The ‘Ayn Gharandal inscription in situ above the collapsed arch of the gate. Image courtesy of PRWEB and ‘The Ancient Near East Today.’
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (PRWEB) – New details about an ancient Roman fort in southern Jordan have been uncovered by two professors from the University of Tennessee.
“This is the type of find archaeologists dream of making—a monumental inscription,” Erin Darby said. “This inscription allows us to fill in some gaps in Roman history. Findings like this don’t happen often, and I’m glad our students could be part of this great discovery.”
Robert Darby, a lecturer in art history in the University of Tennessee School of Art, and Erin Darby, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Department of Religious Studies, direct the ‘Ayn Gharandal Archaeological Project that has uncovered details about the fort, including the previously unknown location of an ancient infantry unit.
Over the past four years the Darbys and their team have been excavating the ruins of ‘Ayn Gharandal. This past June the team uncovered the collapsed gate of the fort, including a large Latin inscription with traces of red paint. The inscribed block was decorated with laurel branches and a wreath, common symbols of victory in Roman art.
The inscription says the fort was dedicated to four co-ruling Roman emperors: Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius and Constantius I, a group otherwise known as the Tetrarchs who ruled between A.D. 293 and 305
The inscription also reveals the infantry unit stationed at the fort was the Cohors II Galatarum, or the “Second Cohort of Galatians.” Ancient sources place the unit at a site called Arieldela, whose location was previously unknown until this discovery.
“Roman military documents from this region suggest that the Cohors II Galatarum was originally brought to Israel to help suppress the Jewish uprising of the second century, known as the Bar Kokhba revolt,” said Robert Darby. “The inscription indicates that this garrison remained in the area and was subsequently transferred to the outer frontier of the Empire, located in what is now modern Jordan.”
Very few Late Roman building inscriptions have been found at forts in the region, and this particular inscription is the only one uncovered through archaeological excavation.
The inscription has been removed from the site for conservation at the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan, and the excavated areas have been backfilled.
The 2013 field season was supported by the University of Tennessee, the University of Missouri-Columbia, The American Schools of Oriental Research and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan.
The ‘Ayn Gharandal Archaeological Project will conduct its next major field season in the summer of 2015.
The Darbys’ research was chronicled in an e-journal called, “Ancient Near East Today” that published this week. The article can be viewed here: http://asorblog.org/?p=5244#more-5244.
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The ‘Ayn Gharandal inscription in situ above the collapsed arch of the gate. Image courtesy of PRWEB and ‘The Ancient Near East Today.’
From the single largest archive of personal items owned by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, to be auctioned by Heritage on September 19, 2013. Image courtesy of Heritage.
NEW YORK – The single largest archive of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s personally owned objects—his signature polka-dot scarf to the original plaster maquette of La Grande Venus Victrix, recently discovered in a shed in France—will highlight an expansive grouping dedicated to the Impressionist icon in Heritage Auctions’ The Renoir Estate Collection Signature Auction on Sept. 19.
The collection is an intimate glimpse inside the personal and professional life of the master painter through a trove of important documents, including his marriage certificate, photographs and letters written to Renoir from friends and contemporaries such as Monet, Manet and Rodin.
The collection also features a selection of original sculptural plaster maquettes created at Renoir’s estate in Cagnes, France, in the twilight of his career. Battling severe arthritis, Renoir collaborated with a young and able-handed artist, Richard Guino, at his dealer Ambroise Vollard’s suggestion.
Together, Renoir and Guino selected which drawings and paintings would work as sculptures, and they set to work. Included among the sculptural offerings is likely the auction’s top lot—a 72-inch-tall original plaster maquette for La Grande Venus Victrix, the Roman goddess.
“This museum-level collection is superb in its completeness and reveals volumes about the man and his art,” said Brian Roughton, managing director of fine art at Heritage Auctions. “It touches every corner of his life and represents the last time this collection will appear assembled ever again. In addition to the personal letters and objects, we’re also thrilled to have the opportunity to offer 20 carefully collected original plaster maquettes.”
Among the maquettes, Heritage is offering Coco, one of the only plaster maquettes that Renoir produced himself, depicting his young son Claude.
