Sushma Shimkhada

Sushma Shimkhada
Born 1936 (age 79–80)
Darkha, Nepal
Nationality Nepalese
Alma mater
Occupation Sculptor
Years active 1960–present

Sushma Shimkhada (सुष्मा शिम्खडा) is Nepal’s first female sculptor. In the history of Nepali art, there was not a single female artist, when she appeared.

Early life and education

Shimkhada was born in 1936 in Darkha, a remote village 80 miles northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal. She is the seventh child of her parents Kausalya Devi and Ratna Prasad Shimkhada. She grew up in Darkha and moved to Kathmandu in 1958 with her family.

Inspired by her brother, Deepak Shimkhada, who was an art student at the University of Baroda, India, Sushma Shimkhada took art classes from artist late Tej Bahadur Chitrakar and music lessons (instrumental sitar) from Ganesh Raj Bhandari. In 1968, Shimkhada went to the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Gujarat, India to study art. Although she initially went to Baroda to study photography, she wound up studying sculpture under several notable sculptors who were teaching in the Faculty of Fine Arts, including the renowned sculptor Sankho Chaudhuri. After earning a certificate in photography and sculpture from the M.S. University of Baroda, Shimkhada returned to Kathmandu in 1971 to practice art.

Work and exhibitions

While a student at the University of Baroda, Shimkhada participated in several group art exhibitions. In an annual exhibition organized by Gujarat State Lalitkala Akademy in Ahmedabad in 1971, she was awarded second prize.

Upon returning to Kathmandu in 1971, Shimkhada taught art at Bal Mandir for children, as well as at Lalitkala Campus for a short time. After becoming a member of the Nepal Association of Fine Arts, Shimkhada devoted herself to making enduring sculptures and regularly exhibited her work at its annual art exhibitions and group shows. She received numerous awards and citations from the Nepal Association of Fine Arts and Nepal’s other cultural and social organizations. After being active for almost a decade, from 1971 to 1980 she was struck with debilitating osteoarthritis in 1980, after her father died. She struggled with the disease until it crippled her, bringing her work to a complete halt in 1990.

Shimkhada is the pioneer among female artists in Nepal. She defied tradition; that is, that the art world was monopolized by men for thousands of years. For making beautiful and evocative images of men, women, children, and abstract shapes of nature, Shimkhada has been recognized as a genius among Nepali women. Art lovers around the world have admired her work, including in Japan, the United States, Germany, and many other European countries. Her evocative images of mother and child have been purchased by female members of Nepal’s royal family, including the late Queen Aisworya Devi Rajyalakshmi Shah.

In 2015, Shimkhada received Mahakavi Devakota Award in fine arts from the government of Nepal.[1]

Art exhibitions

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ↑ "National, regional literature awards announced". The Himalayan Times. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "4th Triennale-India". Asia Art Archive. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Govt announces national, regional literature awards". 19 June 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
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