Art Exhibition “Art for SDGs: the Mithila Heritage” Kicks Off at UN Headquarters

An art exhibition titled “Art for SDGs: the Mithila Heritage” opened yesterday at the United Nations Headquarters, CB-01 Curved Wall. This event, running from July 8 to 17, 2024, is a collaborative effort by the Permanent Mission of Nepal, the Consulate General of Nepal in New York, and the Mithila Centre USA. It is held in conjunction with the High-Level Political Forum.

The exhibition is a unique combination of cultural heritage and global sustainability, showcasing the rich tradition of Mithila art to highlight the pressing issue of climate change. This initiative aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13): Climate Action, emphasizing the role of cultural heritage in promoting environmental awareness and action.

The President of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Mr. Dennis Francis, will officially inaugurate the exhibition during a reception on Thursday, July 11, 2024, at 18:00 in CB-01 Curved Wall. The Permanent Mission of Nepal extends a cordial invitation to delegates of the Permanent and Observer Missions to attend this inaugural event.

The Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations in New York takes this occasion to reaffirm its highest consideration to all the Permanent and Observer Missions to the United Nations in New York.

Mithila Heritage embodies the rich culture of people from the Mithila region of southern Nepal and northern India. This heritage blends ancient traditions with the wisdom and stories of the epic Ramayana and other Hindu literature. Religious scriptures such as the Ramayana provide an extended discourse on the philosophy, principles, and values of the lives of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita.

Mithila culture and civilization symbolize values and principles practiced in daily life, including elements like cuisine, costume and fashion, hairstyle, marriage, religious practices, community relations, music, songs, literary and artistic works. This heritage, one of the oldest living cultures and civilizations, contributes to peace, stability, friendship, harmony, and prosperity across human society. It encompasses both cultural and natural heritages.

Mithila art is renowned for its centuries-old tradition of painting, with significant contributions from female artists. The art form traditionally narrates mythological and religious events and is used for decoration and social commentary. In recent times, Mithila paintings have become increasingly popular as a contemporary and collectible art form, with artists painting on rough handmade paper similar in texture to mud hut walls. This art has opened up a new industry for women in impoverished rural communities.

“This exhibition not only celebrates the artistic heritage of the Mithila region but also serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of integrating cultural preservation with global sustainability efforts,” said Amit Pratap Shah, the Founder of the Mithila Center USA.

The exhibition features several notable artworks that address the theme of climate change.

1. Scorching Heat and its Harsh Impacts

This Mithila folk painting by Selo Yadav captures the harsh impacts of climate change, aligning with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. Birds, seeking cooler places, and children, deprived of proper food, reflect the extreme heat’s toll on nature and nutrition. Barren agricultural fields highlight the threat to food security. Women, struggling to stay cheerful, and a mother crying over her newborn’s discomfort, symbolize the profound human suffering caused by rising temperatures. This artwork poignantly emphasizes the urgent need for climate action.
Artist: Selo Yadav, JWDC

2. Climate Extremes and Their Impact

This Mithila folk painting by Sudhira Karn illustrates the severe consequences of climate change, reflecting United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. The artwork depicts the struggle for water in hilly regions, where people rely on lakes and ponds for agriculture. The spring season is depicted as excessively hot, while winters are harshly cold, forcing people to sit near fires and abandon their work. The barren fields symbolize the failure to cultivate grains due to extreme heat and lack of rain. This painting underscores the urgent need for global action to address climate change and its devastating effects on both nature and human life.
Artist: Sudhira Karn, JWDC

3. Unpredictable Climate and Its Dire Consequences

This Mithila folk painting by Komal Purbe captures the unpredictable impacts of climate change, resonating with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. The spring season sees rice and wheat cultivation, but winter brings unexpected snowfall to regions unfamiliar with such weather. Melting snow is now a source of water for agriculture. The painting highlights a severe lack of rain and healthy farmers, as they fall ill due to extreme and fluctuating temperatures. Ponds and lakes are dry, and agricultural lands lack greenery, depicting a bleak landscape. This artwork calls for urgent climate action to mitigate these drastic environmental changes and their adverse effects on human livelihoods.
Artist: Komal Purbe, JWDC

4. Extreme Weather and Its Devastating Effects

This Mithila folk painting by Nirmala Ram illustrates the devastating effects of climate change, aligning with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. Women are cooking and children are eating amidst extreme heat and cold, with children unable to eat properly and vomiting due to the harsh conditions. Even animals suffer from a lack of green food in the fields. The absence of rain has halted rice and wheat cultivation. In the hilly regions, extreme heat and cold coexist, disrupting the environment and daily life. This artwork underscores the urgent need for climate action to alleviate these severe impacts on communities and ecosystems.
Artist: Nirmala Ram, JWDC

