Contemporary Tibetan Art: PART 2

It is hard to believe in a community literally built around the Dalai Lama — with its influx of tourists and refugees, that there is not a space dedicated to contemporary art.

Tibetan culture is steeped in art; and while in the summer it is easy to find music and dance events at the Tibet Institute for Performing Art featuring traditional and new music and dance, there is no set home for contemporary art.

I wrote about Peak Art Gallery on Huffington Post soon after it opened.

I’m very proud of how involved they are with the local community – they are the only home for young contemporary artists.

Today, when I visited, the manager told me about a young artist, newly arrived from Tibet. He is staying at the reception center, and does not have any money for art supplies.

I’ve had other friends who have been here for quite some time see this as a obstacle in the community — newly-arrived refugees, most of who do not speak English, often have trouble assimilating the skills they had at home in Tibet into a new culture and economy. They simply do not have the resources.

In a small town, I firmly believe this can be solved one person at a time. And, Peak Art Gallery is a great example of this.

Peak art is starting a ‘sponsors’ program. Built on Respect made the first donation today, and the money will buy art supplies for this artist.

Art is vital in telling the stories, and in the case of Tibet, it is sometimes the only way to share the experiences of the current situation inside this highly-censored country.

There is a group of FaceBook, listed under Peak Art Gallery.
Visit their website if you would like to learn more about the artists.

Tags: Tibetan Art