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Creating a Wall Painting:
Preserving History Inch by Inch
by Broughton Coburn
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tibet/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tibet/resources.html
Lost Treasures of Tibet homepage
The summer of 2002 marked the fourth year of a five-year program to conserve and protect the Thubchen and Champa monasteries, artistic and religious centerpieces of the formerly forbidden kingdom of Mustang. For generations, these exquisite 15th-century Buddhist chapels or lhakhangs (literally "houses for divinities"), situated in Lo Monthang near Nepal's border with Tibet, have gone neglected, though the dry environment and the kingdom's very inaccessibility have provided some level of protection.
Circumstances are changing, however. Relatively recent environmental damage has threatened these monuments' 24-foot-high wall paintings, and the integrity of the structures themselves had been at risk. Without careful intervention, these monuments and their precious Tibetan Buddhist masterpieces would have been lost forever, a tragedy arguably akin to losing Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.
A team of conservation experts—several Italians and a Guatemalan led by Englishman John Sanday—are now facing an enormous challenge. Centuries of soot and dust have obscured the serene faces of these images. More distressingly, over the past three decades, two of Thubchen monastery's soaring walls have suffered catastrophic "washdowns" as bursts of snowmelt, restrained by ice dams that formed on the roof, have drained into the building, scouring gullies and depositing streaks of mud across several wall paintings.
That's not all. Rising damp, a product of poor drainage outside the walls, infiltration, and stagnating water inside, had caused erosion from the floor up. Ground level outside many of the walls was found to rest well above the floor level of the prayer hall, partly as a result of accumulated debris from the collapse long ago (likely due to earthquake) of what might have been an upper story or clerestory.
Capillary action has drawn water from the wetter exterior of the structure toward the drier inside, saturating the earthen walls and their layers of clay. This moisture, along with soluble salts that recrystallize and expand as they dry, has collected behind the relatively impermeable paint layers and pushed against the painted surface from the inside out. The result: scaling and flaking of the preparatory paint layers, or renders, and in some cases their detachment from the walls altogether. Indeed, the conservators found sections of some paintings hanging like curtains.
The immediate objective of the ongoing conservation work has been to replace the ailing roofs and superstructure of these large chapels and to restore the underpinning—and brilliance—of the wall paintings. To do that, the conservators and their local trainees had to first stabilize the building and then rebuild the wall surfaces' traditional foundation layers of clay.
Capillary action has drawn water from the wetter exterior of the structure toward the drier inside, saturating the earthen walls and their layers of clay. This moisture, along with soluble salts that recrystallize and expand as they dry, has collected behind the relatively impermeable paint layers and pushed against the painted surface from the inside out. The result: scaling and flaking of the preparatory paint layers, or renders, and in some cases their detachment from the walls altogether. Indeed, the conservators found sections of some paintings hanging like curtains.
The immediate objective of the ongoing conservation work has been to replace the ailing roofs and superstructure of these large chapels and to restore the underpinning—and brilliance—of the wall paintings. To do that, the conservators and their local trainees had to first stabilize the building and then rebuild the wall surfaces' traditional foundation layers of clay.
Capillary action has drawn water from the wetter exterior of the structure toward the drier inside, saturating the earthen walls and their layers of clay. This moisture, along with soluble salts that recrystallize and expand as they dry, has collected behind the relatively impermeable paint layers and pushed against the painted surface from the inside out. The result: scaling and flaking of the preparatory paint layers, or renders, and in some cases their detachment from the walls altogether. Indeed, the conservators found sections of some paintings hanging like curtains.
The immediate objective of the ongoing conservation work has been to replace the ailing roofs and superstructure of these large chapels and to restore the underpinning—and brilliance—of the wall paintings. To do that, the conservators and their local trainees had to first stabilize the building and then rebuild the wall surfaces' traditional foundation layers of clay.