5. Desolation Due the Climate Changing

This Mithila folk painting by Manjula Thakur vividly depicts the dire consequences of climate change, resonating with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. The lack of rain has caused bird chicks to perish, and cows and other animals are struggling to find food as greenery has vanished. Unlike the previous year, when abundant rain brought happiness to animals, men, and women, now pet animals and birds face severe hardships. This poignant artwork highlights the urgent necessity for climate action to restore balance and ensure the well-being of all living beings.
Artist: Manjula Thakur, JWDC

6. Prayer for Rain

This Mithila folk painting by Rebti Mandal poignantly captures the effects of climate change, aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. The absence of rain during the monsoon season has led to a lack of grains, causing men and women to pray desperately for rain. Aquatic animals are struggling as some areas suffer from drought while others face excessive rainfall. This artwork underscores the pressing need for climate action to address these extreme weather patterns and their impact on food security and ecosystems.
Artist: Rebti Mandal, JWDC

7. Seasons of Strife
This Mithila folk painting by Amrita Dutta reflects the tumultuous impact of climate change, illustrating United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. During what should be the monsoon season, extreme weather swings from scorching heat to excessive rain have disrupted the natural balance. Animals suffer from health issues amid droughts and floods, while the lack of rain leaves grasses withered and greenery parched. Agricultural lands lie barren, failing to yield grains, and children fall ill due to the unpredictable weather extremes.
Artist: Amrita Dutta, JWDC

8. The Feeder
In “The Feeder,” artist Namrata Singh presents a powerful message about humanity’s place in the ecosystem. Despite our self-proclaimed intelligence, our excessive use of natural resources has led to the extinction of flora and fauna, contributing significantly to climate change. This painting emphasizes that humans are not the ultimate feeders but rather the beneficiaries of the earth’s generosity. The cow, a symbol of sustenance across generations, represents the true feeder. This artwork calls for a deeper understanding of our role within the ecosystem and the urgent need for responsible stewardship to combat climate change.
Artist: Namrata Singh

9. A Rainbow to a Gray
This Mithila Folk Art piece by Shivangi Singh captures the profound changes Earth has endured since the Industrial Revolution. As humanity pursued advancement and a better quality of life, it often neglected the balance of the ecosystem. The painting portrays the contrasting phases of ‘Mother Earth,’ showing her sadness through the loss of vibrant colors and species in nature. This artwork serves as a poignant reminder of the urgent need for nature-friendly advancements to restore the planet’s beauty and balance.

Artist: Shivangi Singh

10. Drowning in Tears
Inspired by the Godna Art style of Mithila Folk Art, this painting by Shivangi Singh illustrates the devastating effects of water pollution on the natural balance. The artwork highlights how each generation of sea creatures suffers due to the garbage humans dump into water bodies. It emphasizes the urgent need to clean the planet’s bloodstream to save future generations from the traumas faced by their predecessors.

Artist: Shivangi Singh

11. Ecological Balance
In this series, artist S. C. Suman explores the disruption of natural balance in Kali Yuga. Through this artwork, he emphasizes the critical need to maintain ecological stability to prevent the current era from culminating in an environmental disaster. The interdependence of the snake and the bird for sustenance serves as a metaphor for the necessity of stability in the ecosystem.
Artist: S.C. Suman

12. Wildlife and Natural Balance
Like Ecological Balance, this painting depicts nature and highlights the vibrant wildlife in the forest. The natural cycle of the food chain—where animals prey on each other—leads to a balance in their numbers, which, in turn, keeps the forest vegetation in a stable state.
Artist: S.C. Suman

13. Aesthetic Sentiments in Nature

The painting portrays a romantic atmosphere amidst nature where Shiva and Shakti—the male and female energies—love and revel in each other’s company. It illustrates the symbiotic relationship between love and beauty: what we love becomes beautiful in our eyes, and we love what is physically and intrinsically beautiful. For Suman, love and beauty are manifestations of the divinity of creation, existing in those moments when Shiva and Shakti decided to play a game of separation and union.
Artist: S.C. Suman

14. The Love Rasa in Nature
Like Aesthetic Sentiments in Nature, this painting places the spotlight on the romantic atmosphere that pervades nature. Through the depiction of a pair of deer—a doe and a buck—the artist implies that lovers create a harmonious universe of their own. Their union is complemented by a pleasant breeze. Mutual love indicates the harmonization of each other’s egos, which results in a healthy balance of male and female energies and attachments.
Artist: S.C. Suman

15. The Swing in a Mango Orchard

This artwork represents the feminine musings of pubescent Maithil girls. In the early monsoon, young girls go to their orchards to guard the ripening mangoes. The succulent mangoes are symbolic of their puberty and growing desires. The artwork reinforces the themes of expectation, love, and fertility, which are mirrored in the iconic trees blossoming with flowers and green leaves on the border. It also marks the beginning of the rainy season where the earth’s fecundity provides fresh grass as fodder to the goatherds.
Artist: S.C. Suman

