Depicted identities : image and image-makers of post 1959 Tibet
This thesis examines the role of images and image-makers in the period after 1959, when political control of Tibet was assumed by the People's Republic of China and thousands of Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama into exile. It is based on the work of image-makers in exile communities in India and in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People's Republic. The first section of the thesis establishes the importance of images in the exile community (with emphasis on the Tibetan capital-in-exile, Dharamsala) as religious objects and as definers of identity. Image-makers' responses to the conditions of exile and their engagement with new techniques of production and subject matter are discussed. Their works are analysed in the context of Tibetan debates about what constitutes appropriate imagery for exilic conditions. The thesis demonstrates that style is invented and negotiated in different ways, with significant differences emerging between image-makers in Dharamsala and those outside the capital-in-exile. The second section of the study examines the parallel history of image production in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Here the impact of the colonial gaze is registered in a chapter on Chinese depictions of Tibet.
Harris, Clare Elizabeth
Tibetans; Exile community; Dharamsala
Depicted identities : image and image-makers of post 1959 Tibet. This thesis examines the role of images and image-makers in the period after 1959, when political control of Tibet was assumed by the People's Republic of China and thousands of Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama into exile. It is based on the work of image-makers in exile communities in India and in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People's Republic. The first section of the thesis establishes the importance of images in the exile community (with emphasis on the Tibetan capital-in-exile, Dharamsala) as religious objects and as definers of identity. Image-makers' responses to the conditions of exile and their engagement with new techniques of production and subject matter are discussed. Their works are analysed in the context of Tibetan debates about what constitutes appropriate imagery for exilic conditions. The thesis demonstrates that style is invented and negotiated in different ways, with significant differences emerging between image-makers in Dharamsala and those outside the capital-in-exile. The second section of the study examines the parallel history of image production in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Here the impact of the colonial gaze is registered in a chapter on Chinese depictions of Tibet.
identity image image makers post tibet examines_role image image makers period political control tibet assume people_republic_china thousand follow exile base work image makers exile community india tibetan autonomous region people republic first_section establishes importance image exile community emphasis tibetan capital exile religious object identity image makers response condition exile engagement new_technique production subject_matter discuss work analyse context tibetan debate constitutes appropriate imagery exilic condition demonstrates style invent negotiated different_way significant_difference emerge image makers outside capital exile second_section study_examines parallel history image production tibetan autonomous region impact colonial gaze register chinese depiction tibet