Capillary action has drawn water from the wetter exterior of the structure toward the drier inside, saturating the earthen walls and their layers of clay. This moisture, along with soluble salts that recrystallize and expand as they dry, has collected behind the relatively impermeable paint layers and pushed against the painted surface from the inside out. The result: scaling and flaking of the preparatory paint layers, or renders, and in some cases their detachment from the walls altogether. Indeed, the conservators found sections of some paintings hanging like curtains.
The immediate objective of the ongoing conservation work has been to replace the ailing roofs and superstructure of these large chapels and to restore the underpinning—and brilliance—of the wall paintings. To do that, the conservators and their local trainees had to first stabilize the building and then rebuild the wall surfaces' traditional foundation layers of clay.
Capillary action has drawn water from the wetter exterior of the structure toward the drier inside, saturating the earthen walls and their layers of clay. This moisture, along with soluble salts that recrystallize and expand as they dry, has collected behind the relatively impermeable paint layers and pushed against the painted surface from the inside out. The result: scaling and flaking of the preparatory paint layers, or renders, and in some cases their detachment from the walls altogether. Indeed, the conservators found sections of some paintings hanging like curtains.
The immediate objective of the ongoing conservation work has been to replace the ailing roofs and superstructure of these large chapels and to restore the underpinning—and brilliance—of the wall paintings. To do that, the conservators and their local trainees had to first stabilize the building and then rebuild the wall surfaces' traditional foundation layers of clay.
Capillary action has drawn water from the wetter exterior of the structure toward the drier inside, saturating the earthen walls and their layers of clay. This moisture, along with soluble salts that recrystallize and expand as they dry, has collected behind the relatively impermeable paint layers and pushed against the painted surface from the inside out. The result: scaling and flaking of the preparatory paint layers, or renders, and in some cases their detachment from the walls altogether. Indeed, the conservators found sections of some paintings hanging like curtains.
The immediate objective of the ongoing conservation work has been to replace the ailing roofs and superstructure of these large chapels and to restore the underpinning—and brilliance—of the wall paintings. To do that, the conservators and their local trainees had to first stabilize the building and then rebuild the wall surfaces' traditional foundation layers of clay.
Capillary action has drawn water from the wetter exterior of the structure toward the drier inside, saturating the earthen walls and their layers of clay. This moisture, along with soluble salts that recrystallize and expand as they dry, has collected behind the relatively impermeable paint layers and pushed against the painted surface from the inside out. The result: scaling and flaking of the preparatory paint layers, or renders, and in some cases their detachment from the walls altogether. Indeed, the conservators found sections of some paintings hanging like curtains.
The immediate objective of the ongoing conservation work has been to replace the ailing roofs and superstructure of these large chapels and to restore the underpinning—and brilliance—of the wall paintings. To do that, the conservators and their local trainees had to first stabilize the building and then rebuild the wall surfaces' traditional foundation layers of clay.
Made of mud, strong of stone
The original walls of Thubchen and Champa lhakhangs were made of rammed mud mortar (gyang in Tibetan), which workers tamped into wooden frames in a process similar to the laying of cement foundations, though the mud mortar is of thicker consistency and the work far more labor-intensive. Instead of massive foundation frames reaching the full height of the walls, medieval Lobas—as the people of Mustang are known—used sectional wood frames of about five feet in height, lifting and placing them atop successive layers as they dried.
The clay used for these walls (shi sa) was crude, containing wood fragments, pebbles, and other foreign material. The walls are stronger than one might expect given the nature of these materials, which gain part of their strength from their sheer mass. (In some cases they are more than three feet thick at the base.) Some later walls were constructed of large, sun-baked adobe bricks bonded by a finer clay mortar
Sanday's conservators did not intend to restore areas where painted images had flaked or eroded away, but in some cases they needed to rebuild and prepare sections of walls for painting or line drawing. The Raja, or King, of Mustang and the townspeople of Lo Monthang stressed that they wanted to worship entire, not incomplete divinities. It was agreed that, in order to meet international restoration standards while accommodating the wishes of the local people, some of the lost areas would be plastered and painted, to form linkages and continuity across small gaps. More expansive lost areas, often the lower portions, were completed only as line drawings without color fill, however, in order to restore the functional integrity of the paintings without attempting a "restoration."