The staggering amount of life documents, awards and ephemera includes rarities such as an American Medal of Honor awarded to Renoir at the 1883 Foreign Exhibition and an album of candid family photographs featuring Henri Matisse among other notable artists of the day.
The archive also includes rarely seen objects likely made for the artist’s eyes only, such as a diminutive polychrome ceramic vase and sugar bowl thrown and painted with his son, Jean, at Les Collettes as Jean recuperated from war injuries at Les Collettes.
Further highlights include but are not limited to:
Original molds for Renoir’s “Artist Portrait Roundels” series. The molds, depicting Paul Cezanne and Auguste Rodin, are from Renoir and Guino’s set of six of large-scale portrait medallions celebrating French artists the two believed to be the finest from the era.
Renoir’s spectacles, cigarette holder and personal financial documents.
A fine group of documents relating to the planning, design and construction of his estate of Les Collettes, Renoir’s home in Cagnes-sur-Mer, in the South of France.
A number of personal and intimate letters from Renoir to Aline Charigot, who would become his wife and immortalized in a number of his most famous works.
Original copper engraving plates of Renoir works along with glass plate negatives of Renoir, his family, models and paintings.
1960 Jerry Lucas USA Basketball Olympic Gold Medal, with Lucas and Hall of Fame letters of authenticity; first medal of its type ever offered. Grey Flannel Auctions image.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Each year, basketball’s finest gather in Springfield, Mass., to honor the hardcourt superstars chosen for Hall of Fame induction. Together with the enshrinement and reunion dinner, there’s another exciting event that has become a tradition during the high-spirited weekend of honors: Grey Flannel’s Annual Basketball Hall of Fame Auction.
This year’s Induction Auction on Sept. 7 – Grey Flannel’s eighth such event to date – includes 17 lots consigned directly by NBA Hall of Famer and Top 50 great Jerry Lucas, one of the most honored and accomplished basketball players in the history of the game. Lucas is one of only three players in history to win championships at every level (high school, college, NBA, Olympics).
The superstar of the auction is Lucas’ 1960 USA Olympic Basketball Gold Medal, followed closely by his 1960 USA Olympic Basketball game-used jersey worn en route to capturing that medal, his 1973 New York Knicks World Championship ring, his Ohio State Championship ring and his 1979 Hall of Fame Inductee ring.
The auction also includes rare, game-used jerseys worn by Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain and “Pistol” Pete Maravich.
1960 Jerry Lucas USA Basketball Olympic Gold Medal, with Lucas and Hall of Fame letters of authenticity; first medal of its type ever offered. Grey Flannel Auctions image.
The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial features a 20-foot-high marble statue of the Founding Father sculpted by James Earle Fraser. MikeParker at en.wikipedia. PHILA., Pa. (AP) – Benjamin Franklin is going undercover in Philadelphia.
KYW-AM reports the iconic 20-foot-statue of the Founding Father that’s in the central hall of his namesake Franklin Institute has been placed under a big sheet of plastic because of an expansion project.
The science museum is removing part of a wall to connect the main hall with a four-story addition, currently under construction next door and due to open next year.
Workers used an electric lift, ladders, scaffolding and even a long stick to get the massive white marble statue of Franklin under wraps on Tuesday.
Franklin Institute CEO Dennis Wint says the museum’s big Ben is a national memorial, so they’re making sure he’s protected.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-08-20-13 1835GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial features a 20-foot-high marble statue of the Founding Father sculpted by James Earle Fraser. MikeParker at en.wikipedia.
The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument near Kearney, Neb. Image by Mike Marshall, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – A bankruptcy judge is expected to release a ruling next month on a bankruptcy plan submitted for the Great Platte River Road Archway museum in Kearney.
At stake is whether the museum that spans Interstate 80 must close or may remain open to continue its financial fight. The decision is expected on Sept. 18.
The foundation that runs the museum has proposed a reorganization plan that includes paying bondholders $50,000 for their $20 million in bonds. In 2002 bondholders wrote off $40 million of the archway’s $60 million debt. The archway is proposing to pay another $50,000 to unsecured creditors.
Joel Johnson leads the archway foundation, and he told the Kearney Hub that if creditors reject the proposal, the archway will close.
Archival image of Luca di Montezemolo (left) and Niki Lauda at the 1975 Grand Prix Monaco. Courtesy of Ferrari North America.
