Exhibition Review
`Art Treasures from the Land of Snows: Selections from the Tibet House Repatriation Collection' Tibet House US, New York 6 July - 22 September 2000

By David Weldon

Tibet House US recently showed a selection of Tibetan sculpture, paintings, ritual objects and artefacts from their Repatriation Collection. More selections are on show at a second exhibition, which runs until 3 May. As the collection's name implies, the long-term plan is for its presentation to a national museum in a free Tibet. For the time being, the collection embodies the heartfelt responses and gestures to the notion that this plan will, in time, become reality. The creation of a collection to conserve a diverse group of sacred artefacts from the vast range of Tibet's treasures is an important part of Tibet House's mandate from its patron, H.H. the Dalai Lama.

Gendun Gyatso (1475-1542) Tibet, c. 16th century Gilt copper alloy Height 24 cm Tibet House US Repatriation Collection

About eighty works were chosen, from over 150 donated items in the Repatriation Collection, including thangkas, sculptures and wooden book covers. The exhibition included previously unpublished photographs from the Griebenow Collection, taken between 1928 and 1949 at Labrang in eastern Tibet. The collection of over 3,000 photographs was conserved through a grant from the Henry R. Luce Foundation. There was also a select group of photographs taken in Tibet during the 1940s by the renowned Tibetologist Heinrich Harrer. These are poignant reminders of Tibet before the Chinese cultural intervention.

The exhibition was both aesthetically pleasing and informative, as all the objects have been carefully documented and conserved. The paintings, sculptures and photographs were well presented in the spacious Tibet House galleries, where there is also a permanent shrine room displaying a massive gilded image of Buddha.

One of the forty paintings on display was a fine 18th century portrayal of Milarepa painted in the eastern Tibetan Karma Gardri style. He is shown seated at ease on a rocky outcrop which is covered by an antelope skin, with his teacher Marpa above him amidst the clouds. A flaming jewel, a branch of red coral and other precious objects are placed in a bowl before him. Milarepa is a progenitor of the Kagyu lineage, but is perceived by Tibetans of all orders as the archetypal yogin, and held in the highest esteem for his heroic quest for knowledge. The portrait shows him relaxed and smiling, belying the legendary frustrations he endured on the path to enlightenment.

Portrayals of teachers and yogins such as Milarepa, and masters of the lineages form an important category of Tibetan art. A portrait of the Shamarpa Chokyi Wangchuk (1584-1630) is also painted in the eastern Tibetan manner. Below an offering of jewels in front of the lama, a single line of Tibetan capital script commands viewers to `bow at the feet of Shamarpa Chokyi Wangchuk'. Wearing the emblematic red hat of the Shamarpa lineage, he is portrayed against a simple landscape with cushion back and seat covered in finely patterned gold-and-blue textile. His voluminous outer robe is gathered around his crossed legs, and his hands are formed in the gesture of teaching with a text held in his right hand. He is said to have been proficient in Sanskrit, the language of the Indian sutras, and was considered one of the greatest scholars of his time.

A gilt-copper alloy image of the Second Dalai Lama Gendun Gyatso (1475-1542) dating to the 16th century was also on display. He is portrayed in monastic garb and an outer robe engraved with beautiful scrolling clouds interspersed with the `Seven Precious Jewels' (T. rinchen dun), and on a lotus seat inscribed `Homage to the Precious Master, the All-knowing Victorious Buddha Gendun Gyatso'. This individualistic rendition shows the Dalai Lama with a large, rounded head and a sage expression, holding a text in his lap.

The three images mentioned here are typical of the Tibetan artworks gifted to the Tibet House Repatriation Collection by benefactors who have been moved by the fundamental nature of the project. In particular, the donations represent an awareness that these art objects can function as a continuum between the Tibetan culture embodied in the works, and the culture that will emerge from the severe disruption of the 20th century under the steadying and insightful guidance of the Dalai Lama.