Layer by layer
The techniques and materials the conservators now employ are virtually identical to those used over 500 years ago. (Thubchen was completed in 1472, Champa in 1448.) To begin flattening the surface of the wall, workers—relying on experience rather than precise measurements—mixed a blend of chopped straw, slightly sieved shi sa clay, and a slurry of cow dung (primarily as a binder). They then flung handfuls of this admixture onto the wall and worked it in with a smearing motion. When it had partially dried, they applied two or three additional, generally thinner, layers.
Even after all this work, the preparation of the wall had scarcely begun. In a report following the first year of restoration, chief conservator Rodolfo Lujan described the extraordinarily diverse ingredients needed to fashion the paintable surface:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tibet/painting.html
"The next (second) layer is composed of river sand and small pebbles mixed with a yellowish clay (pimbo) found at the west of Lo Monthang. The third layer consists of very fine sand (chema) mixed with pimbo and a greenish-brown clay known as shi pi pema, which comes from Jag Dha Mountain, north of Lo Monthang. A fourth layer is composed of shi pi pema and ghi sa, a light beige clay from Ahma Loun Mountain, southeast of the city. The final priming layer, on which artisans applied the preparatory drawing (in black paint) and the paint layers, consists of a mixture of khsa (an extremely fine white clay) with animal glue (ping) and local chang or beer. After drying, this was carefully polished."
Only after this multilayered surface was ready did the anonymous masters of medieval Mustang begin painting.
Renaissance artists in Europe sometimes relied on a technique, known as secco, that is roughly analagous to the Tibetan one.
Interestingly, when creating their own wall paintings, Renaissance artists in Europe sometimes relied on a technique, known as secco, that is roughly analagous to the above-described Tibetan one. Secco paintings, among them Leonardo's Last Supper, were painted onto a dry, polished, lime-based render (made from inorganic binders such as lime, mud, and gypsum) and a primer. Frescoes, on the other hand, including Michelangelo's in the Sistine Chapel, were painted onto moist ("fresh") lime-based render.
Origin of the pigments
The deep blues and greens as well as the paler shades of these colors come largely from azurite and malachite, basic carbonates of copper that generally occur together and sometimes blend within the same rock. Tibetan painting scholars David and Janice Jackson report that these minerals were largely mined in Nyemothang, in central Tibet. They were crushed into a sand, wrapped in small leather bags, and sold to painters by the Tibetan government.
The painters in turn prepared their azurite and malachite in a lengthy scrubbing and rinsing process, before grinding it in water. They did not have to do much grinding to obtain the much-desired rich blues and greens. Finer grinding resulted in paler shades, however, meaning that the artists could obtain full ranges of value by separating the particles on the basis of their size. In some cases, blue and sometimes green was mixed with varnish, making it brighter and more translucent.
The mineral cinnabar—or native mercury sulfide, the ore from which mercury is produced—was the source of the deep vermilion color, and it came mainly from Hunan province in China. Over 1,800 years ago, Chinese alchemists learned to separate and recombine the mercury and the sulfur, forming vermilion, which when powdered produced the desired deep red crystals. This was traded widely throughout Asia, and some of the cinnabar and vermilion used in Mustang and Tibet likely came from China by way of India. Many of the flower details in Thubchen's paintings were refinished in careful brushstrokes of red lac, a kind of natural shellac.
The Jacksons found that black and the inks used for writing and woodblock prints were carbon-based, generally soot or charcoal, while white came from chalk (calcium carbonate), lime (calcium oxide), or bone and bone ash. Orpiment yellow, which in the case of Mustang may have come largely from hot springs in eastern Tibet, is a trisulfide of arsenic, while the less intense yellow ochre, used primarily as an undercoat for gold, is a variety of the mineral limonite.
