Miaja Gallery | Govinda ‘Sah’ Azad

Govinda 'Sah' Azah

Born in 1974, in Rajbiraj, and now based in London, Govinda Sah ‘Azad’ is a Nepalese artist renowned for his study and creative display of cosmic, nebulous, and celestial phenomena. Having developed an early interest in drawing and sculpture, he ran away to India at age seventeen to work as a sign board and wall painter, to continue pursuing his passion for art against his family’s wishes. Returning to Kathmandu in 1995, he joined the local Fine Art College, where he participated in several group exhibitions, the vast success of which cumulated in his first solo exhibition in 1999. Govinda went on to attain a BA in Fine Art from the college. At the moment, Sah also holds an MA in Fine Art from the Wimbledon College of Art, after moving to the UK to expand his horizons.

With his decorated formal training, Govinda’s style is at once meticulous but effortless, precise yet free. It draws an ideal balance between the often imaginative and turbulent landscapes of traditional western art, as well as eastern philosophy’s enlightening metaphysical insights into the nature of reality. What is then produced is a stunning representation of the invisible and sublime forces underlying all that we perceive. His spectacular cloud-scapes, in particular, render the grandeur of the natural world salient to us again, bringing us back into contact with all the breathtaking and overwhelming experiences from which we have become increasingly isolated. Allowing us to finally encounter the sublime, his art embodies a long-lost sense of spirituality and calm.

Deeply concerned with politics, Govinda has often also advocated for global accord and harmony. In 2000, he embarked on a nationwide cycle tour to spread the awareness of peace through art, with the slogan, “The 21st Century is the Century of Art and Peace”. During the three-month tour, he held several art shows, workshops, and lectures, wherein he engaged with local community groups. He has also co-ordinated a number of art workshops, under the sponsorship of both the UN and Bangladesh Embassy in Nepal. Some of his exhibitions have been sponsored and organised by the British Council in Nepal and Egypt’s Ambassador to Nepal.