The Embassy of Nepal in London is hosting a lecture and exhibition by artist Stephen King – the lecture takes place on Thursday 16 March, and the exhibition runs from Wednesday 15 March to Saturday 1 April 2017.
Twenty five years after first visiting Nepal the artist Stephen King returned to Langtang Valley in September 2016, to produce a series of landscape paintings to help raise funds to improve the lives of the people of Nepal.
The whole of the Langtang Valley was severely affected by the earthquake on 25 April 2015, with Langtang Village being almost totally destroyed by a landslide. In 1992 Stephen took a photograph of three girls a short distance from Langtang Village. In this lecture, he recounts, with the aid of photographs and HD film footage, how he became reunited with two of the three women from the photograph.
The lecture is a tribute to the extra ordinary resilience of the Langtang survivors, who after just a few short months are now able to offer their legendary hospitality to visitors from around the world. Langtang is most definitely back in business!
The exhibition and talk are being hosted by the Embassy of Nepal in London as a part of their bicentennial celebration of relations between Nepal and the UK. The building was erected in 1863-65 for Samuel Morton Peto by the architect James Murray and is a Grade II listed building. The Embassy has occupied the building since 1934.
Proceeds from this evening and 50% of the moneys raised from the sale of Stephen King’s paintings throughout the exhibition, will be donated to the charity Community Action Nepal (CAN) to help with its work.
CAN has a long history in the Langtang, building the Langtang and Mundu Schools, contributing to a hydroelectric power generator, building a Stupa and holding mobile Health and Dental camps in the Valley. Since the earthquake CAN has rebuilt Mundu school, put in a big Community Centre at Kjanjing, contributed to a Memorial to the Langtang village victims and plans are in process to build a Demonstration Home and an Old People's Hostel Complex at Kjanjing. The charity has also promised to rebuild the school when the community has resettled in the Valley, probably not until 2019/20.
Exhibition Information: Entrance to the exhibition is free and open to members of the public from Wednesday to Saturday 11.00am- 4.00 pm, from Wednesday 15 March - Saturday 1 April 2017.
Lecture Date: Thursday 16 March, 7.00 – 8.50 pm. Doors open to ticket holders at 6.15 pm. Wine, beer and soft drinks will be served before the talk and during the interval; a cash donation to cover the cost is requested.
Venue: Embassy of Nepal, Main Hall, 12A Kensington Palace Gardens, Kensington, London W8 4QU.
Accessibility: please note that the Main Hall is accessible only by the front steps to the front floor of the Embassy. We regret it is not accessible by wheelchair, nor is it equipped with an induction loop for those with hearing impairments.
Lecture Tickets: £20. To book a ticket, contact Denise Prior on deniseprior@canepal.org.uk or book online (with booking fee) through the websites.
For further information about the talk and exhibition look on www.nepembassy.org.uk www.stephenkinggallery.com or www.canepal.org.uk