Using the hues
When commissioning a painting, patrons of religious art would generally budget for gold separately from the rest of the painting. Much of the gold was obtained, as it continues to be today, from Newar merchants in Lhasa, Tibet's capital. (The Newar ethnic group, renowned for its exquisite craftsmen, constitutes the original inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley; some Newar merchants settled in Tibet, where many intermarried with Tibetans.)
In Thubchen, the paintings were gilded with gold powder spread on with a brush and pen nib, especially for the flesh of the Buddha. Gold leaf, however, was used to highlight the raised areas, which were created a pastiglia for the deities' jewelry and other ornamentation. In addition to gold's intense, reflective luster and its tendency to remain untarnished, artists found it easy to work with.
symbolism and the value of ayurvedic medicine
Each color also contains inherent symbolism, which is especially meaningful in the creation of tantric mandalas, the circular representations of the universe done in paint or sand:
Blue/black = wrath, pollution
Red = love, attachment, power
Yellow = ascendance, riches
White = peace, purity
Perhaps surprisingly, many of the minerals from which pigments are derived had medicinal value in the Tibetan system of ayurvedic medicine.
Despite the existence of modern materials and techniques that might be suitable for rebuilding and restoring ancient Tibetan monuments, there are several reasons why conservators study and use methods that were employed centuries ago. First, the original materials are locally available, often from their original sources; artists can collect clays and soils from the same sites their forbears gathered them from over half a millenium ago. Second, the early methods are not necessarily inferior to their modern substitutes, as evidenced by their longevity. Finally, some of the traditional wall-building, plastering, and painting techniques, which have been perfected over countless generations, are still in use today. So local artisans can be employed with some confidence in the resulting quality, though the relearning curve has been steep.
Eleventh-hour aid
These conservation efforts—funded by the American Himalayan Foundation and overseen by Nepal's King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation and the Annapurna Conservation Area Project—are occurring none too soon. Ever since Nepalese authorities opened Mustang to tourism in 1992, Lobas have been emigrating in increasing numbers to Kathmandu and the cities of south Asia in search of their fortunes. Even those who are religiously inclined now seek higher Buddhist instruction in Kathmandu and India. They are leaving behind something of a cultural and economic vacuum.
Lobas now compete for the chance to become conservation trainees.
In Lo Monthang, when Sanday and Lujan originally proposed hiring local people to assist them in the conservation and cleaning work, they were met with skepticism and apathy, despite the Raja's endorsement of their efforts. But the magic of time and dedication and a few modern techniques have brought renewed glory to Thubchen monastery, and with it the attention, respect, and revived faith of the town's citizens. Women's groups now use the Thubchen chapel for their meetings, townspeople proudly escort tourists through the building, and even the abbot of the town's newer monastery is keen to rededicate Thubchen as an active religious center.
Most impressively, local Lobas now compete for the chance to become conservation trainees, and nearly as many women as men have joined the ranks. Indeed, the most rewarding result of this conservation project may be the trained and motivated residents. They now have many of the skills needed to begin replicating this work elsewhere in Mustang and across the southern slopes of the Nepal Himalaya, the native architecture of which has been neglected for decades and in some cases centuries. A revitalization of indigenous traditions, religious belief, and community pride has been an unexpected side effect of this heart-warming project on the roof of the world.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tibet/painting.html
Jackson, David P. and Jackson, Janice A., Tibetan Thangka Painting: Methods and Materials. New York: Snow Lion Publications, 1984.
Sanday, John, "The Gateway to Nirvana: Conserving the Temples of Mustang," Orientations, October 1999.
