By Renuka Dhakal, Kathmandu, Apr. 28 : Artist Ragini Upadhyaya has come up with another art exhibition ‘In My Dream’ with the aim of supporting girls’ education.

On the occasion of the 5th anniversary of Shivata Love Foundation Nepal (SLFN) ,an NGO founded to commemorate life and death of her daughter Shivata Upadhyaya Grela, who died at the age of 20 due to Meningitis B. She has organised the exhibition which will conclude on Wednesday.

Shivata died in the Netherlands in 2016. She was a student of Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

At the wall of Nepal Art Council, Babarmahal, 55 artworks created by different artists have been displayed.

Artist Ragini is making effort to sell the art works created by her as well as other canvases she received in donation.

She said that the money raised from the sale would directly go to the Shivata Foundation to support girls’ education in Nepal.

The foundation is also generating awareness against Meningitis.

For Ragini, her daughter was her soul. “If the girls are educated, it will liberate them and teach them the value of integrity that can lead the society towards prosperity,” she said.

Her daughter was also an emerging artist who created canvases including “Don’t take my heart”, “An evening of life”, “Dying to feel alive” , “Blossom up and away” and “Come live in my heart”.

The foundation is now providing scholarship to 24 girls and a boy.

Ragini said she is helping young girls who come from low-income families under the ‘In My Dream’ project.

The foundation has also supported two art students to get scholarship at Suzhou Art and Design Technology Institute in China.

Ragini shared that she founded the organisation to fulfill the dream of her late daughter Shivata, who believed in spreading unconditional love and helping the neglected people through various philanthropic activities.

Artist Ragini has taken the title ‘In My Dream’ from her daughter's diary and is working untiringly to fulfill her daughter's dream through this project.

For this art exhibition, she had received 11 artworks from Indian Prof. Jaya Krishna Agarwal in donation and other Nepali artists and art students also contributed to exhibit their paintings for the good cause, said Ragini.

She said the second wave of COVID 19 was likely to affect the art sales and exhibitions. But the restrictions imposed to contain the virus also provide good time to the artists to engage in their creation.

Ragini had painted 25 canvases during the last lockdown. Ragini is utilising the upcoming lockdown time to write a book on her late daughter Savata and her spiritual journey.