11th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

Mekh Limbu / Mangdem’ma – an invocation for the healing of Adivasi spirits and lands (still) 2022–23 / Single-channel video: colour, sound, 29:13 minutes / Courtesy: The artist REFLECTIONSONREVOLUTIONSANDREBIRTH When this age nears its end, seven moons and seven suns ascend in the sky. The forests lose their breath, soil crumbles like wax, boulders melt away. Lakes start to swell, and the world is swallowed by water. By the grace of Spirits, Earth is born again. Green grass grows, fern flowers unfurl, and only then do humans take their step. Tamba Whyai story of creation 1 Nepal’s Indigenous identity politics are uniquely complex. The government recognises 59 Indigenous nationalities as ‘Adivasi-Janajati’, which make up more than a third of the country’s total population. We are neither a minority nor monolithic, but rather represent a wide range of distinct cultures, languages and histories. Our communities range from feudal, agricultural settlements to semi-nomadic and nomadic groups, as well as those dependent on water resources and circular migration. Class, caste and geography further complicate identity politics within each community, resulting in a broad spectrum of social, economic and political statuses. While there is some political representation of Adivasi-Janajati peoples, it often fails to address our broader needs. Rapid social, economic and political transformations have deeply impacted Indigenous lifestyles, creating both new opportunities and challenges. As artists, it is daunting to address so much rapid change and to represent our experiences with honesty. How do we choose to narrate our stories and pass on knowledge while staying true to our roots? In the Tamang Indigenous community, oral histories concerning creation, cosmology and genealogies are narrated in songs sung by the Tambas — experts in rituals and the oral retelling of traditional history — as animated in Subas Tamang’s work Song of origin 2022. These tales are often recounted in important ceremonies, and each sacred retelling is accompanied by the rhythms of the Damphu percussion instrument. The display in the Asia Pacific Triennial thus takes the figure of the Tamba as its entry point, in order to bring together the works of Adivasi-Janajati artists, writers, poets, researchers and activists. This intervention is rooted in an intersectional history-making of Adivasi-Janajati peoples in Nepal and surrounding regions, and speaks of and against oppression, nation-states and borders through a praxis grounded in Indigenous ontology and epistemology. ANUNCONVENTIONAL FERMENT The notion that Nepal was never colonised served as a form of nationalist propaganda, perpetuated by the monarchy (abolished in 2008). Decolonisation for us means not only moving away from colonial history, but also actively engaging with and understanding what our communities valued and celebrated before the colonial period. It must also combat internal colonisation, where certain groups within a country come to dominate others. From the nineteenth century onwards, many groups in Nepal were legally disenfranchised from equal citizenship as well as land rights. 2 A rigid hierarchy based on Hindu, patriarchal norms suppressed diverse expressions. As in the rest of South Asia, class struggles were deeply intertwined with caste structure, making social mobility and equity challenging for many. Dalit communities, alongside Adivasi-Janajati groups, were primarily seen as sources of cheap labour for a highly exploitative state apparatus. Communities were deeply wounded in this process. Such pain would later become a focal point for challenging the very structure of the Nepali state. The turn of the millennium was a pivotal era. The country witnessed a decade-long People’s War, from 1996 until 2006, alongside massive public protests, which signalled a palpable shift in the public’s desire to dismantle the monarchy. Earlier political structures had prioritised a single nationality fixated on the king, Hinduism and the Nepali language. 3 Such a system delegitimised and erased histories of the many Indigenous, Dalit and minority groups who did not fit within this framework. The recent political changes in Nepal were thus a direct response to reclaim, accept and celebrate identities relegated to the margins of the state. It was in this environment, prior to becoming curators, that we started as artists. In 2013, we formed the collective ArTree Nepal with Mekh Limbu, Subas Tamang and Lavkant Chaudhary. ArTree Nepal became a space where we expressed our anxieties and feelings of TAMBA LAVKANTCHAUDHARY THARU PEOPLE BORN 1988, SARLAHI, NEPAL LIVES +WORKS IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL ALYENLEEACHUMFONING LEPCHA PEOPLE BORN 1983, KALIMPONG, INDIA LIVES +WORKS IN KALIMPONG MEKHLIMBU YAKTHUNG PEOPLE BORN 1985, DHANKUTA, NEPAL LIVES +WORKS IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL KEEPAMASKEY NEWA PEOPLE BORN 1973, KATHMANDU, NEPAL LIVES +WORKS IN KATHMANDU JAGDISHMOKTAN TAMANG PEOPLE BORN 1996, RAMECHHAP, NEPAL LIVES +WORKS IN BHAKTAPUR, NEPAL SUBAS TAMANG TAMANG PEOPLE BORN 1990, MORANG, NEPAL LIVES +WORKS IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL INDUTHARU THARU PEOPLE BORN 1989, KAILALI, NEPAL LIVES +WORKS IN KAILALI CO-CURATORS SHEELASHA RAJBHANDARI + HIT MAN GURUNG ARTISTS+PROJECTS ASIAPACIFICTRIENNIAL 186 — 187