MARANELLO, Italy – There is great anticipation about the cinematic release of “Rush,” a film directed by Oscar-winner Ron Howard about the sporting rivalry and relationship between James Hunt and Niki Lauda in the dramatic and emotional 1976 season. One of the main players in that era of Formula 1 history was Luca di Montezemolo, who was then the Scuderia’s sporting director during his first experience at Maranello. The magazine “Chi” asked Ferrari’s president to remember those years in an article published in the edition that hit the news stands today:
“My first four years at Ferrari – from 1973 to 1977, when I was the Scuderia’s sporting director – will always be unforgettable. Those five titles in three seasons were my first professional successes but it wasn’t just that: it was the chance to work with an extraordinary person like Enzo Ferrari and to get to know people with whom I built a relationship based on respect and affection, such as Niki Lauda,” di Montezemolo said.
“Ferrari entrusted me with the job of sporting director with one sole target: to get back to winning ways. It had been many years since our last success, too many years: the last drivers’ title had come in 1964 with John Surtees. We needed to put all the parts of the jigsaw into the right places – the team, the working methods, the structure – and to do it in a way that best allowed everyone to carry out their jobs without doubling up: the mechanics had to be mechanics and the engineers had to be engineers. We needed to turn over a new leaf, starting with the drivers, relying above all on youngsters. Then there were two names on the way up: Niki Lauda and James Hunt. We tried to take the Englishman and I organised a meeting at Maranello between Ferrari and Lord Hesketh, the owner of the team with which he was racing and who considered him a protégé. But it was like putting the devil and holy water together and nothing came of it. So I pushed Ferrari to sign that young Austrian, supported by an old friend of Ferrari’s, Clay Regazzoni, who had driven for the Scuderia some years earlier. They were together at BRM and both joined us, forming a very well-matched partnership: one Swiss-Italian who loved life and knew how to enjoy himself and the enthusiasm of the fans, one Austrian who was very quick, determined and exceptional at developing the car. In 1974 the title escaped us at the last race, on a weekend in America that still has me scratching my head about how it turned out. But in 1975 everything went perfectly and the results came, with a double championship secured at Monza itself in front of our home fans, a true celebration. That was the crowning of a dream that had begun two years earlier, built day by day and the fruits of long days of hard work, evenings spent talking to the drivers, engineers and mechanics and some sleepless nights. It was a wonderful emotion to see the joy of the team and the fans and to feel that, behind those successes, there was also the result of my work.
“1976 and 1977 were different seasons because my role had changed a bit but I was still close to the team, especially in the hardest moments such as Niki’s accident and everything that happened afterwards. When I arrived at the hospital in Mannheim that Sunday 1 August 1976, I could sense the fear on the faces of the doctors that he wasn’t going to make it. But he never gave up and, 40 days later, he was back on the track. In Formula 1 you can never lower your guard so we had already thought of the future and the possibility of a Scuderia without Lauda, by hiring Reutemann. It was difficult to explain that choice to Niki but the interests of Ferrari, then and now, always came ahead of those of the drivers, whoever they may have been. I wasn’t at Fuji on October 24, when Lauda quit a race that, probably, shouldn’t even have been run: that was an understandable decision, which gave the title to Hunt, with whom I’d maintained a good relationship during those years, but for Ferrari it was hard to swallow. Something had broken in the jigsaw and the successes of another great year such as 1977 were not enough to put the pieces back together. Niki left Ferrari again before the season was over but my relationship with him has stayed solid, to the extent that I asked him to give me a hand a few months after my return to Maranello as President in 1992. Then too, just as in 1973, we had to start from scratch and I tried to start again with those values – innovation, organisation, working methods, determination and will to win – that characterized my first experience. The taste of the successes that came afterwards was different but just as exciting and, I’ve no doubt, it will be just the same for the successes that will come in the future.”
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Archival image of Luca di Montezemolo (left) and Niki Lauda at the 1975 Grand Prix Monaco. Courtesy of Ferrari North America.
The half-ton Cameo pickup for 1955 was designed as Chevrolet’s first sporty truck. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and RM Auctions. PIERCE, Neb. (AP) – Seventeen years have passed since Ray Lambrecht closed his Chevrolet dealership, a small-town operation in northeast Nebraska with a big and valuable secret.
