Tibetan Monastic Artifacts in Exposition

KATHMANDU, March 3: It was the sight of those Siberian cranes, the kohl-eyed beauties and lotus ponds that made Tibetan king Srong Tsong Gompo think twice about his intention to wage war on Nepal in the late seventh century. [break]

As Pasang Tsering, the Tibet-born art dealer in Nepal, informs, Gompo instead began courting Bhrikuti, the daughter of the King from Bhaktapur. According to him, the king, who later married Bhrikuti, was so impressed with the cranes he had them printed on his robes. Since then, these cranes found ample space in Tibetan textiles.

A fragment of silk tapestry put in an exhibition entitled “Monastic Mogul Silks” at Indigo Gallery since this Saturday, isn’t as old as Gompo. This time cranes flying over Mount Kailash are imprinted on silk. The seventeen century old textile owned by Pauline Swindle of the UK is put on exhibition for auction. Thanks to the recession, we were able to see them here in Kathmandu.

“Swindle lost some money in the stock market,” organizer Rupert Smith said, sipping red wine. “I tried selling them in San Francisco too, but you know this recession…” he added.

Tibet, once considered to be the heart of central Asia’s business and trade, was appropriately located at the end of the Silk Road. Hence the traders from various places met up in Mount Kailash and bartered goods as diverse as Venetian glass, Caucasian rugs, central Asian bronze talismans and Mongol silks, to name a few, in exchange for yak hair tents.

Historians claim that before the Cultural Revolution in 1966, these artifacts used to be stored in monasteries. Then the Chinese government prohibited everyone from owning or using any materials of cultural significance. The goods were either destroyed or secretly exported abroad.

The artifacts in the exposition are some of those traded from Tibet after the Cultural Revolution. Most of the exhibits date somewhere between the 13th and the 18th century, and many still have their gold-paper intact, keeping the original magnificence unharmed. In particular, the lotus designs from the 17th century Kangxi reign are so fresh you can almost smell the rawness of the textile.

“Before the twentieth century, Tibetans didn’t shave the yak hairs. The hair used to shed naturally and people collected them to weave tapestries,” Pasang said. “But after the rise of consumerism and the demand for high quality yak hair, the Tibetans started shaving the hair of their yaks before it naturally shed, thus making the textiles weaker than in the past.”

Although Tibetan textiles are versatile in design, most of the exhibits contain Buddhist symbols such as dragons, bird, lotuses, and Buddhist deities. These images are considered part of the Chinese pantheon of design. But as Rupert argues, they were adopted relatively late in history by Chinese workshops and are rooted in Central Asian and ancient western culture.

The lotus in particular, which has strong roots in Hindu mythology, tells of the bicultural influence of Tibetan art. Besides these, it also displays the Russian summer chuba fragment and Vietnamese indigo-dyed tiger design.

Dhamchen Choegyal, the appliqué thanka made of Dharma Raja, better known as Bishwaroop in Nepal by Tsering Penjor, is another interesting work. The statue of Bishwaroop in Pashupatinath Temple is a Nepali testimonial to the influence to Buddhism.

Now the Chinese government has banned importing or exporting ancient Tibetan artifacts, people are flocking to buy them. And its influence has fallen on the Nepali market as well. Tenzing N Ukyab, for instance, who sold Tibetan artifacts for years, has closed his shop “Great Finds” at Durbar Marg as he no longer has anything left to sell.

“The Chinese, who once burnt down all these artifacts during the Cultural Revolution, have found new love in it,” Ukyab said. According to him, most of his customers were Chinese and wanted to restore them.

Hence, in a time like this, the exhibition comes as a breakthrough to culture vultures. The exhibition has twenty-three textiles on display and will run through to March 10.

bhushita@myrepublica.com