Art Exhibit - Tibetan Community

Tibetan Collection

Tibetan Wall Texts

The Sacred Arts of Tibet

Tibetan art has a rich and ancient history, predating the arrival of Buddhism from India (7th to 13th C.E). Over time, Tibetan art absorbed influences from Central Asia, Persia, China, and the subcontinent. Despite these external influences, Tibetan art retained its distinct identity and played an integral role in the culture.

Principle Forms of Tibetan Art Tibetan paintings traditionally appear in three main forms: Wall frescoes, Adornments to copied manuscripts, and Thangkas (scroll paintings). These art forms serve various roles, including decorative, meditative, and ritualistic purposes. They also convey core Buddhist values such as inner transformation, ethical precepts, and the key Buddhist concept of Compassion.

Preserving Buddhist Knowledge Between the 7th and 13th centuries, more than 4,500 core texts and commentaries were translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan by teams of scholar-translators. Many of the original Sanskrit texts were lost due to historical upheavals, but the Tibetan translations have preserved this knowledge. Alongside written texts, visual art was not merely illustrative but held a core role in the transmission of Buddhist teachings, making it an important medium for spiritual practice and meditation.

Impact of Chinese Rule on Tibetan Art

With the loss of Tibet to the People's Republic of China (PRC), the core of Tibetan culture became increasingly threatened. The Chinese Communist Party sought to reshape Tibetans within the framework of a totalitarian ideology. As a result, many works of Tibetan art were destroyed during the upheavals of this period, and Tibetan culture faced severe repression.

However, due to ongoing interaction with neighboring regions and the efforts of many ordinary Tibetans, some of Tibet’s most portable cultural materials—such as painted scrolls, block-printed texts, and smaller votive pieces—were able to escape destruction. These items were crucial in preserving Tibetan art and culture.

The Revival of Tibetan Art in the 1980s

By the 1980s, young artists in Tibet began cautiously creating art that was less prone to outright censorship than written works. Ancient Tibetan motifs were reinterpreted to address current issues of identity and sovereignty in periods of severe repression. Art became an important means of expressing the struggles of the Tibetan people, raising questions about their cultural identity, autonomy, and resistance.

Continuum of Tibetan Art

The development of Tibetan art can be best understood as a continuum. Artists continued to use traditional motifs while adapting them to address contemporary dilemmas and challenges. Some modern works featured here, created by artists from Lhasa-based galleries like the Gendun Choephel Gallery, have gained wider recognition outside of Tibet and within the Tibetan diaspora. However, these galleries have often been open and closed depending on political circumstances, highlighting the precariousness of artistic expression in Tibet.

For Tibetans, preserving and promoting Tibetan culture, especially through art, is an act of renewal and resilience. Despite facing ongoing occupation and repression, the Tibetan people continue to fight to keep their cultural heritage alive, using art as a tool for survival and resistance.

Gendun Choephel: A Legacy of Expression

Between 2000 and 2008, a small group of young Tibetan artists—sparked by a study-share program—formed an informal collective in Lhasa to explore creative expression in a rare window of relative freedom. Inspired by their namesake, Gendun Choephel, a visionary cleric, poet, and artist of the 1940s, the group used art to respond to the beauty of the Tibetan landscape and the tension of life under occupation.

Despite waves of censorship and closure, the collective continues today, committed to preserving Tibet’s artistic legacy—echoes of which still adorn the temples and halls of the plateau. Their work is part of a broader movement now carried forward by Tibetan artists in the diaspora, from India to Canada, the UK, and the U.S., united in purpose: to create, to resist, and to remember.

Iconic Tibetan Yaks

Samchung (Diaspora Artist)

Tibetan yaks form a protective space for women and children—evoking themes of flight, return, and shelter along uncertain paths. A quiet homage to resilience amid displacement.

Mahatma Gandhi Rendered in Tibetan Style

Karma Sichoe (Dharamsala-based Artist)

Created for the Tibetan translation of Life of Gandhi book cover, this artwork reimagines Gandhi through a Tibetan aesthetic lens—linking global nonviolence to Tibetan spiritual traditions.

New Realities in Tibet

Gendun Choephel Gallery

Montage of Buddha, PLA Soldier, Young Pioneer, and Young Woman. A layered visual commentary on identity and power in present-day Tibet—placing spiritual icons beside state symbols and personal figures to portray the contested realities of Tibetan life.

Mythical Flight over Tibetscape

Gendun Choephel Gallery

This imaginative piece draws on traditional Tibetan stories and myths, depicting a fantastical aerial journey through an otherworldly Tibetan landscape.

Underwater Tight Rope

Gendun Choephel Gallery

A surreal and symbolic scene reflecting the balancing act Tibetans must perform in negotiating difficult spaces—navigating submerged dangers, constraints, and delicate tensions in their lived experiences.

Mandala

Mid-9th century historic print

An ancient mandala guiding Buddhist practice through cosmological symbolism—offering insight into harmony, balance, and the path to spiritual transformation.