For decades, the owner of the Lambrecht Chevrolet Co. in Pierce held on to new cars and trucks that didn’t sell right away. He stashed them in warehouses, at his farm and in other spots around the town he worked in for 50 years.
Now, his automotive nest egg—about 500 vintage cars and trucks—will go on the auction block. On Sept. 28-29 visitors from at least a dozen countries and throughout the U.S. will converge on the 1,800-resident town for the auction.
The two-day auction will feature mostly unsold Chevrolets that have sat untouched for decades. They’ll go on the block in as-is condition. About 50 have fewer than 20 miles on the odometer, and some are so rare that no one has established a price. The most valuable, including a rare Chevy Cameo pickup, could fetch six-figure bids from collectors who view them as works of art to display or as restoration projects.
“To find this many new, old vehicles is unheard of,” said Yvette VanDerBrink, the auctioneer coordinating the event. “It’s like a white buffalo.”
Preparations for the auction began in June, and VanDerBrink has taken calls from as far as Iceland, Singapore and Brazil. The two least-driven cars, a 1959 Bel Air and a 1960 Corvair Monza, each have one mile on their odometer. The oldest vehicle with fewer than 20 miles dates to 1958; the newest is a 1980 Monza with nine miles.
On a recent afternoon, VanDerBrink stepped over hubcaps and engine parts in the cramped, dust-caked dealership that closed in 1996. In the corner sat the sky-blue 1958 Cameo with 1.3 miles, a cracked windshield and a dented roof—but its interior is unblemished.
Nearby, a red-and-white 1963 Impala waits with 11.4 miles logged. Manufacturer’s plastic covers the seats. The car was never titled. A yellowed, typewritten window sticker touts its original price: $3,254.70.
Ray Lambrecht opened the downtown dealership with his uncle in 1946, on the corner of Main Street and Nebraska Highway 13. Live elephants meandered out front that day, with Chevrolet banners across their backs.
The U.S. Army veteran quickly established himself as an unusual salesman: He gave his lowest price up-front, without negotiation, and encouraged hagglers to try to find a better deal elsewhere. He rarely advertised, but was one of the first dealers in Nebraska to lease vehicles.
His low-price, high-volume approach helped secure regular government contracts, and he often sold cars to the state. In 1954, Lambrecht drove then-Gov. Robert Crosby down Main Street in a parade celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Nebraska as a territory.
Lambrecht rarely sold cars or pickups that were more than a year old, and he used holdover models as a kind of rainy-day fund. Unlike most dealers who lowered prices to move out-of-date inventory, he assumed the older cars would appreciate over time.
“I believe that Dad’s sales approach reflected his personal style,” said his daughter, Jeannie Stillwell. “He is a very honest, straightforward man who was focused on giving his customers the best price right from the start. Negotiating over price was a waste of time, and so that element of the sale was eliminated.”
The most valuable vehicles were stored for decades at a nearby warehouse, until a heavy snow collapsed the roof. Some were damaged, but many were saved and moved elsewhere. And the models at the dealership are among the best preserved, even as the building gave way to bats and holes in the roof.
The rest of the cars sat under trees at a nearby farm the Lambrechts owned, in the company of trade-in vehicles he didn’t want to resell. Years passed, and trees started to poke through fenders and rusted pickup beds. The dealership’s longtime mechanic lived on the farm, but when he died, his family moved away. Vandals and thieves pounced.
Ray and his wife, Mildred, retired in 1996. Ray, 95, and Mildred, 92, live in town, but the couple’s health has declined. They decided to sell the collection so others could enjoy the cars and pickups, Stillwell said.
News of the auction enthralled the vintage car community, where rumors have swirled for years about a quirky Nebraska dealer who held on to his old vehicles. Nowadays, most classic cars have new paint jobs, interiors and engines. A true “survivor” has most, if not all, of its original material.
“This kind of stuff is absolutely the rarest of the rare,” said Mark Gessler, president of the Historic Vehicle Association in Gaithersburg, Md. “You can see plenty of cars that have been restored. We want to ensure that we’re celebrating the original craftsmanship, the original technique. It’s a touchstone of our past.”