Deciphering Buddha Imagery
By Rick Groleau
Posted 02.18.03
NOVA
Whether in the form of a wall painting, statue, or some other religious artifact, an image of Buddha is meant to serve as an inspiration to Buddhists and as a way to honor and remember Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism (as well as other Buddhas). But there are many depictions in Buddhist art that resemble—yet aren’t—“The Enlightened One.” This interactive reveals common traits that will help you to recognize an image of the Buddha and to understand the meanings of the five most common hand gestures—or mudras—used in Buddhist art
Note interactive slides demonstratng the mudras or hand gestures:
The ushnisha -hair---expanded wisdom
Ears give up attachment to material objects
Eyes dot wisdom eye
Neck beauty of the conch shell
The sacred grid or tigse considered sacred structure for the image guidelines artist must follow
Bhumisparsha asked earth goddess Sthavara to bear witness
Dharmachakra wheel of dharma
Varada chaity and compassion supreme giving
Dhyana 3 jewels of Buddhism
Abhaya fearlessness peace and protection
TV Program Description
Original PBS Broadcast Date: February 18, 2003
Lost Treasures of Tibet homepage
Before Leonardo da Vinci painted "The Last Supper," Tibetan craftsmen were creating stunning artistry of their deities in the remote Himalayan kingdom of Mustang. In "Lost Treasures of Tibet," NOVA goes behind the scenes with the first conservation team from the West, as it undertakes the painstaking restoration of these ancient masterpieces and the beautiful monasteries that house them.
Located in present-day Nepal, Mustang contains some of the last remaining relics of an almost vanished world of ancient Buddhist culture. Across the border in Tibet, Chinese occupiers have destroyed thousands of monasteries since taking control of the country in 1950. Therefore, the survival of Mustang's monasteries or gompas is more important than ever. But preservation is extremely difficult because of the centuries of neglect, weather, and earthquakes that have brought many buildings to the brink of collapse. Inside, their exquisite murals are in a near-ruined state.
In the course of their restoration work, conservators from the West come face-to-face with a thorny problem of culture clash: local people want missing sections of the murals completed. Westerners are aghast at the idea, but their hosts are equally shocked at the thought of worshiping unfinished deities.
The program follows the struggle of an international team headed by British conservationist John Sanday to restore the greatest gompa of all—Thubchen, the royal monastery in Mustang's capital of Lo Monthang. The first order of business is fixing Thubchen's roof—no small feat since 200 tons of dirt have been piled on its flat surface over the centuries to seal out leaks. To bear that much weight, the hidden ceiling beams must be more than two feet thick, an apparent impossibility considering that Mustang is virtually treeless. Sanday solves this riddle when his team excavates down to the beams and discovers an elaborate jigsaw puzzle of construction that uses interlocking small timbers to create a lightweight, load-bearing structure.
Ancient Tibetan craftsmen were equally inventive in engineering an ideal wall surface for their murals (see Creating a Wall Painting). Six layers of plaster were applied to the walls, starting with a coarse grain and becoming progressively finer. The same method was used for secco (dry plaster) murals in Europe during the Renaissance, although there is no evidence that Tibetans and Europeans exchanged information on the technique.
As for Thubchen's paintings, they are badly obscured by eons of butterlamp soot, animal glues, and abrasions from yak tail dusters. To deal with the disfigurement, Sanday calls in Rodolfo Lujan from Italy, one of Europe's premier experts in art restoration.
After painstaking treatment to stabilize the plaster, which is badly flaking, Lujan and his assistants start removing the grime. What emerges is startling to behold: brilliantly colored scenes depicting the life of the Buddha (see Before and After). The artists have left no signatures, but Lujan places them in a class with the Italian Renaissance masters. "Maybe the quality is even better than ... a Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael," he marvels. Which makes it all the more difficult when he is asked to take his own brush in hand to complete the missing sections of these priceless masterpieces.
Before and After
by Lexi Krock
Lost Treasures of Tibet homepage
When restoration work began in Lo Monthang's Thubchen monastery in 2001, the once-vivid colors of its wall paintings appeared dull and grimy, trapped behind 500 years of smoke, soot, and grease from butter lamps. Portions of the paintings had faded from depradations caused by snowmelt leaking into the building, and in places where the underlying plaster had become detached from the walls, large pieces of these medieval masterpieces hung precariously off the walls.
But the restoration team worked wonders, returning Thubchen's surviving wall paintings to remarkably close approximations of their original magnificence.
