Mann Gurung, originally from the rural
hills of Gorkha, Nepal, draws deeply from the landscape, people, and traditions
of his upbringing. His artistic practice blends formal training with lived
experience, allowing him to explore themes that are both socio-political and
culturally rooted.
His debut solo
exhibition, Power Politics and War
(2017), featured 23 works created over two years and examined the
often-overlooked human cost of conflict. Through stark, emotionally charged
imagery, Gurung confronted viewers with grief, loss, and the moral weight of
violence. Critics noted the series’ powerful anti-war stance and its insistence
on acknowledging those most affected by political turmoil.
In the later series Lost in Transition (2019) and Lost in Transition II (2023), Gurung shifted his
focus to the cultural and social transformations taking place in remote Nepal,
particularly in communities along the Budhi Gandaki river. These works
sensitively document villagers—men, women, and children—whose traditional ways
of life are being reshaped by migration, globalization, and shifting values.
His portraits capture both the dignity and vulnerability of people navigating
profound change.
Gurung primarily
works in oil on canvas, favoring sepia and burnt-umber tones that evoke the
warmth and fragility of old photographs. Detailed attention to expression,
gesture, and everyday objects gives his paintings the depth of visual
anthropology.
Across his practice, Gurung unites aesthetic refinement with a strong social conscience. His work serves as both testimony and preservation, offering a visual archive of communities on the verge of cultural loss. In doing so, he transforms painting into an act of remembrance—honoring identities at risk of being forgotten and prompting viewers to consider what is lost when traditions fade.
Tribhuvan University
