Support Tibetan Artists While Staying Home

For so many of us around the world, now is the time stay in but it doesn’t have to be boring or unproductive. We can all experience amazing culture and support Tibetan artists in the process!

I was recently refunded a bunch of theatre and events tickets and now that we’re facing weeks/months of isolation, it’s a good time to remind ourselves how much great art is being produced by Tibetans. I’m more than happy to re-direct the money to supporting Tibetan artists at this difficult time for them.

A lot of people forget that Tibetan artists are, more often than not, doing everything by themselves. How many Tibetan filmmakers, musicians, artists have agents, managers, assistants, producers or any kind of professional body of support? Very very few. How many Tibetan artists generously put their work online for free? Too many. This post is about how we can place value on our artistic community by GIVING THEM OUR MONEY.

So let’s start by watching the incredible Royal Café on demand and I’ll keep adding to this post as I come across other ways of giving Tibetan artists our money.

FILM

1. ROYAL CAFE – £9.99 to buy, £4.99 to rent

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/royalcafe

MUSIC

1. “Heartstrings” by Tenzin Choegyal – Album price is AUD 8
   https://tenzinchoegyal.bandcamp.com/releases

2. Tracks by Yesh – USD 0.99 each
https://yesh.bandcamp.com/
Amala: https://yesh.bandcamp.com/track/amala
Glass: https://yesh.bandcamp.com/track/glass
Surface: https://yesh.bandcamp.com/track/surface

3. Support “Drung” – A collective of Tibetan filmmakers based in Dharamsala

Donate to them here: http://drung.in/donate/

FLY by ANU gets a video remix

Everyone knows FLY (Phur) by ANU and the accompanying video from last year. The other day on WeChat I came across this amazing new, and I’m assuming unofficial, video for it that seems to be promoting Yushu, where the ANU guys hail from.

I’m sharing the video here because I love it so much and hope you enjoy it too! Have a great summer!

ANU 《FLY 飞 འཕུར》

I can’t not post the best song to come out of Tibet in a long time! Enjoy this over the weekend!

New Tibetan Music for 2017!

Happy New Year!

Here are three new songs from Tibet I’ve been listening to lately, enjoy!

Photos from the “Banned Expression in Tibet” Event at Kings Place and Thanks Yous!

I’m happy to report that the “Banned Expression in Tibet” event at Kings Place on 20 June 2015 went very well! Thank you to everyone who came along and made it a memorable night!

We had such a great team of performers and crew so that on the actual day, it wasn’t stressful at all but really fun and everyone played their part beautifully.

I just wanted to post some of the amazing photos of the event which were taken by our good friend Luke Ward at Kings Place. If anyone re-posts the photos from here, please be sure to credit him as the photographer and mention that the photos were taken at Kings Place, thanks.

The Programme Sheet for the night

 

“Banned Expression in Tibet” opened with a choreography based on Sherten’s song “The Sound of Unity”.

Kunsang Kelden, co-founder of Lhakar Diaries and Dechen Pemba, editor of High Peaks Pure Earth open the evening.

Kunsang Kelden talks about the new generation of Tibetan musicians and rappers

Ngawang Lodup sings a moving song about missing his homeland

Ngawang Lodup sings a moving song about missing his homeland

Palden sings a song in praise of the Tenth Panchen Lama

Sonam reads a poem by Theurang called “Today, I wish to offer three prostrations towards Lhasa”, translated by Bhuchung D. Sonam.

Dechen Pemba, editor of High Peaks Pure Earth introduces the work of Tibetan writer, poet and blogger Tsering Woeser

Youdon Aukatsang and Dechen Pemba talk about the work of Tibetan writer Woeser

Special Guest, Tibetan Parliamentarian Youdon Aukatsang reads a poem by Tsering Woeser called “Scream”. The poem was translated by A.E Clark and is available in the poetry volume “Tibet’s True Heart”

Ugyen Choephell sings his own compositions in modern style.

Ugyen Choephell reads his poem “I Am What I Am”, about Tibetan identity

Ngawang Lodup sings the popular Tibetan song “Aku Pema” using an electro-mandolin

At the end, the performers all sang “The Sound of Unity” by Sherten.

