Join curator Bruce McCoy Owen for a talk on the exhibit Art of the Festival: Celebrating the Rain God of the Kathmandu Valley.

About the Community Curator Exhibition, Art of the Festival: Celebrating the Rain God of the Kathmandu Valley.The Art of the Festival features photographs, cultural artifacts, and works of fine art and popular culture that tell the story of the largest festival of the Kathmandu Valley. Practiced for nearly 1,400 years, this festival is devoted to a rain god who is honored by both Hindus and Buddhists and is known by many names, Buṃgadyaḥ and Rāto Matysendranāth foremost among them. People of Kathmandu from all walks of life each play their part in creating a dramatic spectacle in which hundreds of people pull the deity in a towering chariot that is as precarious as it is massive. Their success or failure is tied to the fate of the country. The photographs at the core of this exhibition were taken by Bruce McCoy Owens over the past four decades and were shown by invitation in three major exhibitions in Nepal in 2016. Like the festival itself, the exhibit is a collaborative creation, and includes stories of people in the Somerville area who share their memories, as well as objects, that hold special meaning in connection with Nepalese festivities.

Saturday, March 1st, 11 am—12 pm Admission: $12; free to Somerville Museum members and visitors 12 years of age and under. (Use code MEMBER.) RSVP: Space is limited, and tickets can be purchased in advance or at the Museum. Tickets.