A poetry recital—Aaran: Dalit Poetry Recitation—was held at the Patan Museum on Saturday to mark the end of two-month long photo exhibition, Dalit: A Quest for Dignity. 

The recital featured eight contemporary and two historical poems by Dalit poets. Speaking to the Post about the photo exhibition and the event, curator Diwas Raja Kc, said “We received a tremendous response for the exhibition so we wanted to make sure that conversations about Dalit dignity and identity were carried forward to other spheres as well. When Word Warriors and La.Lit also showed interest in promoting conversation about Dalit literature, we decided the recitation would be a perfect way to mark the end of the exhibition.” Kc further added, “We plan on continuing our effort to bring light to the issue by archiving more pictures of the Dalit community and holding this exhibition in other various parts of country.” The exhibition, which was on at the Patan Museum for the past two months, featured a collection of pictures of the Dalit community from last 50 years. 

Speaking at the event, Dalit poet Aahuti said, “Dalits have always been oppressed by others, even though they have been the driving force in the society. Like everywhere else, the community has always been neglected in literature as well. There is very little mention of Dalit community in Nepali literature and in the few where they are mentioned, they are either looked down upon or presented as very helpless. So events like this are very important to encourage Dalit literature and community in general.” 

The event was organised by Nepal Photo Library and La.Lit in collaboration with Word Warriors and the Samata Foundation. Nepal Picture Library will be releasing a photo book with the collection of photos from the exhibition this December.