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Signature: _____________________________ ______________ Leigh Miller Date Contemporary Tibetan Art and Cultural Sustainability in Lhasa, Tibet By Leigh Miller Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts _________________________________________ Dr. Angelika Bammer Advisor _________________________________________ Dr. Joyce Flueckiger Committee Member _________________________________________ Dr. Anna Grimshaw Committee Member _________________________________________ Dr. Robert A. Paul Committee Member Accepted: _________________________________________ Lisa A. Tedesco, Ph.D. Dean of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies ___________________ Date Contemporary Tibetan Art and Cultural Sustainability in Lhasa, Tibet By Leigh Miller Master of Arts, Emory University, 2006 Advisor: Angelika Bammer, PhD An abstract of A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts 2014 Abstract Contemporary Tibetan Art and Cultural Sustainability in Lhasa, Tibet By Leigh Miller The novel cultural phenomenon of contemporary Tibetan art emerged in Lhasa in the 1980s and gained international visibility in the first decade of the twenty-first century, and yet is not well understood as an expression of modern Tibetan culture. Contemporary Tibetan artists in Lhasa work to express Tibetanness, relationships to Buddhism, and their pasts in modern Tibet. Their contexts, practices and discourses surrounding art in contemporary Lhasa suggest art impacts cultural identity, representation and transmission, and may be a pioneering practice of cultural sustainability in post-Mao Lhasa. This study investigates the shifting historical, political, social and visual contexts in which modern and contemporary artistic practices and discourses have arisen and to which artworks respond. These include the construction of Tibetanness as an ethnic minority identity in the PRC by the State and non-Tibetans in primitive and exotic or romantic modes, in contrast to which self-representations by Tibetan artists such as Tsewang Tashi and Tsering Nyandak assert their modernity and cultural heritage. Tibet’s long history of religious art, in which art and artists had specific material and ritual functions and relationships to society, traditions uprooted by Communist occupation, yield complicated relationships to Buddhism. Artists find in Buddhist imagery a visual language that speaks far beyond traditional religious interpretations, as explored in Gade’s artistic career. Artists in Tibet overcome and transcend spiritual, political, artistic, and professional obstacles. Acknowledging often silenced but pervasive concerns with the past in some cases constitutes a form of creative memory work, as in Nortse’s art. In the post-Mao and post-Deng eras, innovative artistic production works to some extent as a bulwark against the annihilating forces of trauma, colonialism, globalization and racism that threaten to undermine indigenous cultural continuity and survival. At a time when Tibet’s future is far from guaranteed, I conclude Tibetan contemporary artists ultimately pioneer practices of cultural sustainability. Contemporary Tibetan Art and Cultural Sustainability in Lhasa, Tibet By Leigh Miller Master of Arts, Emory University, 2006 Advisor: Angelika Bammer, PhD A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts 2014 Acknowledgements There are so many causes and conditions that came together to enable this study, Contemporary Tibetan Art and Cultural Sustainability. The project could not have arisen in my imagination nor been feasible without the experiences, funding, training, and generosity of teachers and friends throughout my Himalayan studies, travels, and work over the past 18 years. While there are so many to whom I am indebted and would like to express my gratitude, some were central to the fruition of this particular project. I am deeply appreciative of generous research funding during my doctoral studies from Emory University in several grants and fellowships: Internationalization Grants for pre- dissertation research, the Ford Foundation Vernacular Modernities Fellowship, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Graduate Fellowship, in addition to support from the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts. I am honored and grateful to have been offered a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation fellowship and to have accepted the opportunity to be a Fulbright Scholar in China. In Lhasa, I was lucky to share ideas and experiences and make friends with resident Tibetans and scholars from around the world. For collegial friendships that pushed my thinking and work to sounder and richer ground, I thank: Susan Chen, Ariana Maki, Annabella Pitkin, Tina Harris, Holly Gayley, Stacey van Vleet, Kabir Heimsath, Venerable Damcho Diane Finnegan, Nancy Lin, Maggie Hui, Andrew Quintman (and for permitting me use of his photographs herein), Nicole Willock, Cameron Warner, and Brandon Dodson. In Atlanta, I cherished two brilliant friends: Kristi McKim, who shared her sensitivity to the world so beautifully, and Amira Jarmakani, embodiment of dedication to her heart’s noble convictions and who gave me the Queen of Swords. William Edelglass has been a beloved elder brother throughout this project and in explorations of life well lived beyond academia, both made lighter by the jokes and affection shown me by “the main thing.” Friends Tsering Digi, Champa, Lobsang, Pema, Drolma, Kacham, and others at Hope Corner brought me into their families and out on meals and adventures in and around Lhasa; I have enormous respect for the motivations and aspirations they cherish in challenging circumstances. The academic field of Tibetan Studies is astounding for the depth of scholarship cultivated in the short time of its existence, and for its generous scholars who encourage new directions. In particular, several Tibetologists found my orientation to interdisciplinary cultural studies and work with contemporary artists to be progressive, despite it being far from central to Tibetan Studies or Tibetan art history. For their inspiring model scholarship and support, I thank Clare Harris, Amy Heller, Heather Stoddard, David Germano, Robbie Barnett, Christian Luczanits, Jeff Watt, Rob Linrothe, Ronald Schwartz, and Tsering Shakya. At Tibet University, I’d like to thank my many gifted Tibetan language teachers, Mrs. Wei Hong in the Office for Foreign Students, and the Tibet Himalayan Digital Library under Liu Ying’s management and David Germano’s direction. For an interviews and research assistance regarding the life and influence of Gedun Choephel, I thank Thubten Wangpo (Lhasa), Yudrung Gyal (Shoepang, Amdo), Sherab at the Rebgong Cultural Center and Library, and the artist Dhondrup Tsetan (Rebgong). Thubten Phuntsok, Professor of Tibetan Studies at Central University for Nationalities, Beijing, offered invaluable assistance. Pema Yangchen, Deyang, Losang, and Penpa Yondron, and Marion Chaygneaud were wonderful language and research assistants who brought much cheer and insight to the labor. While in Lhasa, I was also encouraged and supported in this work by gallery owners Fabio Rossi, Ian Alsop, and Stephen McGuiness. I was especially honored to spend time in Lhasa and Beijing with Tsering Woeser, from whom I learned a great deal about emotional and poetic realities that transcend literal words or images, even as they are grounded in the concrete everyday, and in the tangled mess of history and memory. Most of all, however, it is to the artists I must express my greatest appreciation, respect, and gratitude. There were some who, as is evident from the frequency with which they appear in this study, showed tremendous trust and generosity of time and energy to share their lives and works and thoughts with me: Tsering Nyandak, Nortse, Gade, Tsewang Tashi, and Gonkar Gyatso. These five always offered fascinating conversation, practical assistance of all kinds, and had great senses of humor. I also benefitted from and was stimulated and intrigued by the artwork and conversations I enjoyed with other artists who, for sheer practical considerations of space and focus I was unable to highlight in this study: Dedron, Penpa Wangdu, Phurpu Dorje, Anu Shelkar, Tsarang Dhondrup, Benpa Chungdak, Jhamsang, Lobsang Tashi, and Penpa all live so vividly in my mind’s eye and fond recollections. Some are members of the Gedun Choephel Guild and others were independent artists. All of the members of the Gedun Choephel Artists’