One of Nepal’s foremost curators, Sangeeta Thapa is founder and director of Siddhartha Art Gallery in Kathmandu. In the past 30 years, Thapa has showcased works by noted Nepali artists and provided younger generation of artists a platform to exhibit their work. Since it was founded in 1987, Siddhartha Art Gallery has hosted over 400 exhibitions. It has not only played an instrumental role in supporting local artists, but has also helped define contemporary art movement in Nepal.
Ms. Thapa has brought together national and international artists. She has organized major retrospective exhibitions of Nepali artists including late Tej Bahadur Chitrakar, Amar Chitrakar,, Uttam Nepali, Shashi Bikram Shah, Shashikala Tiwari. In 2009, Thapa organized the first edition of Kathmandu International Art Festival in Nepal, an event focused on status of women in Nepal, which saw participation of artists from 25 countries. In 2011, she set up Siddhartha Art Foundation to use art for education and community engagement.
In March 2017, Ms. Thapa launched the first edition of Kathmandu Triennale, which focused on the city and urban issues and spread over 12 venues. The Triennale, which was curated by Philppe Van Cauteren, Director of a major museum in Belgium, is one of major art festivals in South Asia.