Nepalese Seasons

Featuring almost fifty objects from the Rubin Museum’s premiere collection of Nepalese art and select loans, Nepalese Seasons: Rain and Ritual illustrates the enduring manifestation of rituals, agrarian festivals, and the natural environment in the art of Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. This is the first exhibition connecting well-known deities represented in Nepalese art to rituals and festivals surrounding the rainy season, or monsoon, and highlighting the importance of the seasons to the culture and everyday life of Nepalese people. Through this lens, the exhibition will offer visitors a new understanding of the region and its art, which is already renowned for its high quality and aesthetic appeal.

As life in Nepal faces ongoing threats from natural disasters and climatic changes, Nepalese Seasons poignantly illustrates how the country’s dependence on monsoon rain continues to play an important role in its agriculture, spirituality, social culture, and art.

Curated by Gautama Vajracharya with the assistance of Elena Pakhoutova

This exhibition is made possible in part by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation and the Ellen Bayard Weedon Foundation. Additional support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and contributors to the 2016 Exhibitions Fund.

The accompanying publication is supported in part by John and Fausta Eskenazi.

Image credit: Flying Naga (detail), Nepal or Tibet; 14th century; gilt copper alloy; repoussé 13.75” h. x 15.625” w. x 2” d.; Rubin Museum of Art C2005.16.18 (HAR 65441)