At the Taragaon Museum Amphitheatre, the current exhibition 'Nothing is Real' showcases the works of six visual artists from Bangladesh, as part of the Kathmandu International Artist-in-Residence Programme 2019.

The exhibition organised by Space A, a contemporary art hub, is mind-boggling, given the artists—Muhammad Emranur Rahman (Emran Sohel), Farzana Ahmed Urmi, Mohammad Hasanur Rahman Reaz, Mohammad Mojahidur Rahman Sarker, Suborna Morsheada and Syed Muhammad Zakir—delve into describing an existence inconceivable to us through various visual artworks. They illustrate a presence that is concealed in reality.

Although the artworks showcased in the exhibition are deeply embedded with profound meanings, the display is a demonstration that perhaps will be difficult for the audience to decipher. But despite that, the exhibition will still manage to scratch onlookers' curiosity.

At noon, the Taragaon Museum is still empty, but for art musers, it's a perfect opportunity to begin understanding the essence of these artworks.

On the exterior wall of the museum, Emran Sohel's art piece leans awkwardly against the red brick for support. A three-seater bench is upthrust with long metal bars, as though balanced upon metal jackstraws. While a piece of a long black tape leads visitors to the room inside, where other exhibits are as overwhelming as this piece itself—what they reveal is obscure and stomach twisting. 

Another piece by Mohammad Hasanur Rahman Reaz showcases a bundle of popsicle sticks that have inscribed in them various words, such as ‘controversial’, ‘always’, ‘wonderful’, ‘unerased’, ‘women’, ‘foreign’, ‘artist’, ‘fear’ and many more, atop which an odd-looking stool is placed. And on top of it, an iron with a protruding rearview mirror is placed—as though our reflection in the mirror is subtracting all the concepts on the popsicles.

But Farzana Ahmed Urmi's artwork best surmises the theme of the exhibition, wherein, inside a large plyboard cutout—which is the size of a podium—wrapped in Nepali paper sticks out record files, which embed obscure artworks that look hazy and vague. One of the files quotes distinctly, "Just because everything appears to be a mess doesn't mean you have to be one."

But ‘messy’ is the word that describes another artwork—a colourful canvas near the stairs, which might make onlookers feel uneasy and even dizzy. On closer look, one will also notice eyes popping out of the painting as though everything, and everyone, is being watched. But it's unclear whose artwork it is.

Other concepts, however, seemed to be beyond meaning-making. For instance, there’s a piece in which three stones are placed oddly on the ground encircled by an orange rubber glove, and one of the rocks has a feather wrapped around it. Did it intend to say the earth is buried with the living? One will never know.

In one particular collection of black and white photographs put up by Syed Muhammad Zakir, which captures him doing performative art in Bhaktapur, there is a Nepali man, clearly shocked and bemused at what Zakir was exhibiting. In his art description, he writes that he loves to make people think about his performances, which usually show body movements and spontaneous activities. But there is no doubt that many will find this outlandish.

"This event for me is a success," says Jupiter Pradhan, the curator of the exhibition. "The idea of Kathmandu International Artist-in-Residence Program 2019 was to introduce these Bangladeshi artists to the contemporary art in Nepal. They have embedded Nepali narratives in their artworks by spending only a little time in Nepal," says Pradhan.

As absurd as this may look to commoners, for art lovers, 'Nothing is Real' is an experience to marvel at. The visuals are queer and thus grasp the interests of onlookers. If you are near the Boudha area, do make time to visit the exhibition.

‘Nothing is Real’ will be on display until August 3 at Taragaon Museum, Hyatt Regency, Boudha, Kathmandu.