Hand Painted Signs in Kathmandu

Hand painted sign hanging outside the Golden Temple at Patan Durbar Square in Kathmandu

Having spent my working life in the trade of sign painting, there was a lot of anticipation and curiosity about what kinds of hand painted signs I might be able to discover in Nepal. Although there were clearly digital printed signs gaining a foothold in the visual landscape of Kathmandu, I was thrilled to see that the bulk of signs there are still painted by hand.

A frame sidewalk sign in the Thamel District of Kathmandu

Like anywhere else, the quality of the layouts, brush work and color combinations vary by the skill of the painter, but seeing the examples of painted signs on every block of this massive ancient city was an experience within the larger experience we were there to film.

Kathmandu is full of beautifully illustrated painted signs

As our guide Susan took us down back alleys off the beaten path, I was hoping for that instant connection that sign painters feel when they meet for the first time and go into shop talk mode. To my surprise, for the handful of sign painters we found and engaged with it was more bewilderment on their end of “yes, I paint signs, and you want to film it? Why?” The reaction was a reminder of how far the trade has evolved in the West as a novelty and how not that long ago no one cared in the United States either.

Inside one of the tiny sign painting studios we filmed in Kathmandu

As my craft was catapulted into a kind of micro-celebrity status with the worldwide release of the documentary “Sign Painters” I found myself trying to explain to younger people coming into sign painting what it used to be like. The only explanation I could come up with was there were the trades like electricians, plumbers and carpenters, and in my experience in South Texas at least, at the bottom of that totem pole were sign painters. We were poor, working class without any of the seeming reverence seen related to the craft we see now.

And I could see it in the reaction of sign painters in Nepal. They were excited to show us around their tiny studios and demonstrate their skills once we got past the confusion. We were fortunate to capture some of them at work and got them talking about the trade on video for the film, but it was a lesson in how fortunate we have been in the West in the world of sign painting.

One of the thousands of hand painted signs that can be seen in the Thamel District of Kathmandu

It was also like stepping back in time to that intersection when technology started to invade the world of sign painters as we watched the public in large numbers abandon hand crafted signage for vinyl cut lettering and computerized design. We all scrambled to find our place in the fog of change.

I can only hope that as they see the increasing number of digital signs coming into their area that they find ways to evolve their trade and that the local communities there support them through the transition.

Some of the digital print signage that is creeping into the Thamel District in Kathmandu

The issue is universal and the main motivation behind the Art is Love Project. It is our hope that showcasing some of these ancient crafts that people all over the world will see the importance of the contribution to our overall experience of life.

Filmmakers Daniel Driensky and Sarah Reyes in front of a hand painted wall inside a school room in the Himalayan mountains

Hand painted signs are such a visible cue to the fact that we are interconnected and, by nature, social creatures. When you see a hand painted sign, with it’s slight imperfections, funky design elements and atypical color combinations its a quick reminder that someone in the area, your neighbor, is working away in some little studio on some back street, contributing their art to the street you walk down every day.

One of the many storefronts of Kathamndu

Computers have their place, I am typing this on one right now. They have made the world a smaller place and more accessible and I am grateful for that. But as we move further towards a technological frontier, it’s my hope that we preserve and treasure the craftspeople whose work provides that tap on the shoulder to remind us we are all part of something larger, sharing a relatively short experience in this form.

The unifying message of Namaste, a greeting to all who come here