Kunsang Kelden closing the event

Applauding the amazing crew members and all involved

Closing the event

The Banned Expression team, (l-r) Sonam, Ugyen Choephell, Kunsang Kelden, Dechen Pemba, Palden, Youdon Aukatsang and Ngawang Lodup

For everyone who came and enjoyed the visuals we used as background on the night, here they are below. Many thanks to our talented graphic designer who offered her services and did all the artwork for Banned Expression, often to tight deadlines!

 

I’m also glad that Tibetan media picked up on the event, here are two radio reports online:

Voice of Tibet: http://www.vot.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/tib_23_06_2015.mp3 (From minute 19:26)

Voice of America report: http://www.voatibetanenglish.com/audio/2815048.html (From minute 33:20)

Finally I’d like to thank everyone who gave their time and effort to making “Banned Expression” a success. It’s going to be a long blog post but I wanted to take the time here to thank everyone who contributed and also make their contribution known!

My website High Peaks Pure Earth has enjoyed an extremely fruitful partnership on Banned Expression with Voice of Tibet and Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy and their support has been unwavering these past three years.

Thank you to FreeMuse for supporting Tibetan musicians and for sending a wonderful message of solidarity to us. Several Tibet-related groups helped with spreading the word, so thank you to Students for a Free Tibet and Tibet Society. A special mention must go to Tibet Society and Tibet Relief Fund for bringing their whole crew to the event and especially to Philippa and Riki for supporting the work of High Peaks Pure Earth.

Thank you to co-host and co-organiser Kunsang Kelden, a natural on the stage and a prolific blogger at Lhakar Diaries: http://lhakardiaries.com/author/kunsangkelden/

Thank you to our performers! Thank you Ngawang Lodup! Ngawang is an emerging artist on the world music scene here in UK, don’t miss his session for BBC Radio 3: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02tykp5 and catch him at the end of July at WOMAD for a full 45 minute solo set: http://womad.co.uk/lineup/ngawang-lodup

Ugyen Choephell thrilled us all with his rock and roll heart and passionate words. Ugyen is always there to lend his support for Tibet, no matter how big or small the event, thank you for coming all the way from Bristol for us! Visit Ugyen’s website here: http://www.tibetalivingtradition.co.uk/about.htm

Thank you to Palden, someone who is somehow able just to turn up on the day and effortlessly pull off two songs amazingly!

Thank you to Sonam who conquered her nerves and reached new heights! Thank you to Bhuchung D. Sonam for letting us premiere his translation of “Today, I wish to offer three prostrations towards Lhasa” by Tashi Rabten at the event. Sonam read it well and the full power of his words could be felt in the room.

And thank you to Youdon Aukatsang who managed to fit Banned Expression into her already packed programme and effortlessly graced the stage like a true pro! A thank you must also go to A.E Clark at Ragged Banner whose translations of Woeser la’s work are so beautiful, the two poems that Youdon la read, A Vow and Scream are both to be found in Tibet’s True Heart, a highly recommended book.

And where would we be without our amazing crew members? Eli, thank you not only for your genius make-up and beauty skills but also for your support over the years for everything that we do. Eli was with us on Banned Expression from the start and looks after us all! From the Green Room to the Dressing Room to the way home, Eli had it all covered so that we were hydrated and had plenty to snack on, she thought of everything, even bringing flowers and scented candles to calm our nerves.

Shu-Ting, thank you for your AV assistance and sorry you got stuck in the booth all night! Thank you JD & ND for lending a hand whenever we needed it and thank you to Luke Ward for his photos.

Several businesses in London promoted Banned Expression by giving out our leaflets and having our posters up, including the Tibetan owned businesses Vintage Basement just off Brick Lane and in Camden and Kailash Momo Restaurant in the Tibetan hub of Woolwich. The lovely Nepalese couple at Rising Green Coffee Shop were similarly helpful, anyone in the Old Street area should check out their delicious momos every Wednesday!

The Kings Place crew were a God-send and made us look professional, thank you Andrew, Delfina, Michael, Alex, Matt and all the Front of House staff.

As this post shows, it takes a lot of people, planning, patience and support to put on a 90 minute show! I hope that events like this will continue to be supported so that the incredible creative resistance taking place in Tibet today can be honoured and given a fitting space.

“Banned Expression in Tibet” Comes to London on 20 June 2015!