Before and After
The restoration
Lost Treasures of Tibet homepage
In order repair the paintings, head conservator Rodolfo Lujan and his team began a painstaking process. First, they cleaned the paintings with a special solvent. Made of ethyl alcohol and powdered ammonium bicarbonate, the solvent dissolves dirt and grease. The restorers were careful to dab the cleaning solution onto the paintings through a thin barrier of tissue paper, a method that ensures only the painting's surface dirt—and not its pigments, made of semiprecious stone—comes off. (The same method was used to clean Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.)
Once the paintings were clean, the team began the next step: securing loose pieces of plaster to the monastery's mud walls. Using a plaster made from mud, they filled up the gap between the detached painted plaster suface and the wall behind. They then used a syringe-like applicator to inject a powerful adhesive behind the plaster, thus securing the painted plaster layers to the newly thickened wall.
The final step in restoration involved touching up areas of the paintings where color was missing due to extreme damage. To preserve the integrity of the original paintings, Lujan's team used washable watercolor paints in crosshatched strokes to complete both tiny and large sections of the paintings. This way, future conservators could readily distinguish new sections from original and easily remove them if necessary. Lujan and his crew left other paintings restored but not touched up.
The ongoing restoration of the paintings in Thubchen, along with the structural renovations to the monastery's roof and beams, should help ensure that these treasures will remain intact for another 500 years.
Lost Treasures of Tibet
Program Overview
Back to Teachers Home
Lost Treasures of Tibet
Viewing Ideas
Before Watching
Assign groups to research the basic tenets of Buddhism such as: Who was Buddha? What do Buddhists believe? How do Buddhists view nature? Where is Buddhism practiced today? By how many people? Have students record their findings. Conclusions may vary as Buddhism is extremely complex and many interpretations of Buddhism exist. Be sensitive to students who may practice Buddhism. As they watch, organize students into groups and have each group take notes about different areas of Buddhism revealed in their initial research.
After Watching
Have students combine what they learned in the program with their research and report their final notes about Buddhism. Did anything in the program change or add to what they learned in their earlier research? What, if any, further questions do they have?
An anthropologist is a scientist who studies human beings both in the past and in the present. Ask students to come up with reasons that anthropologists would be interested in the religion or religious art of a society. What might be learned from studying a society's religion?
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Lost Treasures of Tibet
Classroom Activity
Materials Procedure Activity Answer Links & Books Standards
Objective
To create a mandala-style piece of art.
copy of the "Designing a Mandala" student handout (PDF or HTML)
paper
colored pencils
Anthropologists and sociologists study cultural art and religion partly because they reflect other aspects of a society. One of the religious and artistic expressions important to Buddhists in Lo Monthang is the mandala. The circle represents the cosmos and is used as a guide to meditation. Tell students they will be creating their own mandala, and that, like a traditional mandala, it should have symbolic meaning of their own choosing.
Provide a copy of the "Designing a Mandala" student handout to each student. Review with students the meaning of some of the components represented in the Chenrezig mandala shown on their student handouts.
Have students create their mandalas. Tell them that symmetry is an essential quality of mandalas, with each mandala built on a series of concentric circles. Ask them to consider and choose angles and geometric shapes that will create symmetry in their mandalas.
After students have determined some shapes, have them create their symbol systems. As they do so, have students think about what is important to them, including people, places, objects, and beliefs. Have students create a chart describing what each symbol means, including colors and their meanings.
Once the mandalas are created, have students write short poems or essays explaining what their mandalas symbolize. Then organize the class into four groups. Have each group display its mandala pictures together in one area, putting a number on each picture. Then have members put letters on their descriptions of the mandalas and display the descriptions with the drawings (but not matched up).
Once all groups are done, assign groups to different stations. Have each group member first look at each mandala and try to interpret its meaning and then read the descriptions and match them up with the corresponding mandalas.
Conclude by discussing the different ideas that students' mandalas symbolize. How close were students' original interpretations of each others' mandalas to the actual descriptions?