16. Nivarni (Guarding Against Catastrophe)
Amidst our efforts to raise awareness about the ongoing climate change and its underlying causes, the imperative of corrective actions stands paramount. My artwork embodies the proactive measures being taken to mitigate climate impacts.Collaborative efforts by numerous groups and organizations globally are depicted in my artwork. It illustrates initiatives focused on clean energy generation and fostering a sustainable environment.
The central figure, representing Mother Earth, holds a symbolic “kalash” denoting energy sources, a shovel symbolizing reforestation efforts, and a net collecting water body debris. Additionally, a bucket signifies recycling initiatives.The artwork showcases various sources of clean energy including solar panels, windmills, tidal power harnessing, and biomass derived from crops, forest residue, animal waste, and sewage.
Artist: Shaily Jha

17. Icarus Sun-Rankshan (Sun protecting Earth)
This painting by Nupur Nishith underscores the urgency of climate change and the imperative of Earth conservation. At its center is a representation of Goddess Earth, distressed by the effects of climate change dry, cracked lands and polluted water bodies resulting from human activities like industrialization and pollution.
She is determined to nurture and safeguard Earth, recognizing the tipping point and advocating for action to prevent further environmental degradation. The artwork portrays her seeking harmony and balance with nature, symbolized by flying away from the devastation towards the Sun. This journey signifies a hope for rejuvenation with greenery, flowers, and life.
The flying border around her divides the stark reality of Earth’s current state from the envisioned future of flourishing nature. Inspired by the myth of Icarus, who aimed to reach the Sun with wings that melted, the artwork suggests that instead of literal flight, we can harness sunlight and sustainable resources to build a healthy ecosystem.
Artist: Nupur Nishith

18. Kawach (Shield)
Kawach or Shield is considered as the universal symbol of Protection.
The painting highlights the importance of Call for Global Cooperation in tackling Climate Change. People from all Gender, Race, Religion, Countries etc uniting by joining to work towards protecting Earth from atrocities.
Earth at the Center is the focus and needs protection. It highlights the importance of Earth conservation.
The two central characters with their presentation, use of colors, intricate patterns etc are symbolic of various cultural ethnicities in the world. This highlights the caring for the Earth is a universal value across different cultures and are determined to work for Environmental Conservation.
The surrounding flora and fauna, as well as the sun, reflect the beauty of nature and the delicate balance of Ecosystems.
Artist: Nupur Nishith

19. Kawach (Shield)
“Kawach” or Shield symbolizes universal protection in this artwork by Nupur Nishith. It emphasizes the global call for cooperation to address climate change, with people of diverse genders, races, religions, and nationalities uniting to safeguard Earth from environmental crises.
At the center, Earth is portrayed as needing protection, highlighting the importance of conservation efforts. The central characters, depicted with intricate patterns and diverse colors, symbolize the cultural diversity across the world, all united in their determination for environmental stewardship.
Surrounded by flora, fauna, and the sun, the painting reflects the beauty of nature and underscores the delicate balance of ecosystems.
Artist: Nupur Nishith

20. Reflections of Climate Action

This painting illustrates the dual effects of climate action, depicting Earth in a semicircular structure. On one side, Earth is saddened by the impacts of climate change, while on the other side, it rejoices after preventive measures are taken. In the center, a male and female are shown watering a plant and discussing climate action, symbolizing the importance of protecting nature to safeguard our planet.
Artist: Manisha Shah

21. Aesthetic Value of Heritage
Air pollution, especially prevalent in urban areas, poses significant risks to human health and adversely affects the built environment. It accelerates the natural corrosion of cultural heritages and monuments, hastening their aging and diminishing their aesthetic appeal.
Artist: S.C. Suman

22. Ecological Balance
In this artwork, S. C. Suman explores the concept of natural balance disrupted in Kali Yuga. The painting symbolizes the need to maintain ecological equilibrium to prevent environmental catastrophe, using the interdependence of a snake and a bird as a metaphor for stability in the ecosystem.

Artist: S.C. Suman

23. Aesthetic Sentiments in Nature

The painting portrays a romantic atmosphere midst nature where Shiva and Shakti—the male and female energies—love and revel in each other’s company. It portrays the symbiotic relationship between love and beauty— what we love becomes beautiful in our eyes and we love what is physically and intrinsically beautiful. For Suman, love and beauty are manifestations of the divinity of creation and that the aesthetics of creation exists in those moments when Shiva and Shakti, decided to play a game of separation and union.

