Lavkant Chaudhary (b.1988) is an artist from Sarlahi based in Kathmandu. Chaudhary belongs to the Tharu community, and his art addresses issues related to the history, society, and politics of the Tarai, centering around the Tharu people’s struggle for rights and recognition. Embedding indigenous vocabularies within historical sources, he aims to unravel the multiple injustices of indentured servitude, extrajudicial killings, environmental
degradation, and political disenfranchisement that the Tharus have faced at the hands of the Nepali state. Paramount to his art are narratives of resistance and resilience amidst longitudinal suffering.

Chaudhary completed his BFA from Tribhuvan University in 2015. His first solo exhibition “MAASINYA DASTOOR” was held at Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu in 2019. In January 2022 he exhibited at Colomboscope. He has also exhibited at the Kathmandu Triennale in March 2022, the Biennale of Sydney 2020, and the Dhaka Art Summit 2020, as a part of the collective ArTree Nepal. In 2018, he was a part of the Students’ Biennale at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale.