When you hear the phrase “Nepali Art,” signboards are probably the last thing you think of. My mission is to change that.
Signboard art in Nepal is fast disappearing—the artists are endangered, losing their livelihoods. Their traditional trade is being replaced by printed, computer-generated signage.
My fair trade art project is to promote this charming folk art from Nepal by making their artwork available to the world via “Beware of Dog” signs. America’s love for their pets appears to be the perfect way to introduce the world to Nepali signboard art. And, of course, the wording soon morphed from “Beware” to “Zen Dog,” “Enlightened Dog,” and “Happy Dog.” American dogs equal Nepali jobs!
“Danger Dogs from Nepal—Folk Art from the Himalayas” was started in 2007. I had noticed that the lovely and quirky “Be Aware of the Dog” signs that I had photographed over the years in Nepal were being replaced by generic boring stenciled signs. That was the last straw!
Each commissioned piece receives a choice of three portraits of their pet, by three different artists. That way, one is sure to please, three artists get work, and the extras are sold in museums as folk art. Satisfaction is guaranteed. I don’t accept money until after the customer chooses a portrait. No bad karma here! The art is synthetic enamel on metal, about a square foot in size.
Finding the artists is the fun part. I look at existing signboards on the street and at the signatures of the particularly fine ones. Often I take a chance. I walk down the streets (I average ten miles a day of walking in Kathmandu pollution). I see the word Kala (art) in Nepali script, stop and order a couple. These guys don’t have a lot of back stock sitting around so that I can judge their work from what’s in their shop. I’m often pleasantly surprised. And what’s on their walls in the shop often has no relation to what I’ll get.
After five danger dog trips, I now have a core group of artists that I trust and admire and that customers like. I’ll give dog owners two established choices based on either their request or the picture of the pup. (Some artists are good with hair, some with form, etc). And I give one to an unknown artist, just for fun and to find new artists.
Some artists are entrepreneurs, some are idealists or romantics, they can be pragmatic, irresponsible, familial, or a playboy. Old, young, shy, bold—but all males. There are female fine art painters in Nepal but not female signboard artists. The signboard business often is handed from father to son to cousin etc. One never knows who will be painting the sign—it could depend on who needed work that week. This could be a big problem for my business if I didn’t offer multiples. This way, more artists get work.
Their styles run the gamut from ultra-naïve to impressionistic to realist or cartoon-like. When they ask if they should paint a full dog or close up, I tell them that they are the artist and it’s their decision. Same with the color background—it’s their decision. Oddly enough, even with three studios being in different towns, some dogs get the same background color by all three artists. It is always interesting to see all three versions of the same dog side by side.
The artists rarely sign their own work, and I have to provide a sharpie. Oddly enough, the few who do sign their work are often the most primitive artists.
The artwork keeps getting better and better. They try to outdo themselves, and really appreciate the money that is coming in, as I pay tourist retail for these pieces—much more than anyone else pays for their work— whatever their first asking price. I do not haggle. I’ve now worked with over fifty-five artists from all over Nepal and have commissioned over 1,250 signboards to date, bringing an appreciable extra income to these artists.