At the end of 2013, the “Banned Expression” campaign officially kicked off with a huge rock concert in Dharamsala, India, by Parikrama, one of India’s most respected rock bands. The campaign Banned Expression aims to highlight the fast shrinking space for writers and artists in Tibet to freely and fearlessly express their views and it is being jointly run by Voice of Tibet, Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy and my website High Peaks Pure Earth.

The Banned Expression story actually goes back a bit further than that though, when a small group of us took part in a conference that was one of the most inspiring I’ve ever attended. It was held in October 2012 in Oslo’s Opera House and it was called “ALL THAT IS BANNED IS DESIRED – World Conference on Artistic Freedom of Expression”, it was organised by Fritt Ord Foundation and Freemuse. The conference promised a lot:

Artists from all genres: music, literature, film, performance, theatre, painting, photography, etc., will perform, examine and discuss where, how and to what extent constraints are placed on artistic freedom of expression, not to mention examples of the potential of art to challenge established truths and framework conditions.

Tibet was represented by visual artist, USA based Tenzing Rigdol and France based musician Tenzin Gonpo in a session moderated by British journalist Frances Harrison. Their session can be seen on YouTube and is highly recommended viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1_0Su_0Eio

The conference was thought-provoking and led all of us to think about the many silenced creative voices in Tibet, especially after 2008 and what we could do to highlight their words and music. We all went away and did our bit, on High Peaks Pure Earth we started to translate, subtitle and post all kinds of music videos from Tibet and to date have over 50 music videos on the website. In a personal capacity, I started to focus more on Tibetan musical expression and published articles on Global Voices about music censorship and creative Tibetan musical initiatives.

For what became the “Banned Expression” campaign, Voice of Tibet and TCHRD did a formidable amount of work, putting together not only the rock concert but publishing a report Banned Expression: Stifling Creativity and Dissent in Tibet and producing a documentary film that premiered in Oslo at the Human Rights Human Wrongs Film Festival in February 2014. You can read all about the events that took place that week in Oslo in a previous blogpost of mine.

So… all that brings me to London and Banned Expression as I’m finally putting on an event here on 20 June 2015 at the stunning venue Kings Place. It’s going to be a great night as our team have managed to put together a varied programme that will include live music, spoken word and short talks. The evening will also showcase the best in UK-based Tibetan talent such as Bristol-based Ugyen Choephell who is an artist, musician and poet.

Myself and Kunsang Kelden, co-founder of one of the best exile youth blogs Lhakar Diaries, will be the hosts for the evening and we’ll introduce performers and guests who will perform songs from Tibet and read poetry, both in Tibetan and in translation. Among the stifled Tibetan voices that we will highlight are those of prominent Tibetan writer and poet Woeser, imprisoned singer Lolo, writer and poet Tashi Rabten and Shokjang, writer and currently detained.

Tickets for Banned Expression are available from the Kings Place website here for £9.50: http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on-book-tickets/spoken-word/renaissance-series-banned-expression-in-tibet 

Social media links:

Banned Expression Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/freespeechtibet

Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1436153880019797/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BannedXpression

#BannedExpression

I do hope that many of you will join us next weekend in London. Any proceeds from the night will go to the performers to support their creative work for Tibet.

Finally, I’m going to end with a powerful message of support for Banned Expression from FreeMuse and I’d like to thank everyone at FreeMuse for their solidarity with Tibetan artists. See you on 20 June at Kings Place!

My Second Article on Music Censorship in Tibet Published

Last week, Freemuse, the leading defender of musicians worldwide, published my second article about music censorship in Tibet. It was also cross-posted on Global Voices. These articles have been commissioned by Freemuse and Global Voices for Artsfreedom.org.

My first article was about music censorship in Tibet in general but for the second article I decided to focus on an unusual collaboration between a Tibetan inside Tibet/PRC, prominent writer and blogger Woeser, and an exile Tibetan musician, Techung. I’m really happy with how the article turned out, I interviewed both Techung and Woeser separately and they were both incredibly gracious and accommodating with their time.

Read the article here: http://freemuse.org/archives/8250

Follow this link to listen to Woeser and Techung’s collaboration Lam La Che (On The Road): http://techung.bandcamp.com/track/lam-la-che-on-the-road-with-keb-mo

My Article on Music Censorship in Tibet Published And New Information on Imprisoned Tibetan Singers

I’m happy that my article on the situation faced by musicians and singers in Tibet has been published online. It was commissioned by Freemuse, the leading defender of musicians worldwide and Global Voices for Artsfreedom.org.

