Young Tibetan promotes thangka art with love, passion

09:41, December 01, 2009

Tashi Gyibo, dean and general manager of the Tongthas International Arts Gallery, poses for a photo at the gallery in Beijing. (China Tibet Information Center Photo)

Thangka, also known as "Thanka" or "Tanka," is a religious scroll painting on cloth or silk with various religious functions.

The Regong thangka art is a major school of China's Tibetan Buddhism art and has a history of more than 700 years. As the art originates from Tongren County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province, it is also named after the Tibetan name of the county, i.e., Regong. Nowadays Regong art also refers to all the folk art related to Tibetan Buddhism.

Now, people can appreciate the traditional art form at the Tongthas International Arts Gallery at one of the most hustling places in Beijing, i.e., the Beijing West Railway Station.

The gallery, which opened earlier this year in an underground shop near the station, is the largest venue for the display and sales of Regong arts authorized by the Qinghai Regong Arts Association in north China.

The dean of the gallery, Tashi Gyibo, grew up in Tongren County and has known the art since his childhood. Working as a dance teacher in Gansun Province, Tashi Gyibo, who knows the art well and loves it deeply, often joined in various publicity tours organized by the association.

Having attended some jointly-sponsored exhibitions for some time, he found that due to the barriers in the language, cooperation and communications, there were some wrong interpretations about the Regong art or thangka, which would lead to the misunderstanding and have adverse effects on the art.

When Tashi Gyibo went to Beijing for a training course two years ago, it occurred to him to display and promote thangka art on his own.

"The Regong art has exquisite crafts and profound cultural meanings. The Tongthas International Arts Gallery differentiates itself from other short-term jointly-held exhibitions. Making good use of the favorable location of the Beijing West Railway Station, I plan to build an independent and long-term platform to display the art," he noted.
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