Shadows to Light: Revealing Bhutanese Refugee Resilience

A transformative art project that aims to explore and showcase the journey of Bhutanese-Nepali-American families affected by the Bhutanese refugee crisis. Through a series of paintings and a pop-up exhibition, this project will shed light on the challenges, resilience, and triumphs of the Bhutanese refugee community. The project will delve into the history and culture of the Bhutanese-Nepali-American people by following the narratives of families who ended up in three different countries: Bhutan, Nepal, and the United States. By examining the outcomes of the Bhutanese refugee crisis in each of these places, the project aims to highlight the shared experiences of displacement and the resilience demonstrated by these families.

Khadga Tamang is a visual artist who was born and raised in the Bhutanese Refugee Camp in Nepal has always given me challenges in searching for my identity. His artworks address the ideas and subject matter about the identity of immigrants and being refugees. His paintings have repeated elements through which he wants to represent the idea of the continuation of being an immigrant/refugee throughout human history. The abstract forms are a metaphorical reflection of the social and political trauma of being identity-less. These works are the expression of humanity, human emotions, pain, struggle, and the dilemmas of surviving without identity. He has been experimenting with different materials used in daily life such as newspapers and rice grains. He explores multiple materials seeking meaning in their use and making connections to the theme of identity. He is interested in the semi-abstraction of subject matters including expressive visuals. He started his artistic journey from Iffca Bhutan in the refugee camp. Within difficult situations in the refugee camp visual art became a huge part of his life to express himself and also represent the voice of Bhutanese Refugee community.  

He has a BFA in Studio Art with a concentration in Painting from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). He exhibited his work in many shows the last few years including BFA Exhibit in 2021, solo exhibitions in 2021 and 2018, and student art shows between 2018 and 2021. He was a part of UNI’s Public Art Incubator which allowed students to help build sculptures for downtown Cedar Falls.

If you’re interested in exploring visual art with Khadga, then please fill out the form below.