The low-mileage cars and pickups will likely generate the greatest interest from collectors, who view them as works of art to be displayed, said Jay Quail, executive director of the Chicago-based Classic Car Club of America. Quail said he often sees old cars on eBay billed as classics, even though they’re refurbished.
“I’d look at it and think, ‘My God, it would have been worth way more if you just hadn’t touched it,’” Quail said. “It’s like having a Picasso in your garage. Collectors will pay for a car that’s totally unmolested.”
At the same time, Quail said it’s difficult to savor a barely driven beauty.
“As a collector, do I just want to have the car sit?” he said. “If I bought a ’63 Corvette with only one mile on it, I don’t think I’d enjoy it very much. You couldn’t drive it.”
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
A mosque on the campus of the Islamic University of Gaza. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. ST. HILARION, Gaza Strip (AP) – The ruins of this ancient complex sit on dunes by the sea, a world away from Gaza City’s noise and bustle. Up in the sky, birds compete for space with children’s kites flying from a nearby farm.
St. Hilarion’s monastery, a reminder of the time in late antiquity when Christianity was the dominant faith in what is now the Gaza Strip, is one of many archaeological treasures scattered across this coastal territory.
But Gaza is one of the most crowded places on earth, and the rapid spread of its urban sprawl is endangering sites spanning 4,500 years, from Bronze Age ramparts to colorful Byzantine mosaics, experts say.
Archaeologists, short of funds and unable to find sufficient trained local staff, say they are scrambling to find and protect the monuments. Some are left open to the weather. Others are engulfed by new development projects.
“Archaeology in Gaza is everywhere,” says French archaeologist Jean-Baptiste Humbert, who excavated in the territory from 1995 to 2005. He says it was once a “very rich oasis, with gardens, cities and you have settlements, dwellings, fortresses, cities everywhere, everywhere.”
The strip of land on the Mediterranean, sandwiched by Israel and Egypt, is now largely isolated, but once was a thriving crossroads between Africa, the Levant and Asia.
Today, about 1.7 million Palestinians are squeezed into about 140 square miles, an area roughly twice the size of Washington, D.C.
The need for housing is in Gaza greater than that for preserving ancient artifacts, said Humbert, who is affiliated with the Ecole Biblique, a French academic institution in Jerusalem.
Not only does the territory have a high birth rate, but since the Islamic militant Hamas group seized Gaza in 2007, construction has often been interrupted by shortages in building materials caused by border blockades enforced by Israel and Egypt.
Six years on, the ruins of St. Hilarion about six miles southwest of Gaza City illustrate the challenges of saving Gaza’s ancient treasures.
The five-acre monastery complex, known in Arabic as Tel Umm Amer, is believed to mark the birthplace of St. Hilarion, a fourth century Christian monk considered to be one of the founders of monasticism in the Holy Land. The site includes walls and foundations that are the remains of two churches, a cemetery, baths, a baptism hall and mosaic pavements.
The ruins were uncovered in 1999, said Nabila Maliha, an archaeologist at Gaza’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Now, local authorities have trouble preserving it. “We lack the capability, the support and the proper materials,” she said.
Ecole Biblique, the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO and students from Gaza’s Islamic University have tried to help. Preservation work includes covering the mosaic with a protective layer of sand, shoring up crumbling walls with sandbags and clearing weeds.
A shortage of trained local staff is a problem.
After Hamas seized Gaza from its political rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, most of the civil servants at the time stayed away from their jobs. As part of the dispute between the two factions, Abbas’ West Bank-based government only paid civil servants who did not work.
Employees hired by the Antiquities Ministry after 2007 don’t have enough experience, said the deputy minister, Mohammed Khella, adding that some of the archaeological sites in Gaza are “in very bad condition.”
As a result of the border blockades, local staff had difficult leaving Gaza for training abroad.
Even foreign help can only do so much, and an injection of money—according to Humbert at least 35,000 euros ($47,000) a year—is needed to preserve sites like St. Hilarion. UNESCO has given some money, but “funds needed to complete the emergency measures to put the site in safety are not available,” said Junaid Sorosh-Wali, from the Ramallah office of UNESCO, the office responsible for the works in Gaza.
