Галерея NAAM в Сидхбари объединяет медитативное искусство Эльзбет Бусшманн и наследие британского художника А.У. Халлетта

Tucked away at Sidhbari, the NAAM Art Gallery is where German painter Elsbeth Buschmann brings together art, meditation and the Himalayan spirit, while preserving the visual legacy of British painter AW Hallett, whose canvases captured Dharamsala’s landscapes, people and culture. For German painter and writer Elsbeth Buschmann, Dharamsala was not merely a destination — it became a calling. Drawn to the Dhauladhar mountains and in search of a deeper spiritual understanding, she left Germany in the late 1980s and started living in the Himalayan foothills. Years later, her artistic and spiritual journey found another expression in the NAAM Art Gallery at Sidhbari, where her paintings share space with the works of another artist who had made Dharamsala his own — British painter AW Hallett. Born in Limburg, Germany, Elsbeth began painting as a child. She studied art and literature in Switzerland, London and Paris, learning under studio teachers rather than through a conventional art school. Her travels through museums and galleries across the world exposed her to diverse artistic traditions. A stay in Mexico proved particularly influential, prompting her to move beyond conventional landscapes in oils and watercolours towards a more personal and abstract visual language. Elsbeth’s artistic credentials were already well established before arriving in India. During a three-year stay in the United States, she had exhibited widely and received awards. Yet, it was a meeting with Sant Thakar Singh in Frankfurt in 1981 that altered the course of her life. The Sant’s teachings on inner sound and light aroused in her a profound interest in Indian spirituality. In 1987, Elsbeth travelled to India and eventually settled in the Dharamkot area above McLeodganj. The Dhauladhars, overlooking the Kangra valley, became both her physical refuge and artistic inspiration. She later married Prithvi Raj Bali, a local banker and nature photographer, who, too, was drawn towards spirituality. The two now reside at Gamru above Kotwali Bazaar in Dharamsala. For Elsbeth, painting and meditation are inseparable. Her abstract works seek to explore what lies beneath appearances, rather than merely reproduce the world before the eye. “Nothing is as it appears,” she says, describing painting as a way of probing the reality underlying all things. Mountains and circles recur throughout her work. The mountains, she believes, embody movement and repose simultaneously, creating a sense of timelessness. The circle, without beginning or end, becomes a symbol of infinity and unity that lies beyond apparent dualities. The NAAM Art Gallery, which Elsbeth established at Sidhbari on the Dharamsala-Chamunda road, reflects this philosophy. Its collection includes her abstract works inspired by meditation, alongside the paintings of flowers and nature. A section of the gallery is devoted to AW Hallett, British painter who had spent more than four decades in Dharamsala. Hallett’s works preserve the glimpses of the region’s landscape, people and culture, including his much-admired ‘Piper of Dharamkot’, depicting a Gaddi playing the pipe alongside a Gorkha soldier. Elsbeth acquired these paintings during Hallett’s lifetime. While the metropolitan art circuit could have offered greater commercial returns, Elsbeth chose instead to give back to the landscape that had inspired her and enriched her artistic journey. Her decision to establish a gallery in Dharamsala was, in her words, ‘An expression of gratitude’. In Elsbeth’s world, therefore, the canvas is not simply a surface for colour. It is a space for contemplation — a meeting point where the majesty of the Himalayas, the discipline of meditation and the mystery of existence converge. Read what others can’t with The Tribune Premium