Artist: S.C. Suman

24. The Swing in a Mango Orchard

This artwork represents the feminine musings of pubescent Maithil girls. In the early monsoon, young girls go to their orchards to guard the ripening mangoes. The succulent mangoes are symbolic of their puberty and growing desires. The artwork reinforces the themes of expectation, love, and fertility which are mirrored in the iconic trees blossoming with flowers and green leaves on the border. It also marks the beginning of the rainy season where the earth’s fecundity provides fresh grass as fodder to the goatherds.

Artist: S.C. Suman

25. Women and Water

S. C. Suman portrays a scene where women engage in a bathing game, delicately plucking lotus flowers from a river. The artwork juxtaposes water waves and wind currents to evoke the youthful vivacity and beauty of women.

Artist: S.C. Suman

26. Bicycle and Clean Air

This painting celebrates the environmental benefits of bicycling, highlighting its role in reducing air pollution. It contrasts the carbon emissions of vehicles with the clean, human-powered transportation of bicycles.

Artist: S.C. Suman

27. Swoyambhunath

Depicting the pollution challenges faced in Kathmandu, this artwork laments the haze obscuring the view of the Kathmandu Valley from Swoyambhunath Stupa. It calls for governmental action to control pollution and restore visibility.

Artist: S.C. Suman

28. Love Rasa in Nature

This artwork places the spotlight on the romantic atmosphere of love which pervades in Nature. Through the depiction of a pair of deer a male and a female create a harmonious universe of their own, also reinforced by a pleasant-looking wind wave. Mutual love indicates the harmonization each other’s egos, which results in a healthy balance of male and female energies, attachments, and identifications.

Artist: S.C. Suman

29. Cosmic Pound

Highlighting the importance of clean water in maintaining ecological balance and supporting biodiversity, this painting underscores the vital role of water in sustainable development and human health.

Artist: S.C. Suman

30. Shared Living
Drawing parallels between societal roles and ecosystem functions, this artwork emphasizes the importance of ecological balance. Similar to a society, species in an ecosystem each have a role in keeping the ecosystem running smoothly. For example, predators keep the population of mice under control, insects pollinate flowers, and worms decompose leaf litter. All species are important and help keep the ecosystem balanced. Ecological balance is a term describing how ecosystems are organized in a state of stability where species coexist with other species and with their environment.

Artist: S.C. Suman

31. Aesthetic Value of Heritage

This artwork reflects on the impact of urban air pollution on cultural heritages and monuments. It emphasizes how pollution accelerates their natural corrosion, prematurely aging these treasures and diminishing their aesthetic significance.
Artist: S.C. Suman

32. Harit Kranti (Green Revolution)
The painting highlights the concern about climate change and its diverse effects on different parts of the world and adaptation of sustainable practices and the need for a Green Revolution to counteract the environmental impacts of industrialization and urbanization. Earth is devastated with unpredictable weather patterns, increasing water level due to melting of ice at poles while receding water lines in other areas with excessive garbage disposal, and parched land due drought and desertification. Animals and Fishes are crying and dying while humans are also looking for refuse at rooftops. The two sections of Earth are divided with yin yan style. The melting pot with a snow symbol in the center represents the melting ice at poles. Misuse of resources and release of chemicals with smoke with industrialization, cars, airplanes and gas with use of air conditioners etc. The Fire signs depict the calamities leading to disasters on Earth. To rejuvenate and protect Earth Two GREEN Hands have come with plants and life. Highlighting the importance of balanced healthy lifestyle Solar Panels, Windmills, Bicycles, Electric Cars, Low Emission industrial setup, led bulbs, concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle lead the Green Revolution. Sun is smiling at the top admiring the Green Healthy Earth.

Artist: Nupur Nishith

33. The Village Guardian

This Mithila folk painting beautifully captures the essence of rural life through the image of a woman walking in a remote village. The lush green background symbolizes the abundant nature that surrounds the village. The woman, depicted with intricate traditional patterns, carries a pot on her head, representing her daily chores and resilience. Simultaneously, she tends to an animal (goat), showcasing her nurturing and multitasking nature. This artwork reflects the harmony between humans and nature in village life, emphasizing the role of women as caretakers and providers in their communities.

Art by Pratik Rayamajhi

34. A Divine Love Affair

This enchanting Mithila folk painting showcases the timeless love affair between Radha and Krishna. Krishna is instantly recognizable by the distinct peacock feather in his hair and the flute in his hands, symbols of his divine persona. Radha, adorned in a traditional cultural saree, holds flowers in her hand, embodying grace and devotion. The backdrop features a lush forest with peacocks and various green trees, emphasizing their mutual love for nature. The divine pair is often referred to as the single unit of “Radha Krishna,” a popular artistic theme that flourished in the royal Hindu courts from the 15th century onwards. This theme continues to inspire artists across various mediums today, celebrating the eternal bond of divine love.

Art by Pratik Rayamajhi