"A unique study of the ways in which the idea of Tibet has been imagined by Tibetan artists both in exile in India and in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (T.A.R.) of the People's Republic of China ... Based on fieldwork conducted over a six-year period during which the author interviewed and photographed Tibetan artists at work in their communities, Harris's study explores how 'Tibet' came to be imagined anew ... provides a fascinating portrait of Tibetan art produced in two parallel but connected worlds--the world of Tibetan refugee painters living in exile and the world of Tibetan painters who remain in Tibet"--Back cover.
In the past century, the Western view of Tibet has evolved from an exotic Shangri-la filled with golden idols and the promise of immortality, to a peaceful land with an enlightened society now ravaged by outside aggression. How and why did our perception change? How accurate are our modern conceptions of Tibet? Imagining Tibet is a collection of essays that reveal these Western conceptions. Providing an historical background to the West's ever-changing relationship with Tibet, Donald Lopez, Jeffrey Hopkins, Jamyang Norbu, and other noted scholars explore a variety of topics - from Western perceptions of Tibetan approaches to violence, monastic life, and life as a nation in exile, to representations of Tibet in Western literature, art, environmentalism, and the New Age movement.
For millions of people around the world, Tibet is a domain of undisturbed tradition, the Dalai Lama a spiritual guide. By contrast, the Tibet Museum opened in Lhasa by the Chinese in 1999 was designed to reclassify Tibetan objects as cultural relics and the Dalai Lama as obsolete. Suggesting that both these views are suspect, Clare E. Harris argues in The Museum on the Roof of the World that for the past one hundred and fifty years, British and Chinese collectors and curators have tried to convert Tibet itself into a museum, an image some Tibetans have begun to contest. This book is a powerful account of the museums created by, for, or on behalf of Tibetans and the nationalist agendas that have played out in them. Harris begins with the British public’s first encounter with Tibetan culture in 1854. She then examines the role of imperial collectors and photographers in representations of the region and visits competing museums of Tibet in India and Lhasa. Drawing on fieldwork in Tibetan communities, she also documents the activities of contemporary Tibetan artists as they try to displace the utopian visions of their country prevalent in the West, as well as the negative assessments of their heritage common in China. Illustrated with many previously unpublished images, this book addresses the pressing question of who has the right to represent Tibet in museums and beyond.
Magnificent and mysterious, Tibet has been a source of fascination for outsiders for centuries, and its grand landscapes and vibrant culture have especially captivated photographers. But the country is both geographically and politically challenging, and access from the outside has never been easy. With this book, Clare Harris offers the first historical survey of photography in Tibet and the Himalayas, telling the intriguing stories of both Tibetans and foreigners who have attempted to document the region’s wonders on film. Harris combines extensive research in museums and archives with her own fieldwork in Tibetan communities to present materials that have never been examined before—including the earliest known photograph taken in Tibet, dating to 1863. She looks at the experimental camera-work of Tibetan monks—including the thirteenth Dalai Lama—and the creations of contemporary Tibetan photographers and artists. With every image she explores the complex religious, political, and cultural climate in which it was produced. Stunningly illustrated, this book will appeal to anyone interested in the dramatic history of Tibet since the mid-nineteenth century and its unique entanglements with aesthetics and modernity.
The state of Tibetan culture within contemporary China is a highly politicized topic on which reliable information is rare. Based on fieldwork and interviews conducted between 1998 and 2000 in China's Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures, this book investigates the present conditions of Tibetan cultural life and cultural expression.
This book explores the synergy between development and conflict in the Tibetan areas of Western China from the mid-1990s onward, when rapid economic growth occurred alongside a particularly assimilationist policy approach. Based on accessible economic analysis and extensive in...
With the spread of Buddhism among Westerners and the controversy over its status, interest in Tibet has never been greater. This mysterious land, now a province of the People's Republic of China, has produced some of the most fascinating and creative art in the world. From silk embroidery and textiles to painting, sculpture, and manuscripts, Tibetan art has striking qualities that set it apart from other Buddhist and Asian art. Robert Fisher takes the reader through the history of Tibetan art, starting from its origins in the early days of the Tibetan kingdom. From a bleak and often inaccessible landscape arose a religious and artistic world so vibrant and sophisticated that even China's emperors commissioned works. The art and spiritual life of the region are inextricably intertwined, and Dr. Fisher explores the distinctive character of that relationship. Careful attention is also given to ritual objects, which comprise some of the most important works of art in Tibetan culture.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead brings together a range of stunning images by the renowned photographer Thomas Kelly, with a contextual analysis and abridged translation by the ubiquitous Tibetologist Glenn H. Mullin. The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or Bardo Todol, is one of the great classics of Tibetan literature. The present volume is a fresh look at this timeless classic. It brings together a range of stunning images by the renowned photographer Thomas Kelly, with a contextual analysis and abridged translation by the ubiquitous Tibetologist Glenn H. Mullin. As such, the Bardo Todol is as relevant as a guidebook to daily (and nightly) living as it is to a successful death and transmigration. Thomas Kelly s photographs bring this great Tibetan classic to life, and draw the reader into a deeper sense of the spiritual environment in which The Tibetan Book of the Dead exists.
This unique book reveals the existence of an advanced civilization where none was known before, presenting an entirely new perspective on the culture and history of Tibet. In his groundbreaking study of an epic period in Tibet few people even knew existed, John Vincent Bellezza details the discovery of an ancient people on the most desolate reaches of the Tibetan plateau, revolutionizing our ideas about who Tibetans really are. While many associate Tibet with Buddhism, it was also once a land of warriors and chariots, whose burials included megalithic arrays and golden masks. This first Tibetan civilization, known as Zhang Zhung, was a cosmopolitan one with links extending across Eurasia, bringing it in line with many of the major cultural innovations of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. Based on decades of research, The Dawn of Tibet draws on a rich trove of archaeological, textual, and ethnographic materials collected and analyzed by the author. Bellezza describes the vast network of castles, temples, megaliths, necropolises, and rock art established on the highest and now depopulated part of the Tibetan plateau. He relates literary tales of priests and priestesses, horned deities, and the celestial afterlife to the actual archaeological evidence, providing a fascinating perspective on the origins and development of civilization. The story builds to the present by following the colorful culture of the herders of Upper Tibet, an ancient people whose way of life is endangered by modern development. Tracing Bellezza’s epic journeys across lands where few Westerners have ventured, this book provides a compelling window into the most inaccessible reaches of Tibet and a civilization that flourished long before Buddhism took root.
