Published by World Tibet Network News - Saturday, January 06, 1996

By Louise Huyette - The Art Newspaper, No 54, December 1995

HONG KONG. The question of what remains of Tibet's cultural heritage is a tricky one. A certain amount survives with the Dalai Lama's government in exile in Dharamsala, as also in the former Tibetan kingdoms of eastern Kashmir and northern Nepal, and in the Indian territory of Sikkim and the kingdom of Bhutan. However, in Tibet's heartland, now known as the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), it has been estimated that perhaps more than 90% of the region's monuments, palaces, monasteries, temples and libraries have been destroyed or looted since the 1950s. While a great deal of that destruction can be marked up to the evils of the Cultural Revolution, the PRC's current policy of "Socialism with Capitalist characteristics" has engendered a property speculation and building boom that has virtually spelled the end for much of what managed to survive the 1960s and 1970s, particularly in the capital Lhasa.

There have been efforts by the region's government, primarily within the capital, to preserve a few major monuments, such as the Potala Palace and the "Lhasa Cathedral", the Jokhang. While their efforts must be applauded, the painful truth is that the fanfare and bustle around the preservation of these few "tourist" sites had tended to deflect attention from other, equally, if not more, important sites that are either under threat from the wrecker's ball or will simply collapse due to years of misuse followed by neglect.

It was with this in mind that a year ago a group, made up primarily of specialists on Tibet and Tibetan art, was formed in Paris to identify and fund the preservation of sites on the Tibetan plateau. Naming them selves the Shalu Association and led by Dr. Heather Stoddard, Head of the Tibetan Section of the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO), the group envisaged working together with the government of Tibet Autonomous Region and the local population to preserve and restore selected sites. In effect, they hoped to help foster and guide a grassroots movement for the preservation of the plateau's cultural heritage.This they would do by contributing funds (donations to the association), hands-on organisation of the projects, and by serving as a conduit for the people of Tibet to gain access to Western specialists and Western techniques of restoration and preservation.

After one year of activity, the group has gone a long way to realising its goals. Working together with the Cultural Committee of the Norbulingka (Summer Palace) and with the director of the Potala Palace, Jamyang. the group's proposed activities to restore a group of six sites-four monasteries, a temple and a manor house-was also given the approval by the region's Department of Culture. The plan to involve the local communities has also been a success. With all but one of the chosen sites active or re-activated religious buildings, both monks and laity have contributed to the labour force and even funding of the projects. To quote Sonam Wangdu of the Norbulingka, "everybody is working as if for their own family".

All of the sites were chosen because they were considered by Shalu Association to be of top historical and artistic importance. One of the great water-sheds of Tibetan culture was the period of the diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet, which began in the late tenth century. Four of the sites date from this general period: the temple of Yemar and the monasteries of Shalu (after which the association was named), Drathang and Rithang. Of these, Shalu and Drathang contain price-less wall paintings dating from the eleventh century, while the temple of Yemar has fragments of stucco sculpture from this peri od. Founded in the twelfth century, Rithang contains murals in the style of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The paintings and sculpture in this group of buildings alone form a treasure house of an artistic period in Ti bet's history of which there are few other extant examples.

The fourth monastery being restored with the association's help is Gongkar Chode, founded in the sixteenth century and with magnificent murals dating from this more "baroque" period of Tibetan painting. The last site, the house of Namseling dates from the fourteenth century, and is the only one of these palaces of Tibet's secular nobility with its walls standing.

As far as reconstruction is concerned, workers are hired or volunteer to rebuild walls and roofs, as this part of the restoration relies primarily on local construction techniques, many of which would not be much different from not be much different from those used when these buildings were originally erected. When it comes to preserving the painting and sculpture, however, more expertise is needed. The workshops that first made these works have long since disappeared, and the tendency of local communities has been to repaint the sculptures garishly and to over-paint or heavily touch-up the murals. It can be argued that most of these structures are primarily for the needs of the Buddhist faithful and not to be enshrined as museums, but the Shalu Association also believes that this primary purpose can be maintained without sacrificing artistic heritage. Next year the association is fund ing a three-month stay in France -for two Tibetan students to train with Jean-Michel Terrier, an expert restorer for the Mus

ees de France and a specialist in Tibetan art. Another six Tibetan students will undergo similar training in Tibet with another conservation specialist.

Given the extent of their activities, the association's costs are surprisingly low, the combined budget 1996 for the two largest projects, Shalu and Namseling, reaching only $96,000, to include the two training programmes. A sum like that might easily be paid by a Tibetan art lover for a single thangka or bronze sculpture, which gives pause for the thought that perhaps some of that money could be better spent preserving sites in Tibet rather than just purchasing fragments outside of it.

[For further information, contact the Shalu Association, P.O.BOX 150, 75263 Pads cedex 06, France]