One new development that only came to light after the article was published was that China responded to the UN’s February expression of concern about China’s detention of musicians. As reported by Free Tibet yesterday, “China has had to confirm that the musicians have been jailed for “separatist” activities”.

 

The full response from China is interesting to read, it was sent to the UN at the end of April 2014 but has only just been published by the UN. There is a PDF of the English translation here: https://spdb.ohchr.org/hrdb/26th/China_30.04.14_%281.2014%29.pdf

This is the most new information on musicians we have seen from the Chinese authorities in a long time so it’s worth re-publishing their response on a few of the singers here:

• Lolo, originally known as Luo Xiang, is a man of 31 years of age. He is a villager from the First Commune, Dhomda village, Chengduo County, Yushu, Qinghai Province. On the 26th of February, 2013, he was sentenced to six years in prison by the judicial organ on a charge of seditiously splitting the state with three years’ deprivation of political rights. At present, Luo is in the process of serving his prison sentence.
• Pema Trinley is a Tibetan man of 24 years of age. He originates from the Malma, Aba County, Sichuan Province. Chakdor, also known as Xuegduo, is a Tibetan man of 32 years of age. He originates from the Malma, Aba County, Sichuang Province. On the 3rd of February, 2013, these two people were sentenced to four years in prison by the judicial organ on a charge of seditiously splitting the state with three years’ deprivation of political rights. At present, these two people are in the process of serving their respective prison sentences.

Free Tibet have on online petition for Tibet’s Jailed Musicians so please support their campaign here: http://freetibet.org/petitions/1742

You can also keep up to date with the Banned Expression campaign by Liking this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/freespeechtibet

As many of you already know, the High Peaks Pure Earth weekly music video series is still going strong so please visit us there every Wednesday!

 

 

New Article on Lhakar Published and Upcoming Oslo Events

It’s always satisfying to see an article in print and yesterday, on Lhakar, two copies of the latest issue of Brennpunkt Tibet arrived in my snailmail postbox! Thank you to Tibet Initiative Deutschland for commissioning and publishing the article, Brennpunkt magazine is available to order from their website here.

Next up I’m really excited to be a Festival Guest at “Human Rights Human Wrongs” next week in Oslo. The Festival itself looks amazing, from February 4-9 there are going to be a whole bunch of film screenings, related events, seminars and concerts.

I’m really happy to support the “Banned Expressions from Tibet” campaign and looking forward to seeing the documentary at its premiere in Oslo on February 6 at Kino Victoria. I’ll be talking about the situation in Tibet for singers, musicians and artists and reading some poetry too. On the evening of February 7, we’ll be at a special “Banned Expressions” concert featuring Tibetan musician Loten Namling.

Anyway there are loads of cool things going on for those few days so check out the Human Rights Human Wrongs website. A huge thank you to Voice of Tibet for supporting freedom of expression in Tibet and I’ll leave you with a video message I prepared for the “Banned Expressions” concert held in Dharamsala on December 10, 2013, jointly organised by VOT in partnership with Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy & Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts:

Tibetan Covers: Gorillaz, Roots and Gaga!

It’s always fun when you hear a contemporary Tibetan pop song and recognise the tune from elsewhere. Like when I was watching Made in Tibet by Shapaley and my friend recognised the plinky plonky piano part being from the film “Amelie”. The word on the street now is that there is a Shapaley remix going round that takes a sample from “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” by Eve featuring Gwen Stefani, want to hear that!

I just wanted to share a few songs from Tibet that I’ve come across that sample some cool tunes!

1. Acha Tsendep’s song “Tibetan Girl” samples “Clint Eastwood” by Gorillaz

2. Someone sent me this song by Lhasa’s Tibetan Mastiff Crew a while back and it samples “You Got Me” by The Roots featuring Erykah Badu! I can’t find a video or anything for this song so I’ve uploaded the mp3, the lyrics in Tibetan (and English) are pretty nasty, there’s also a little bit in Chinese.

3. This last one is a straight-up cover of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” but with Tibetan lyrics and a rather, er, unique singing style. I’ve put this up on my blog before but I’m not really sure that people liked it, at least most of my friends don’t seem to! Anyway here it is again!

Does anyone know any more covers or Tibetan songs that sample contemporary pop music? Let me know!