French Ambassador Corteval Highlights Cultural Dialogue Inaugurating ‘Under the Same Roof’ Exhibition

Kathmandu: Blending artistic celebration with cultural reverence, the Siddhartha Art Gallery, together with Virginie Corteval, the French Ambassador to Nepal, inaugurated a joint exhibition by Patan-based visual artists Subodh Bhandari and Samridhi Ratna Sakya on July 16.

Addressing the audience at the opening, Ambassador Corteval praised the exhibition’s emotional resonance and sensitivity to urban memory.

“As diplomats have been traveling for decades around the world, and everywhere I go, I have the feeling that cities stimulate your imagination. This show speaks powerfully to our shared urban spaces and the silent stories they carry,” she remarked. “It’s a moving tribute to both memory and creativity,” Ambassador Corteval said.

The exhibition was inaugurated with the ceremonial lighting of a panas, also known as a lamp, and the presentation of khadas to the artists by the Ambassador. 

Both the artists, Bhandari and Shakya, graduates of Kathmandu University’s School of Arts in 2023, have steadily developed a collaborative practice rooted in the textures of the city. In Under the Same Roof, the duo turns their attention to the quiet architecture of Patan, its windows, doorways, and walls. 

“It started with curiosity,” Bhandari reflected. “We began collecting fragments of photographs, sketches, pieces of conversations, and found ourselves drawn into the layered intimacy of place.” Shakya further added, “These structures are mundane, yet they carry so much memory. Through them, we reflect on identity and belonging.”

Their previous projects, including What Makes a City at Taragaon Next and To Make Sense of the Stillness at Gallery Mcube, have drawn attention for their thoughtful engagement with urban landscapes.

Under the Same Roof is a mixed-media exhibition by Subodh Bhandari and Samridhi Ratna Shakya, on view from July 16 to August 16 at Siddhartha Art Gallery. The show invites audiences to pause, reflect, and rediscover the architectural soul of Patan through two distinct yet deeply harmonious artistic voices.

Here are some photographs, captured by Beeju Maharjan, from the “Under The Same Roof” exhibition: