
Twenty
topics related to farming from planting, weeding, fertilizers, irrigation,
harvesting, to marketing were handed out a week beforehand so that
villagers, teachers, students, and their parents could research
and write a story or essay based on the topic. On the main festival
day, 4x5 foot, mixed medium artwork was prepared using drawing and
collage art forms.
According
to Avash Piya, coordinator of the arts festival, Thaibu has a strong
farming community and traditions. It represents many of the problems
faced by the people in the whole of the Himalayan region. "We
chose this topic because we felt that farming related issues are
closest to the heart of the community and we believe that the festival
will create greater understanding of the local people's day-to-day
involvement in farming."
Villagers,
educators, children and youth were the primary focus of the program
and a running shield was presented to the finest art and story creator,
Phuchowki Higher Secondary School. Fifteen awards were also distributed
to the local youth and children for excellence in story and essay
writing, art and concept, and combined presentations according to
Spiny Babbler chairperson Para Limbu. The arts festival will be
placed on the internet at the Spiny Babbler Museum website at www.spinybabbler.org
and further programs related to the International Year of the Mountains
will take place in Sankhu and Kritipur communities among others,
she said. |
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