Among the Mountains:
Nine Contemporary Artists from Ladakh

All nine artists featured in this exhibition have grown up in Ladakh, in the towns of Kargil and Leh and villages as far apart as Skurbuchen in the west and Sakti in the north. Going to primary schools in their villages and later in Leh or Kargil, they then went on to art colleges in various parts of India and other parts of the world. Memories of childhood are of growing up among willows, golden fields of barley accentuated by the iridescent blue of the river Indus and the stark browns of the mountains that encircle them. Cold winters contrast with the warmer months dramatically with frozen rivers, leafless trees and snow-clad mountains. Starting their artistic journeys in such a fantastical region, the artists now envision and paint their contemplations on canvas, a practice to keep the quintessence of congenital values and memories.
The participating artists have trained or are currently enrolled in art colleges outside Ladakh and have largely been influenced by Indian or western artists and styles. However, having grown up being exposed to Ladakhi art forms and landscapes which have evidently taken a strong root. In this context, the amalgamation of the past to current influences holds unexplored potentials for a new direction for these artists.
This is the first exhibition of artists from the region, it will play a significant role as a building block for contemporary art in Ladakh. The artists are readily looking into the horizon, pregnant to play a crucial role in sustaining and amplifying art’s role in the daily life of Ladakh. This exhibition has given a much-needed platform to carry forward dialogues around contemporary Ladakhi art.