ArTree Nepal is a 2025–2027 Jane Lombard Fellow, nominated by Vivien Ziherl for the Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice Prize as part of the Vera List Center for Art and Politics’ Matter of Intelligence Focus Theme.

ArTree Nepal, formed between 2012 and 2013, emerged in the aftermath of Nepal’s decade-long People’s War and the mass protests aimed at dismantling monarchical power. The collective took shape amid a political climate that had long upheld a singular national identity centered on monarchy, Hinduism, and the Nepali language, which erased and delegitimized diverse histories. Amid the formative years of the Federalism movement, five artists came together to form ArTree Nepal, each from a different Indigenous background: Hit Man Gurung (Tamu), Lavkant Chaudhary (Tharu), Mekh Limbu (Yakthung), Sheelasha Rajbhandari (Newa), and Subas Tamang (Tamang). The collective became a space to voice their shared anxieties of non-belonging, seeking to make sense of their Indigeneity and to understand codified histories. Rooted in a politics of reclamation, acceptance, and celebration of identities long relegated to the margins, ArTree sought to question dominant narratives and imagine alternative ways of being and creating. Guided by egalitarian values, ArTree shares finances, space, resources, and decisions equally among all members. Through this practice, the artists reflected on what it means to engage with Indigeneity, define art outside imposed frameworks, and move beyond categories that often exoticize or diminish lived knowledge and worldviews.

Tikā Chedna Angana is an ongoing research initiative that translates to “A Garden of Body Markings.” Known by many names, tikā, leela, and godana are Indigenous practices that acknowledge a pedagogy merging body, art, and ecology; where to learn, one has to observe; and history is written in songs and memories encoded in movement. In 2020, Tikā Chedna Angana brought together Indigenous Tharu artists from different villages along the Nepal-India border for a pedagogical exchange on different perspectives on marking traditions. The gathering served as an archive, a living document, and a continuation of the oral tradition behind body markings, opening up space to speculate on embodied knowledge systems, Indigenous pedagogies, and the importance of cultural restitution.

“ArTree members seek to renegotiate [the] historically asymmetrical matrix of international connection through the self-determined sphere of art, championing tikā practice as social, ecological, and community health renewal in meaningful cultural exchange. Above all, methodological frameworks of autonomy drive their creative approach. They emphasize cultural commemoration and living practice rather than perpetuating extractive academic or colonial frameworks. In ArTree’s work, knowledge is encoded as praxis—with exchange through shared practice, communal gathering, and celebration marking the legacy of matrilineal heritage.”

—Vivian Ziherl, Jane Lombard Prize Council