Contemporary Tibetan art

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For more than a thousand years, Tibetan artists have played a key role in the cultural life of Tibet. From designs for painted furniture to elaborate murals in religious buildings, their efforts have permeated virtually every facet of life on the Tibetan plateau and defined a visual style which is distinctly Tibetan. The vast majority of surviving artworks created before the mid-20th century are dedicated to the depiction of religious subjects and are imbued with tradition both in terms of technique, for the most part being distemper on cloth or murals, and subject matter drawn from the rich panoply of religious texts. They were commissioned by religious establishments or by pious individuals for use within the practice of Tibetan Buddhism and, despite the existence of flourishing workshops, the artists were largely anonymous. These works not only document key philosophical and spiritual concepts but also demonstrate the vitality of Tibetan aesthetics over the centuries in terms of the development of particular schools and the cross-fertilisation of stylistic influences from other countries such as China, Nepal and India.

Today, however, Tibetan art presents a very different picture, where there is a truly vibrant, modern and exciting artistic scene waiting to be discovered. There are some who have returned to the traditionalist styles of their forefathers, painting thangka (religious scroll paintings) that retain the iconographic and aesthetic qualities of earlier work. Others follow a 'middle way' combining lessons from the art of the past with motifs and techniques that reflect Tibet’s modernity. Yet another group is inventing a completely new type of Tibetan painting which draws inspiration from contemporary art movements in Asia and the West to produce radical, even avant-garde, works. However, all three approaches are to some extent engaged in a dialogue with the past and with the works of Tibetan artists of previous centuries.