Renowned Nepali Art Historian Dina Bangdel is No More

July 27, 2017

Leaving the Nepali art sector in pain, an internationally-acclaimed Nepali art historian Dina Bangdel passed away in the United States on Tuesday.

Complications that followed a sinusitis surgery she had undergone in the United States in March resulted in Dina’s demise.

Dina Bangdel (54), daughter of the renowned Nepali scholar and decorated artist Lain Singh Bangdel, followed her father’s way to gain expertise in traditional and contemporary arts.

Dina was lastly working as an Associate Professor at the Qatar-based Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), where she had also pursued specialization in South Asian, Indian & Himalayan arts, and became a lifelong promoter of Nepali arts. Gender studies and films are other fields of interest of Bangdel.

She also headed the History and Arts Department at the Doha branch of VCU.

Dina has published around six literary works with all of them focused on Asian & Buddhist arts, and Nepali arts in specific.

Having explored the art field, Dina had plans to return home to form a hub for artists, cultural personalities and youth of Nepal.

Art Community on Dina’s Demise

“Dina’s demise is an irreparable loss for the nation. She had a great role in taking Nepali art to the international level,” said Ashmina Ranjit, a performance artist.

Lauding Dina’s contribution to the Nepali art, Chancellor of Nepal Academy of Fine Arts, Ragini Upadhyay, said, “As a woman, it was a great pride for us that someone scholar like Dina was committed on improving our art scene in the world.”