This exhibition seeks to question the portrayal of the local people involved in imperial mountain expeditions. These men were skilled high-altitude porters, interpreters, sardars, and guides. Their labour built the routes, camps, and knowledge that made Everest ‘climbable’ for the foreigners who became household names. While the people who bore great risks remained unnamed, their courage and sacrifices forgotten, their stories unwritten. Through this project, we aim to preserve these personal histories, photographs, and documents that reimagine Everest’s legacy. By sharing these stories, we are building a collective archive - one that centers local lives and experiences behind the expeditions to the world’s most iconic peak. 

The title “बाउको धुरी छैन” (Father Has No Roof Over His Head) comes from a family memory passed down through generations. Ang Tshering Sherpa’s wife, Passang Diki Sherpa would tell their children that their migrant father has no roof over his head as his work kept him away from home, far in the high mountains. In Himalayan culture, the ‘Dhuri’ is the roof ridge, the backbone of a house’s roof. To have none is to live without shelter, permanence, or rest. “बाउको धुरी छैन” as an exhibition, seeks to remember and preserve the collective memory of the Himalayan labourers. It hopes to remember lives long overlooked. Asserting that the true backbone of Everest expedition history was never the summit, but the porters who bore the burdens, the interpreters who bridged words and worlds,the sacred mountains and traditions they honoured and the families and land they left behind.