Rarely does Kathmandu get to see an art exhibition of such range and variety as the 'Contemporary Expressions of India' displayed at the Siddhartha Art Gallery to mark India's Independence Day last week. Art aficionados would have had to travel the length and breath of that vast nation to see all the work on display, yet here you have them all under one roof.

The exhibition showcases 20 artists from various parts of India, from three generations and using different modes, genres and expressions. "It is a diverse and unique work that reflects the spirit of a multicultural nation celebrating 58 years of its political and cultural independence," explains the gallery's Sangita Thapa, who brought the paintings to Nepal. The artists on display are Pramod Kumar, Buwa Shete, Chintan Upadhyay, Sheila Makhrijani, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Anand Panchal, Manish Chavda, Santosh More, Hema Upadhyay, Sanjeev Simpimpare, Suryakant Lokhande, Vinita Gupta , Satish Wavare, Sobha Ghare, Jitendra Singh Baoni, Datta Bansode, Anand Mali, Beena Pradhan, Sudarshan Shetty and Rajendra Khapse. All are accomplished painters and have won various awards.

"I want to define the distance between this two visuals, the seen and the unseen. The visible, which is in front of our eyes and the invisible which is on the other side of our eyes," says Vanita Gupta, summing up her own work as well as those of her fellow artists from India. The common thread running through the works is the deep feelings the artists express about their country.

The materials they have chosen to express themselves in is varied and unique, ranging from Santosh More's symbolic scrolls, concentric circles and dots to Hema Upadhyay's use of photo cut-outs of herself as the visible protagonist in her work. This is a display of a wide range of artists who are individualistic in their expressions and it is a treat to view such a spectrum of artistic talent at one go.

As Vibhuraj Kapoor from Mumbai's Gallery Beyond says: "This is the beginning of a dialogue, the furthering of cultural exchange."

(Aarti Basnyat)

Contemporary Expressions of India is on at the Siddhartha Art Gallery, Baber Mahal Revisited till 30 August.