विचार

-Pradeep Pariyar Thapa

The number of Nepali artists is increasing with the rising population of Nepali community in America.

The data show that the number exceeded 300 who entered into America from this field, and it reaches more than 400 including the artists from new generation who have started their career in art in America. The report “Nepali Artists Directory 2016 (America and Canada) prepared by Nepali-American Arts Association in combination with Nepaliyearbook.com, there is the list of 439 artists dwelling in Canada and America that includes male and female singers, vocalist, musician, actors, actress, dancers, model, director, choreographer, cinematographer and producer.

The First Nepali Artist in America

We don’t have a long history of the evolution and expansion of Nepali art in American land. The musician, Kishor Gurung was the first artist who came to America to study music in 1979 AD.

He completed Bachelors in Classical Guitar from San Francisco Conservatory of Music College in California in the USA in 1984 AD, and   Masters in Ethnomusicology from University of Hawaii in 1995 AD. Kishor Gurung is the eldest son of late Ambar Gurung, a senior singer, and the composer and singer of new Nepali national anthem. Even the second eldest son, Raju Gurung and youngest son, Sharad Gurung of late Gurung have completed Bachelors in Drum and Piano in 1987 and 1997 respectively from Berkley College of Music in Boston in the USA.

The first artists who came to America with cultural presentation are senior comedians “MAHA” couple or Madankrishna Shrestha and Haribansha Aacharya. “MAHA” couple came to America with their comedy in 1990 demanding restoration of democracy in Nepal.

Dhrub Vant is the first artist who came to America and settled. After working as a middle-level artist at ‘Rastriya Nach Ghar’ in 2034-39 BS, then first time, he landed in New York with B1/B2 visa. He worked at Indian restaurant at Jackson Height in New York between 1991 and 1996, and received a green-card in 1995 with the sponsorship of that restaurant. He called his wife Anu Shrestha Vant in the USA in 1992 providing L1 visa. The couple started the first Nepali-Indian restaurant ‘Durbar East’, at Manhattan in New York. After selling that restaurant in 2006, they started a liquor shop in Baltimore in the same year, and that is still running. Now Anu Shrestha Vant is the senior vice-president of Baltimore Nepali Association. The two children of the couple, son, Abish Vant (26) has been working as a lab technician and daughter, Alisha Vant (23) is working at Morgan Stanley.

After Vant, the initial artists who migrated to the USA are LB Khambache (Lhakpa) Sherpa (New York), Nilam Shrestha (Colorado), Raj Kapur (New York), Binod Oli (Boston), Kristi Mainali (New York), Shishir Shrestha (New York), Nirmala Shrestha (Colorado), Nhuchhe Narayan Dangol (New York), Premraja Mahat (Baltimore), Saroj Khanal (Virginia, Now in Nepal), Subarna Chhetri (New York) and Ramraj Chhetri (New York).

Nation having the highest number of Nepali artists residing in abroad

Since 2000, the trend of coming to the USA and settling here is rising up among Nepali artists. Now, according to the provision of extra-ordinary system, migration to the USA with Green-Card is increasing year by year. The trend of entering to the USA with cultural programs focusing to 2 to 3 lakhs Nepali community and settling here, is going up. Even the number of second-generation Nepali-American artists born in the USA is sure to incline. Thus, America is the nation where the highest number of Nepali artists reside in abroad.

Guest Editor, Pradeep Pariyar Thapa is the chief editor of ‘US online.com’ and the initiator of “End of caste and racial discrimination in our generation”.