The Siddhartha Arts Foundation (SAF), commissioner of the Kathmandu Triennale (KT 2017) has announced that Philippe Van Cauteren, the artistic director of the S.M.A.K. in Ghent, Belgium would serve as curator of the triennale’s first ever edition taking place next spring from March 24 – April 9.

The Belgium-born artist Francis Alÿs is the exhibition’s “patron artist.”

Recommended Reading

Francis Alÿs Will Unveil New Work at the Iraqi Pavilion at Venice Biennale

By Lorena Muñoz-Alonso, Dec 5, 2016

KT 2017 will focus on the topic of the city with a host of exhibitions and talks.

Titled “My City, My Studio / My City, My Life,” Van Cauteren’s exhibition will include some 48 artists, with a large contingent from Nepal. International selections considered the artists’ capacity to develop their contribution in Kathmandu within a limited time-frame prior to the exhibition, as well as their commitment to engage in enriching Nepal’s art scene.

“Kathmandu is a city where the challenges of tradition and modernity meet. The city of Kathmandu is an exceptional and inspiring research station where artists from Nepal and other countries can develop their work independent from the burden of the art world,” Van Cauteren told artnet News in an email.

“The Kathmandu Triennale will celebrate the artists through an exhibition, and a series of encounters and exchanges. The project will praise the artist’s fragile and critical vision in a world in permanent flux,” he added. “The Kathmandu Triennale is dedicated to the victims of the earthquake.”

The artistic practice of the Mexico City-based Alÿs, which engages with the everyday reality of larger anthropological and geopolitical concerns, functioned as a guiding notion in the selection of the participating projects. Artists were chosen based on proposals that showed the capacity to “transform ‘almost nothing’ into a valid artistic proposition.”

Recommended Reading

Francis Alÿs to Hold Refugee Workshops in Areas Affected by ISIS

By Amah-Rose Abrams, Dec 16, 2015

Additional Nepali artists will be represented in the exhibitions through the “Historic Perspective,” “Curated Showcase,” and “Children’s Section.”

The curated showcases are organized independently by institutional partners and curators with support from KT 2017 as a local partner.