Kathmandu has seen drastic changes in recent years. A Valley once known for its community spaces—and resting places—is now a clutter of bricks and concrete and corroded asphalt.

As we walk back from Siddhakali Mandir, near Bhojpur Bajaar, Barta Gandharba tells me how she remembers performing in the small town. She points at a corner and tells me how she once sat down on the steps right outside the electronic store with her mother and crooned Purbeli folk songs for the passersby.

Echoes in the Valley 2017 was a grand affair. Two-hundred Nepali and international artists took to stage in Ason and Janabahal, Kathmandu, to perform for the sake of promoting and preserving traditionally practiced performing arts, more specifically music.

If you happen to pass in or out of Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur, of late, you are bound to encounter at least a few artists busy working on either one of the facades of the gate, painting.

You take your shoes off before entering Kaalo 101. The cold from the terracotta tiled floor is for everybody to soak in. Also, the gesture makes you feel like you are entering somebody’s home, not a gallery.

For a Kathmandu resident who lived in the city in the 90s and the early years of the millennium, Anil Sthapit’s workspace—a modestly-sized third-floor apartment in a building opposite to Ranjana Shopping Centre’s entrance—is like a time machine.

A visit to Siddhartha Art Gallery in Babermahal in the next few weeks will set you up for an encounter with some large-scale paintings depicting, mostly centrally composed, nude human figures painted using a palette dominated by hues of ochre, umber and sienna.

As the play Laati ko Chhoro progresses, Kishan Shrestha can be seen constantly changing tunes—and beats—as he switches between instruments. In one scene, he is singing along with one of the play’s characters;

Ask artist Nabendra Limbu about his painting process and he’ll give you a detailed rundown—from canvas stretching to the final layer of paint—as if he is talking about life incidents.

Pranisha Gurung, a fourth year student at Sirjana College of Fine Arts, Uttar Dhoka, felt something like panic when her teacher reminded the class that their BFA final-year exhibition was to be held in a month-and-a-half’s time.

At the low-brow mix-media exhibition, currently on at the Siddartha Art Gallery, you see two very young artists trying to find a voice that they can stick with

A series of art festivals is lined up for enthusiasts in the months to come. Jazzmandu is right around the corner, so is Photo Kathmandu—an international photography festival that is going to be held for the first time in Nepal. The Nepal Music Festival will be held in November and the Nepal Literature Festival is all set to take place too. A new addition—and the opening act to this list—is The Gharana Music Festival, which starts from October 8.

Hundred-year-old Namgyal Dolma’s face tells many stories. The lines on her face--seen on a black-and-white portrait photograph of her, currently ondisplay at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, Babermahal--tell tales of lost identity, of struggle and survival.

British muralist Martin Travers was trekking along the Langtang route when the April 25 earthquake struck. The artist, who had just started his residency at KCAC’s Patan Museum studio, had set off to trek after the completion

Dipson Ghale and Shashank Gurung, two Nepali youth based in the UK, wanted to help the quake victims in Nepal by busking in the streets of London and raising funds.