Another site, called Jebaliyah, is located just 100 yards from a refugee camp of the same name, the largest of eight camps in Gaza.
Here, Humbert is trying to shield a Byzantine mosaic pavement dating back to the sixth century. But the concrete shelter that would protect it from the weather will cost $75,000 and the archaeologist is still looking for funding.
The Jebaliyah mosaic pavement is part of what once was a Byzantine church located on the road from Gaza to Jerusalem.
Weather can also contribute to a site’s demise, such as at Tel Es-Sakan in central Gaza.
It was excavated in 2000 by French universities and contains the oldest rampart ever discovered in the Middle East, dating back some 3,500 years, Humbert said. But once uncovered, the mud bricks were exposed to rain and the walls started to vanish. Today, only a few remnants still exist.
The biggest threat to Tel Es-Sakan, however, was the construction of a branch of the Palestine University in 2008 that eventually brought about the destruction of one-fourth of the site, said Humbert.
An official at the university said that it received full approval from the government before starting construction, and that the building was monitored by the municipality. He spoke anonymously as he had no authorization to talk to the media.
Despite the challenges, the local antiquities authority has conducted its own excavation, at Tel Rafah along the border with Egypt, for the past three years. The site is believed to correspond to a Roman-era city where coins, jars, tools and animal remains have been found.
Humbert estimated that several dozen more archaeological sites are “buried under the sand” in Gaza. New discoveries are made all the time as buildings are being constructed, he said, but residents only report finds to the authorities in some cases.
Gaza only has a handful of museums that can help connect the residents and their heritage. The ministry runs the public Qasr al-Basha Museum, while construction company owner Jawdat Koudary runs a private one.
But for the time being, Humbert said, any archaeologist in Gaza “is like a mad man running here, running there, to check what is in the process of destruction.”
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Berretta reported from Jerusalem.
Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AP-WF-08-20-13 0719GMT
ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
A mosque on the campus of the Islamic University of Gaza. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.
Degutaleju with Taleju in background at Kathmandu Durbar Square. From collage of images on Wikimedia Commons created by Eukesh, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unportedlicense.KATHMANDU, Nepal – The capital city in the Himalayan nation of Nepal has been given a facelift thanks to a team of artists who painted dozens of elaborate and meters-high murals on walls, some depicting social issues like child trafficking.
Gone are political flyers, movie posters and other advertisements slapped on some of Kathmandu’s drab walls, replaced by colourful paintings, some as high as 25 feet (7.6 meters).
Some 60 artists have been involved in the project called “Kolor Kathmandu,” which began in January and will culminate today with the launch of a book of photographs on the murals.
“Kathmandu used to be a city of art and culture,” said Yuki Poudyal, director of the project. “But when I returned home after five years studying in the United States, I saw that it was bombarded with posters and negative visuals,” said Poudyal.
The artists targeted the walls of public and private buildings, in a months-long project that features 75 murals on religious and abstract themes but also on some of Nepal’s problems including caste discrimination.
Poudyal said the artists, from some 20 countries, have tried to represent Nepal’s 75 districts in the paintings so that Kathmandu residents can “know stories from different parts of the country.”
One mural shows girls displaced from their families, during annual flooding that occurs in Banke district on the Indian Nepal border, and falling into the hands of human traffickers.
Poudyal, who studied sociology at St Lawrence University in New York state, said she launched the project after drawing inspiration from street art in US cities like Philadelphia.
“Art like this was limited to the Western world. But now we have introduced it in Kathmandu,” she said.
The project received financial backing from Prince Claus Fund, a Dutch charity, and artists were encouraged to apply to take part. Permission was gained from the buildings’ owners before the artists started work on their murals, some of which took two weeks to complete.
“Curiosity is a hallmark of street arts and murals. People would stop and watch,” the artists work, Poudyal said.
She said the murals also appear to have impressed the poster boys who slap flyers on walls around the city as well as graffiti artists, who have left the murals alone.
“Not a single mural has been painted over by someone. People seem to respect our works,” she said.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Degutaleju with Taleju in background at Kathmandu Durbar Square. From collage of images on Wikimedia Commons created by Eukesh, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unportedlicense.Buildings around Kathmandu’s Boudha Stupa (center), the holiest of Buddhist sites in Nepal. Photo by Xiquinho.
