Rojan Ghimire

Participate: South-South Exertion

Kathmandu University, School of Arts

Department of Art and Design

BFA 2021 Spring, Studio Arts. 

Reflection on South-South Excursion

South South Excretion was a fruitful collaboration between those who look for the fundamentals of living spaces and those who look for their traces and essence. This collaboration produced an outlook, unheld by participants of all streams, which respects the notion of communal heritage and living heritage while acknowledging the needs of a modern city, going through rapid changes In its appearance and its functions.

The ancient towns and cities of the Kathmandu valley hold a significant and challenging position in being an ancient settlement as well as the capital of a nation. With the population in the valley rising steadfast, the city has more demands than its old structures can handle, resulting in a change that struggles to attain an acceptable transition between the traditional and the modern.

In alignment with the title of the excursion, Nostalgia Vs Need, the intention was to differentiate the Nostalgia and Needs and observe the changes happening in the three Newar Settlements we visited: Patan, Sunakothi and Khokana. Our observation also suggested a method of looking at each one of these cities from north to south – from Patan to Khokana, as a model of progression of transformation of a Newari Town transitioning from its traditional to a modern identity.

Patan, locally known as Yala, has historically held a significance of being a medieval Malla Kingdom. It retains its significance as a major metropolitan city of Nepal. It is the most progressive in terms of its adaptation to the modern, and has gone through three apparent states of changes. From being a town evolved for agricultural needs, becoming an Industrial Estate in 1962, to largely being a hub for cafes, shopping centers, luxury housing and various service industries, it bears the most complex image of Urban Transformation amongst the three Newa Settlements.

Sunakothi and Kokhana, have both seen similar degree of changes which was exacerbated by the earthquake of 2015. People felt the need to adapt to the changing needs of the modern times and structures that don’t necessarily bear similarities to the traditional Newa houses have found their ways to these settlements. While they haven’t seen the level of transformation that patan has, their relevance and their function in promulgating newari culture and heritage is equally important.