Published by: World Tibet Network News, Wednesday, May 29 1996

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Bhuchung K. Tsering, Karen Davis 202.785.1515

Washington, D.C., May 29, 1996: -- Coinciding with the anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square tragedy and the Congressional debate on renewal of Most-Favored-Nation status to China, a photo exhibition, Tibetan Portrait: the Power of Compassion, opens at the Cannon Rotunda on Capitol Hill on June 4, 1996. There will be an opening reception at 5 p.m at which Members of Congress and a Representative of the Dalai Lama will make remarks.

The exhibit, consisting of riveting portraits of men, women and children from the nomads of the remote Himalayas taken by photographer Phil Borges, focuses on this deeply spiritual culture struggling to maintain compassion in the face of tremendous aggression. It includes text by the Dalai Lama which provides a unique understanding of the Tibetan people and the Buddhist teaching of non-violence.

Throughout 1994, Phil Borges traveled to Tibet, as well as parts of Nepal and northern India where thousands of Tibetan refugees now reside, photographing and interviewing Tibetans in an effort to understand what had happened to them, to their country and their culture.

"This exhibit comes at a time when the Chinese government has increased its repressive control over Tibet. Today, there are over 600 Tibetan political prisoners. Basic human rights, such as freedom of speech, association, and press, continue to be denied to the six million Tibetan people," says a joint letter from Representatives Sander Levin, Benjamin Gilman, Tom Lantos, John Edward Porter, Nancy Pelosi and Frank Wolf, who are sponsoring the exhibition.

The exhibition at the Cannon Rotunda is the beginning of an international tour which takes the exhibit to London, New York, Los Angeles, Denver and Vancouver, BC.