Since 2018, Nepal Picture Library has been collecting photographs and other archival materials with the objective of creating an open visual repository of feminist experiences in Nepal. The Public Life of Women, originally curated as an exhibition, showcases selections from this archive. Put together from contributions made by over 150 individuals and organisations, this photobook flashes instances from the past to present publicness itself as a key feminist strategy in Nepal. 

A first-of-its-kind publication, The Public Life of Women is also a testimony to the archival and artifactual orientation of feminism at large. Containing more than 500 images, accompanying exhibition texts in English and Nepali, as well as a conversation between curators Diwas Raja Kc and NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati, this volume engages fundamental questions of public memory and feminist histories.

Credits

Curators: Diwas Raja Kc; NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Design: Valentina Abenavoli

Nepali translations: Prawin Adhikari 

English copy-editing: Alston D’Silva 

Nepali copy-editing: Rajendra Maharjan

Organisation: Nepal Picture Library 

Production: Shikhar Bhattarai; Biraj Maharjan 

Research Design: Diwas Raja Kc 

Research Coordinators: Bunu Dhungana; Yutsha Dahal; Muna Gurung 

Researchers: Agastaya Thapa; Nisha Rai; Nikita Tripathi; Amita Sharma; 

Hikmat Nepali; Madhu Shahi; Manika Jha; Nishu Joshi; 

Parwat Portel; Renuka Giri; Sabita Pandey; Sabitri Gautam; Shikha Kiran; Sita Mademba; Sarita Thapa

About the publisher  

photo.circle is a platform for photography in Nepal. Through workshops, publications, exhibitions and commissioned assignment work, photo.circle strives to bring together photographers and other visual storytellers to nurture unique voices that document and engage with social change in Nepal.

photo.circle has set up Nepal Picture Library, a digital photo archive that hopes to contribute to the study of Nepali photography, generate knowledge and raise questions about how we can explore issues of memory, identity, and history through images.

photo.circle organizes Photo Kathmandu, Nepal’s only international photography festival, which serves as an alternative platform for conversations between visual storytellers and local audiences.

The contents of this publication was first prepared as an exhibition titled The Public Life of Women. Printed and bound in New Delhi, India by Naveen Printers. This publication was made possible by a grant from Foundation for a Just Society.

Book details

Language English and Nepali

Number of pages 558 pages

Number of photos 591 photos

ISBN 9789937141123

Dimensions 12 cm x 17 cm 

Country of Origin Nepal

Edition 1st 

Print Run 2000

Year of publication 2023

Published by photo.circle