Published by: World Tibet Network News, Tuesday, February 27, 1996

Joint Press Release

27 February 1996

Tibet Support Group.UK

The Tibetan Community in Britain

Contact: Timothy Nunn Phone 0171 359 7573 or 0378 90 11 98 (mobile)

`Sister Drum', a seven track CD by the Chinese popular singer Dadawa and composer He Xuntian, is causing deep offence to exile Tibetans by its insensitivity and its perpetuation of the Chinese state view of Tibet.

It is clear from the marketing of 'Sister Drum' that the artist and record company are either ignorant of the realities of China's occupation of Tibet, or have wilfully disregarded the feelings of Tibetans.

The CD released by Warner Music International- which has been available in China since August 1995 - is now being extensively marketed world-wide.

Tibet Support Group UK and Tibetan Community in Britain are calling for the immediate withdrawal of the CD from sale world-wide.

Warner claim 'Sister Drum' is Asia's first million selling CD - with almost all units sold in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the PRC - though they usually omit to mention that 750,000 sales are accounted for by no less than three pirated versions.

Timothy Nunn, General Secretary of Tibet Support Group UK says:

'In its present form, 'Sister Drum' demonstrates a worrying insensitivity to Tibetan feelings. The CD's packaging and promotion tacitly conform to a Chinese nationalistic - if not overtly Communistic - view of China's relationship to Tibet: that Tibet is a unique, mystical, ancient, backward and romantic region, but not necessarily a different country. Needless to say, there is no mention of the detrimental effect of Chinese culture in Tibet since 1949.'

The promotional video for single, 'Sister Drum', was filmed in Lhasa and includes a sequence of Dadawa 'embracing' an exterior wall of the Jokhang temple. This appears to be good evidence of cooperation between the artistes and the Chinese state who have barred the international media from Tibet.

Dadawa and Warner Music are clearly eager to capitalise on the appeal of Tibet but anxious not to involve themselves in a political debate. Warner and the artist have inelegantly tried to side-step some of the inevitable questions about the project by being economical with the truth. 'Tibet has preserved the spiritual side of life' according to Dadawa (quoted in 'Music Week' on November 11th). By invoking the spirit of Tibet but making no mention of the Chinese occupation, Dadawa and Warner are involving themselves in the political issue by their own choosing.

Dadawa and composer He Xuntian visited Tibet and recorded material for 'Sister Drum' there in 1993 (according to press reports this, involved 'sampling' Tibetan monks chanting). She cites the visit as both an inspiration for her music and a turning point in her life. In view of this and similar comments made while promoting 'Sister Drum', one can only conclude that she was not influenced by the ruins of monasteries and temples or the true history of Tibet during her stay.

Aside from these general reservations about the project, Tibetans have called attention to a number of specific aspects of the CD, its packaging and promotion which they find highly offensive:

* In the sleeve notes, Tibetan religious terms and prayers are portrayed in a Chinese form: the mantra usually translated phonetically in to English as 'Om Mani Padme Hum' is transliterated as 'An Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong', the Tibetan name 'Dolma' as 'Zhouma' and 'Jokhang temple' as the 'Tazhou temple' the Chinese term for Tibet's holiest cathedral, an inaccurate transliteration from the Chinese.

* The CD itself features an overprinted circular mantra, saying 'Sister Drum' phonetically in Sanskrit, but which is meant to look like a prayer wheel or circular Mani stone.

* On the cover of the CD, Dadawa is wearing a garment clearly meant to resemble a Buddhist nun's maroon robes (she is not a nun). In a letter to Anne-Marie Nicol, Vice President of Artist Development, Warner Music International, Tenzin Gelek, a Tibetan resident in the UK, remarks 'I believe most Tibetans will be offended by this image, especially those still in Tibet, though they aren't in a position to voice such criticism openly'.

* Lyrically, all seven tracks have some reference to Buddhism or Tibet. Song titles include 'Sky Burial', 'Zhouma of Zhoumas', and 'The Turning Scripture'. There is also a song called' 'Di Wei Shin Kan, New Wei Shin Kan (Paradise Inferno)'. The title track 'Sister Drum' includes a chorus of 'Om Mani Padme Hum'. Lyrics appear in the sleeve notes in Chinese characters and English. There is a two page preamble in the CD booklet about Dadawa, He Xuntian and their insights on Tibetan spirituality.

The release of the album has provoked strong reactions from the exile Tibetan community world wide:

Tenzin Gelek, resident in the UK, in a personal letter to Warner Music:

'I grew up in Lhasa, and was working for the state tourism bureau before I escaped. I have seen the way the Chinese manipulate Western interest in and sympathy for Tibet, both for profit and to strengthen their occupation [...] Many Tibetans living in the UK who I have shown 'Sister Drum' have expressed strong objections to the incorporation of images from our culture'.

(Ms) Losang Rabgey:

'It is highly misleading to say that Tibet has preserved its religious heritage under the Chinese occupation, while in fact the singer's own government has worked to systematically destroy all aspects of Tibet's cultural heritage for the last four decades [...W]hat this artist (and with hardly a doubt her marketers) is doing smacks of cultural appropriation of a dominated and colonised peoples [...'Sister Drum'] is using Tibet's image to capture an audience but at the same time she is also sinocising the material and making a profit'.

(Ms) Deke Samchok exiled in Canada writing to Randy Stark, Vice President of Marketing and Promotion, Warner Music, Toronto:

'As a Tibetan, forced into exile by China's illegal occupation of my homeland, I am deeply disturbed by this album [...] Music and musicians have always been at the forefront of social and political issues. I would have hoped that your company would have been more sensitive to the Tibetan issue [...] This current regime in China uses any means at its disposal to try and disseminate its propaganda on Tibet. Dadawa and your company have inadvertently become apologists/propagandists for a very repressive and brutal occupation'.

(Mr) Tsering Dhundup, Secretary, Tibetan Community in Britain: ' 'Sister Drum' is not a hymn in praise of Tibet, but rather a politically motivated musical weapon to sinocise traditional Tibetan culture and society [..] If Zhu Zeqin [Dadawa] and He Xuntian truly feel an admiration for Tibetan spirituality and culture, they should persuade Warner to support the international campaign to end Chinese colonial and military occupation of Tibet'.

Warner have produced no evidence that they sought independent advice about Tibetan culture before releasing 'Sister Drum'.

To date, Warner Music have declined to directly answer any of the concerns raised by Tibetans in personal initiatives they have taken to open a dialogue. Instead they have referred their comments to the Taiwanese arm of Warner and to Dadawa herself. This begs the question, who would Warner Music approach for advice about the opinions of Tibetans other than Tibetans themselves?

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T I B E T S U P P O R T G R O U P UK

9 Islington Green

London N1 2XH

Telephone +44 (0)171 359 7573

Fax +44 (0)171 354 1026

- an independent membership organisation campaigning in support of the rights of the Tibetan people to freedom and independence.

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