It seems hard to believe that the Tibetan students time studying at the University of Kansas has come to an end. They were here for just one semester, but long enough to enhance their understanding of English and American culture and to enrich us all with their presence. They spent their final days in Lawrence enjoying the hospitality of several home stay families for a few nights, and we are grateful to those individuals for opening up their homes to them and sharing their hospitality. These individuals joined others involved in this project on May 31 for a farewell dinner for the Tibetan students at a Lawrence restaurant.

I have not written as much as I could have about their experiences here, perhaps because these are so fresh in my mind but also out of respect for their privacy and one never knows who is reading this blog….

Thankfully, we received word that all five students returned safely and without incident to their homes in Golok. We hope that they can return to the University of Kansas again soon.

Eric C. Rath

Born in Tibet in 1966, Ngawang’s mother carried him into exile in India when he was two years old.  After graduating from the Tibetan Institute for Performing Arts in Dharamsala, India, he received a Fulbright Fellowship to study filmmaking and ethnomusicology at Middlebury College.

In 1995 he traveled to Tibet to make a documentary about Tibetan music. After just a month in the country, he was arrested and later sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for “espionage and counter-revolutionary activities.”  This sentence was later reduced, and Ngawang Choephel was released in 2002 after spending 6 years in a Chinese prison.  He currently lives in New York City.

Click here to see a preview of Tibet in Song. We look forward to you joining us on March 8 for this film and a conversation with Ngawang Choephel afterward.

- Eric C. Rath

Here is a pdf version of the flier: Tibet in Song Flier (PDF)

Is the snow in Kansas like the snow in Tibet?

On a recent visit to my home, the Tibetan students had the opportunity to try out some musical instruments. One knew how to play the piano (I will try to write about that another time), but others tried out the cello, an instrument that does not have a clear equivalent in Tibetan culture to my knowledge.

Trying out the cello

One of my fondest memories of Golok was dancing under the stars during a camp out. Car radios blasted Tibetan dance music for us. It has been too cold to try something similar in Kansas yet, but playing music is a good indoor activity for the winter.

Trying out a quarter size cello

I am not sure which memories will be the longest lasting for our students, but I hope that music forms a part of their experience studying in America.

- Eric Rath

Five Tibetan Students in front of Strong Hall, University of Kansas

It is wonderful to have them here.

- Eric Rath

Head of the Buddha by Sam Boje

Sam Boje also created several drawings inspired by Patrul Rinpoche’s Words of my Perfect Teacher, a required text in the Tibetan history course.  One section of this work describes the suffering of beings in three lower realms of existence: hell, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the realm of animals.  Sam depicted these in the following image.

Three Realms of Existence by Sam Boje

Sam Boje provides a provocative and novel interpretation of Tibet Buddhism in both works, and we are glad to be able to share these with you.

- Eric C. Rath

The Mayul School, located in Golog, does not need to adhere to this policy since it is a private vocational institution, but if Tibetan is dropped from the regular curriculum, then future students at the Mayul School will be less prepared for their course of study in Tibetan language. These changes might also cause a further deterioration of the attendance rate for Tibetan students, which averages just 2.2 years of education as opposed to over 10 years for Han Chinese living in urban areas.

Students Outside an Classroom Building, Mayul School, Qinghai

The loss of Tibetan as the language of instruction in schools would further endanger the vitality of Tibetan culture and identity, making the role of the Mayul School all the more important as a place where students can study traditional Tibetan culture, while learning foreign languages, in their own language. Preservation of native languages is a right affirmed in the Chinese constitution, which states: “The people of all nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages, and to preserve or reform their own ways and customs.” Our hope is that educational reform in Qinghai will align with this constitutional right and allow Tibetan school children to study Tibetan in Tibetan.

- Eric C. Rath

Dorje (right) teaching students the fundamentals of drawing (photo by Eric Conrad)

These handouts follow the methods of the Tibetan art teacher, Dorje, at the Mayul School.  Dorje begins each class by sketching a figure, and he often includes the template needed to create the correct proportions for the figure.  Students have to master the proportions on these templates to know how to draw according to Tibetan artistic conventions.  Tibetan paintings begin as drawings to which color is added, hence drawing is the literal foundation for Tibetan painting.

Professor Nam has provided images within a grid and the initial lines drawn onto that grid that form the foundation for two figures: the head of a Buddha and a seated Buddha.

Head of a Buddha (by Yoonmi Nam)

buddha head, detail

Guidelines to draw a Buddha's head (Yoonmi Nam)

Head Guidelines

Seated Buddha (by Yoonmi Nam)

seated buddha

Guidelines to draw a seated Buddha (by Yoonmi Nam)

Seated Buddha Guidelines

Try drawing your own Buddha and let us hear about it.

- Eric Rath

Eric Rath introduced the project, describing the aims and construction of the Mayul school profiling its students and current offering of courses that provide a context for the new courses on traditional art funded by our grant.  Champa Lhunpo described the religious practices and significance of traditional Tibetan painting to Tibetan culture and religiosity.  Eric Conrad and Yoonmi Nam explained the process that the teacher of Tibetan art, Dorje, uses to instruct students at the Mayul School.

Professors Conrad and Nam lecturing on Tibetan Drawing (photo by Dana Rath)

Typically, Dorje draws an image on the blackboard for students to copy and then he critiques their work as they reproduce his drawing in class.   This allows students to practice the proportions and stylistic conventions fundamental to Tibetan art.  Since paintings begin as sketches, drawing is the literal and physical foundation of Tibetan painting.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this event and made it possible.

- Eric Rath

“China’s Gao Brothers-Gao Qiang and Gao Zhen-have collaborated on their artwork since 1985. Much of the Gao Brothers’ work has been colored by their family’s experiences during China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-76). In 1968 the artists’ father was arrested as a counter revolutionary, and days later he died while in custody. The Gao Brothers’ works of art seek to understand China’s complicated history and a government that has moved from Communism to a form of State Capitalism controlled by the Communist Party. At times, the works are politically charged, but in the end the brothers seek to forgive and understand. Featuring large-scale sculpture, painting, and photography, this is the artists’ first museum exhibition in the United States.” (museum’s website: www.kemperart.org).

The film, “The  Sun Behind the Clouds,” describes conflicts within the Tibetan community in exile over the future of their campaign for an independent country or an autonomous part of China.

Yak Grazing, perhaps a vanishing site in rural Qinghai

One impact of environmental degradation is the government’s removal of Tibetan nomads off of the land and  to reservations where they cannot find work and face the loss of their traditional culture. As the article’s author, Jonathan Watts, writes:

“Qinghai is dotted with resettlement centres, many on the way to becoming ghettos. Nomads are paid an annual allowance – of 3,000 yuan (about £300) to 8,000 yuan per household – to give up herding for 10 years and be provided with housing. As in some native American reservations in the US and Canada, they have trouble finding jobs. Many end up either unemployed or recycling rubbish or collecting dung.”

We witnessed the construction of many of these ghettos which consist of row after row of small houses with little other infrastructure around them, as I have written about elsewhere on this blog. The full text of the Guardian article is available here.