Thik Cha was a project from artist's Tom Caron-Delion and Gaurab Thakali, it was funded by Converse via their 'Young and Laced' collective, a scheme to help young creatives carry out projects that they otherwise wouldn't have for.
Thik Cha manifested itself in the form of an Exhibition at the 'Embassy Tea Gallery' in Southwark, London. The artist's also worked alongside Graphic design firm 'Our Place', to design and self publish a book of the work.
"A collaboration of artists; Tom Caron-Delion and Gaurab Thikali, 'Thik Cha' presents work accumulated and created in Nepal in the aftermath of the recent earthquakes. Gaurab, an illustrator and printmaker returned to his country of origin to explore his native landscape, interpreting the scenery in drawings, which have been turned into a series of colourful large-scale screen-prints. Gaurabs recognisable style of illustration is an art that he developed in London and this is where the conversation between artists and cultures is presented. Tom Caron-Delion, a photographer whose work often revolves around communities in South London has produced a series of photographs which compliment and assist Gaurabs prints, referencing the same Landscapes and documenting the act of making work.
The two artists also sought to leave an imprint of London culture in Nepal. They approached this through skateboarding, appropriating the Nepalese architecture by skateboarding on previously un-skated areas of the city and tracking down a small community of skateboarders which was already thriving. These figures, among others, appear throughout the series and symbolise the goodwill and strength of the Nepalese people who, in the aftermath of the earthquake, and in the middle of a political embargo, enforced on the Indian border, show the tenacity to keep moving forward. Tom’s photographs present a time in a place of great unrest but of a people who were eager to welcome the Artists into their community."