Communicating Challenges and Dreams of Young Girls through Mithila Art in Nepal

The Constitution of Nepal has secured the freedom of opinions and expressions as a fundamental rights of citizens (constitution of Nepal, 2015). However, we have seen that many people in Nepal, especially women and girls, have not been able to exercise these rights due to the lack of appropriate platforms to speak out. To help girls communicate the social challenges they have faced and their aspirations for the future, I chose Mithila art, a cultural form of art which depicts the ancient culture of Mithila kingdom (Central Southern region of Nepal).

I used the mobility fund of Changing the Story to organize a Mithila art workshop with young girls at Janakpur (capital of ancient Mithila Kingdom), Madhes province, Nepal on 23rd of July 2022. The Mithila art workshop engaged six young high school girls and five Mithila artists/trainers.

About the methodology

The first stage of the workshop involved asking a series of key questions, such as:

• What does come to your mind when you think about the major challenge of your society?
• How have you been impacted by that challenge?
• What kind of society you aspire to live in?

Prompted by the questions, the girls shared the existing social challenges that are impacting their lives and their dreams for the society they aspire to live in. In the second stage of the workshop, they reflected on their sharing and prepared notes around social challenges and their dreams. To transform their testimonies of existing social challenges and future dreams, they were paired with the Mithila artists/trainers. The young girls worked together with artists/trainers and created five fascinating pieces of individual Mithila artwork or paintings. The trainers also taught girls on how to paint Mithila art to express their opinions through artwork.

The artwork

An 18 year old girl of grade 12 shared her opinion around early marriage, one of the deep rooted harmful social norms

The prevalence of early marriage is higher in her community. She has been receiving marriage proposals for a few years. Her parents are very conscious about the adverse effect of early marriage, so she is confident that she will get the opportunity to achieve her dream. However, many other girls in her society are getting married earlier, which is pushing their lives into difficulties. Her dream is to help girls at risk of early marriage so that they can live a better life in the future. She wants to be a lawyer and advocate against child marriage.

My society wants an early marriage of girls which eventually curtail all her dreams. I want to study and be a lawyer so that I can change the lives of many daughters like me.

A 19 year girl of grade 11 had lots of questions on the traditional mindset of people against women and girls.

Why do people hesitate to accept the decisions made by women and girls? Why don't people in her society listen to the opinion of women and girls? What are the reasons people feel uncomfortable with the ideas shared by women and girls? The girl thinks it is a big challenge for girls and women to make progress in their lives, so she wants to be a change maker against the traditional mindset of people.

People in my society do not believe that girls can lead the administration office. I want to change this stereotypical traditional mindset of society. I aim to work as a district administrator in the future.

A couple of young girls expressed their concerns on the discrimination of parents against their sons and daughters.

In some families, the discrimination is visible and in others, they are hidden. Boys go to school while girls are assigned to household work.

We want to achieve a higher academic success in our career than our brothers and other community boys so that we can contribute to promoting the girls' education in the future.

Another girl also faced similar problems in her society.

People in her society want girls to stay at home and do the household chores. Sometimes, people criticise parents who send their daughters to higher education. Against this mindset of people, the girl wants to create a society where girls are praised and hold a good reputation.

I want to be an officer and I aim to receive a huge welcome when I come back to my village.

Finally, the fifth girl expressed the challenges against the caste system.

She brought the examples of difficulties she faces due to the existing caste system in her society. She is living within a social boundary where people avoid her and her family in their individual household premises.

We are often kept away from public gatherings and social activities.

Final reflections

When I visited schools and talked with the young girls about the Mithila art workshop, they were not sure how the feelings could be communicated through artwork. However, when the paintings were complete, it was difficult for them to believe. At the end of the workshop, they expressed their surprise at the paintings of their challenges and dreams. They had heard about Mithila art and had seen it on the walls and fences around Janakpur but were not familiar with its unique features. Young girls realized the importance of art to communicate and express their opinions.

We had never thought that the challenges of our lives could be expressed through painting, but we did it through Mithila art and the evidence is in front of us. We think this opportunity should be provided to many girls who have not had the opportunities to communicate their feelings to the outer world.