Sushma Shimkhada: Carving the Right Path

When it comes to revolution through arts, you could not forget the name of Sushma Shimkhada.

Sushma Shimkhada is a Nepalese sculptor known as Nepal’s first female sculptor and an activist fighting for feminism. As her country’s first female sculptor and her eye-catching works gave her enough title, Sushma did not waste her influence as she took courage in voicing out the gender inequality in her mother country. Nepal is known as a male-dominated country, and her chosen career (sculpting) is mainly for men. From the looks of it, Sushma’s brave stand in feminism is truly remarkable. She begun her career in the 1970s.

She used her talent in sculpting as her voice. Her radical feminist ideals are indeed stunning and loud in her goal to break gender expectations. Among all her artworks that depict women, it was Sushma’s power of the womb that everyone was drawn into. She was able to give special focus to this artwork because of its deep meaning.

Sushma’s power of the womb piece embodies the importance of a mother’s womb— a sacred place of divine power and creativity. This artwork received various recognitions until the present time as it perfectly shows the importance of the female gender in society. Clearly, Sushma’s principles towards patriarchy were unveiled in this single artwork piece. Furthermore, Sushma did not just focus on Hindu feminism as she also used her platform to address different social issues such as violence, abuse of government, cultural dominance, and even the importance of the environment.

(Photo by: Rising Junkiri)

Because of her boldness in using her voice and living up to her principles, Sushma Shimkhada has been recognized as an iconic feminist activist who inspired a lot of revolutionary artists throughout the years. In her extraordinary life— being a successful and well-known woman in a male-dominated country and profession— Sushma Shimkhada were able to leave a legacy as she carved not just a path for her own life, but a great starting point for the next generation to follow.

Written by: Yam Pernecita

Yam Pernecita is a digital marketing intern of PS Media Enterprise. She is a 4th-year Bachelor of Arts in Communication student from Far Eastern University in Manila, Philippines.