The Taragaon Museum

Taragaon Next, formerly the Taragaon Museum, is a private gallery and documentation center located in the northern part of Kathmandu, Nepal, near the Bouddhanath stupa. Established in its current form in 2014, the institution operates as a space for documentation, research, museology, and conservation concerning architecture, the history of Nepal, and the intangible heritage of the Himalayan terrain. It sits on the grounds of the Taragaon Regency hotel, which owns the complex, and is supported by the Saraf Foundation. The museum serves as a platform for artists, writers, photographers, architects, anthropologists, and cartographers committed to ecology and material history.

The site's origins trace to 1969 when His Majesty's Government acquired land and transferred it to the Nepal Women's Association. Angur Baba Joshi, a prominent Nepalese scholar, envisioned a cultural village for artists and commissioned Austrian architect Carl Pruscha, a UN and UNESCO consultant, to design a hostel. Construction began in 1974, and the complex was inaugurated on September 25, 1974, in the presence of Queen Aishwarya Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah. Following the abolition of the Nepal Women's Association in 1990, the hostel was abandoned in 1997. In 2009, Arun and Namita Saraf launched a restoration project to preserve the derelict structure and transform it into a museum. Pruscha was invited back in 2011 to rethink the space. The restoration, spearheaded by Natasha Mittal Saraf under the guidance of Neils Gutschow and Thomas Schrom, took over four years. The museum opened to the public in 2014 with an exhibition curated by Gutschow and Schrom, comprising 90 works by 23 global scholars.

The museum covers 35,000 square feet and focuses on conserving and documenting the research and observations of foreign artists, photographers, architects, and scholars regarding the Kathmandu Valley. Its permanent collection includes 18th and 19th century ethnographic photographs, watercolors, engravings, artist sketches, archaeological plans, maps, drawings, and other historical documentation. These materials represent early foreign impressions of Nepal. Beyond its permanent holdings, the institution houses a contemporary art gallery, an event hall, and two outdoor amphitheaters. It also hosts the Bodhisattva Gallery, which showcases Newa art, and the Pathivara Gallery, exhibiting Thangka paintings.

Signature holdings include early photographs of Kathmandu from the 19th century, alongside archaeological plans and maps drawn by the first foreign advisors to visit the valley. The museum displays elaborate handmade drawings, etchings, and detailed sketches of historic buildings in the Kathmandu Valley. Sketches by both Nepali and international artists exhibited during the museum's programs also form part of the visual record. The inaugural 2014 exhibition, curated by Neils Gutschow and Thomas Schrom, featured 90 specific works contributed by 23 scholars from across the globe, establishing the foundation of the museum's documentation of translocal history.

The building is one of Nepal's first modern structures, designed by Carl Pruscha in 1971. Pruscha modeled the complex on traditional Dharmashalas, or pilgrim lodges, found in temple complexes. The architecture blends European modernism with Nepalese forms, utilizing minimalist design devoid of ornamentation. The standard units feature barrel vaulted ceilings and monastic cell-like rooms made exclusively of brick, including the walls, floors, vaulted ceilings, and inbuilt benches. The barrel vaults were constructed using moving segmental shuttering supported by bamboo poles, consisting of one brick on edge layered over bitumen insulation. This brick mass provided a cooling effect, while the openness at both ends of the rooms allowed for cross ventilation. The complex originally contained 14 small residential units and two larger common buildings, separated by brick-paved quadrangles and paths, arranged on a staggered terraced landscape leading to a lowered village square.

The Taragaon Museum is located within the premises of the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu hotel complex in the Boudha area, approximately a ten minute walk from the Bouddhanath stupa. The property is owned by Taragaon Regency Hotel Limited. The museum campus serves as an active cultural venue, hosting art related events, festivals, book releases, and musical performances. It was one of the host venues for the Kathmandu Triennale 2077, alongside the Patan Museum, Bahadur Shah Baithak, Nepal Art Council, and Siddhartha Art Gallery. The complex also includes a cafeteria for visitors.