Photo Essays
2 MIN READ
Where there were walls, there are no walls.
Home is something that excites me on a different level. The idea of a space of a person and the energy they have within a place is worth exploring. The reason for people to feel the best at their homes is because they have a safe place to reside. The reality of losing one's place is so strong that it becomes difficult to accept and embrace the present. There is a sense of fleeting uneasiness when I think about destruction, changes and most importantly, losing something. "Every day was poetry" is my expression of showing layers of presence that is precious and important in a place that is destroyed, deserted and lonely. This is my aim to present my inner feelings in combination with those who owned that space. I am questioning the existence of an object or a feeling that still holds its essence in the so called leftovers. These homes have their outer shell removed and the insides still there, intact. The most I can do by looking at it is to appreciate whatever remains and feel this space in ways I can feel my own.
The place I went to was Dali and this story is about the houses near one of the famous lakes in Dali called the "Erhai" lake. The government of China is destroying the houses that were spread a hundred and forty kilometers around the lake. Because of the pollution in the lake, the government wants the houses to be removed. Since this rule was never applied before, all of the houses were on the lake itself. This is the reason why most of them had to lose their houses and businesses.
I started with one house to just see what is left and I couldn't stop doing this so I walked all around the lake to get an understanding of what's happening. The story is more about the place and the reality that still exists in contrast. The name "Everyday was poetry" was handwritten on one of the houses I visited.
"Every day was Poetry" was produced during the International Storytelling Workshop in Kunming, China, in March 2019. The workshop is a collaboration between Photo Circle -Nepal, Pathshala South Asian Media Institute- Bangladesh, Oslo Metropolitan University-Norway and Mino Art Center- China.
Shradha Devkota Shradha Devkota is a visual artist based in Kathmandu, Nepal. She is a fine arts graduate from Kathmandu University School of Arts. Besides capturing stories through her lens, she also illustrates and paints.
Longreads
Recommended
Features
Popular
18 min read
In the last century, cycles have gone from a symbol of wealth and power to one of poverty, but that is slowly changing.
COVID19
News
2 min read
At the current rate, confirmed Covid cases will almost double when the prohibitory order expires next week
Culture
Perspectives
11 min read
Ranging from the deeply spiritual to playful, cheeky and contemplative, Ang Tsherin Sherpa’s work is innocent, full of sincere feeling, but also tongue-in-cheek.
Features
5 min read
Noodle, Nepal’s first digital music marketplace, is looking to provide musicians with an equitable income and fans with an avenue to support the artists they love.
Features
6 min read
The Record introduces a new mini-series where we speak to artists from various fields and ask them about the projects they worked on during the lockdown and the pandemic.
Writing journeys
10 min read
This week in Writing Journeys, filmmaker Kesang Tseten speaks about his dramaturgical approach to making films.
The Wire
Features
77 min read
Life, politics, and identity in an underappreciated border city
Perspectives
Interviews
13 min read
The author discusses his new book on the conflicted Kathmandu neighborhood that “won’t sit still”
