{"id":8660,"date":"2025-03-29T06:03:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T21:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/?p=8660"},"modified":"2025-04-03T15:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T06:50:09","slug":"illustrating-innocence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/sdgs-2\/goal5\/illustrating-innocence\/","title":{"rendered":"Illustrating innocence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Exploring Nepali identity, feminism, heroism through children\u2019s literature and art<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Sangya Lamsal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a child, Bandana Tulachan<\/a> used to flip through illustrated pages of books left behind by Japanese tourists visiting her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She never thought she would become an illustrator, and even when enrolled in Kathmandu University\u2019s Fine Arts program she was simply trying out different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDrawing<\/a> just became the thing that I loved to do, and I developed a personal attachment to it,\u201d recalls the thirty six-year-old, who is now a much sought-after illustrator of children\u2019s books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tulachan loves to read children\u2019s books<\/a> even as an adult, and is convinced they are formative in communicating to youngsters the right values of tolerance<\/a>, kindness<\/a> and cooperation. She says, \u201cAs children, we simply read the books, but as we grow older we begin to see the wisdom embedded in them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tulachan has seen for herself the immense power of storytelling<\/a>, especially for children. Every book may not carry a grand lesson, but it exposes young minds to meaningful stories<\/a> that reflect the world around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChildhood<\/a> is such an important phase of one\u2019s life,\u201d she adds. \u201cIf something I create can bring joy to even one child, then it is worth everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, Tulachan has also grappled with the idea of Nepali identity<\/a> in her work. Early on, she was often told that her illustrations needed more ‘Nepaliness’ but for her Nepal is not a monolith<\/a>. The country\u2019s cultural diversity<\/a> cannot be restricted to a few visual stereotypes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNepal has so many ethnicities, so many stories,\u201d she says. \u201cInstead of trying to homogenise it all into one identity, I explore it one space, one culture at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her comics story Shanti: Beyond the Veil<\/a> was inspired by the life of poet and activist Shanti Chaudhary with whom Tulachan spent three days at her hometown in Bara, walking through the places that shaped her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe took me to her childhood home, her surroundings, the house she moved into after marriage,\u201d Tulachan recalls. \u201cIt felt important to tell her story.\u201d The work was selected for Goethe-Institut\u2019s Movements and Moments Project for its representation of indigenous feminist activism<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked about her favourite work, Tulachan cites Sanu and the Big Storm<\/a>, the very first book she both wrote and illustrated back in 2015, a challenge that initially terrified her. She recalls, \u201cI wasn\u2019t used to writing, and the process felt scary. But I had so much support to complete it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Sanu<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
More recently, Tulachan illustrated Little People Big Dreams: Tenzing Norgay<\/a>. Having roots in Mustang, she has always felt a strong connection to the mountains. And after visiting Solukhumbu, she immersed herself in visually telling the story of Tenzing Norgay\u2019s life with drawings that use the grainy tone of early photographs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Tenzing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt felt like a full-circle moment, illustrating a story so deeply rooted in the landscape I cherish,\u201d she adds. The text is by Maria Isabel S\u00e1nchez Vegara<\/a> and the book is published by Quarto\/Frances Lincoln<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking back, she knows it is far from perfect, but seeing children recognise and love the book makes it one of her most rewarding experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tulachan sees exciting growth ahead for illustrators of children\u2019s books with the rise of the art<\/a> market and fresh, younger talent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for what the future holds, Bandana Tulachan is certain that more books lie ahead. \u201cI want to make something amazing, something personal yet something that resonates with people,\u201d she says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Tulachan takes on more challenges, delving into animation<\/a> and graphic novels<\/a>, children\u2019s book illustrations<\/a> are still what hold a deep personal and emotional bond for her. And she likes it that unlike other writers or artists she does not have to explain her work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Says Bandana Tulachan: \u201cWhenever you create something, a part of you goes into it, but I don\u2019t feel the need to explain my art. Whatever people take from it is theirs to keep.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read also: <\/strong>For children, about children<\/strong><\/a>, Ashish Dhakal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
INPS Japan\/ Nepai Times<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Exploring Nepali identity, feminism, heroism through children\u2019s literature and art Sangya Lamsal As a child, Bandana Tulachan used to flip through illustrated pages of books left behind by Japanese tourists visiting her home. She never thought she would become an illustrator, and even when enrolled in Kathmandu University\u2019s Fine Arts program she was simply trying out different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,25,8,16,32],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8660","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-asia-pacific","8":"category-education-women-children","9":"category-goal5","10":"category-news","11":"category-regions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8660"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8663,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8660\/revisions\/8663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}