As an extension, have students compare their mandalas to real ones. For photos of Tibetan mandalas, visit the Himalayan Art Web site at: www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=91
Tibetan monks may spend weeks creating an intricate sand mandala, only to destroy it within seconds to symbolize the spirit of impermanence and non-attachment to the material world—that everything is in the process of passing away and returning. Sand mandalas are usually gathered in a jar, blessed, and poured into a river or stream where the water disperses the healing energies of the sand.
Each mandala is designed to invite people to greater awareness of various aspects of Buddhist teachings and desirable qualities, such as compassion, wisdom, or strength. Some of the colors used in a Chenrezig mandala, which represents compassion, include white, green, blue, yellow, and red. A mandala usually contains three levels: The outermost level represents the world in its divine form, the inner level depicts a map toward enlightenment, and a secret level represents the perfect balance between body and mind. Every aspect of a mandala has meaning, from the shapes and symbols chosen to the colors used.
Students' mandalas may show a great variety of forms, symbols, and colors—they should reflect some consciousness of the use of shapes and of symbols with meaning to the student artist. There is no right way to design or interpret a mandala.
Book
Jackson, David, and Janice Jackson. Tibetan Thangka Painting: Methods and Materials. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1984.
Describes the sacred art of Tibetan scroll painting, from composition to application.
Articles
Day, Nicholas. "The World in a Grain of Sand." Washington Post, August 5, 1998, page C1.
Describes the process that Tibetan monks use to build and destroy a five-foot mandala made of millions of grains of crushed, vegetable-dyed marble sand.
Shacochis, Bob. "Kingdoms in the Air." Outside, October 2002, page 158.
Describes the Mustang region, including life in Lo Monthang.
Web Sites
NOVA's Web Site—Lost Treasures of Tibet
www.pbs.org/nova/tibet/
Provides program-related articles, interviews, interactive activities, and resources.
The Mandala Project
www.mandalaproject.org
Invites the submission of mandalas to an online gallery and discusses the importance of the mandala in different religious traditions.
A New Ceiling for the Roof of the World
www.asianart.com/ahf/index.html
Discusses the restoration of the 15th-century Thubchen Gompa monastery in Mustang.
The Mandala of Chenrezig
www.webster.edu/depts/artsci/religion/mandala/index.html
Presents Webster University's Mandala of Chenrezig and includes information about the Buddhist religion and a link to the World Wide Web Virtual Library for Buddhist studies Web sites.
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Lost Treasures of Tibet
Ideas from Teachers
(Gr. 3)
Having recently made the trek to Mustang, I decided to start a cultural awareness campaign among my students about their counterparts in the Land of Lo.
Students will first learn about the non-mechanized lifestyle these children experience and what that would mean to us here in the United States (lack of electricity, no cars or bicycles, etc.). The children will draw pictures of things they would be without (video games, etc.).
Then, students will watch parts of the NOVA "Lost Treasures of Tibet" program to learn about the great monastaries being restored and how this restoration is leading to a renewal in art, civic pride, religion, and family. Students will explore projects here in the United States that have given us the same kinds of feelings (i.e., the revitalization of urban downtowns in Philadelphia or Los Angeles; the rebuilding of structures destroyed by fire or earthquake; or even the simple repair of a child's favorite toy, blanket, or stuffed animal).
Each day of the week will be dedicated to discussing a custom, legend, tradition, muscial instrument, or food.
At the culmination of this unit, each child will write a short fictional story using the ideas, customs, foods, animals, religion, or images as their inspiration. Students will provide an illustration to serve as a book cover or inside drawing to accompany their story.
Sent in by
Debra Lucero Austin
Marigold Elementary School
Chico, CA
deblucero@sbcglobal.net
(Gr. 9)
Objective
To provide students with guided questions for viewing the video.
Materials
NOVA's "Lost Treasures of Tibet" program
student handout with questions
Procedure
What was the purpose of the sand art? What does it signify?
Most of the people in Mustang are of what ethnicity? But what country do they belong to?
On the road to Lo Manthang, what do the following represent?
Rocks in the wall?
The colors used in the stripes?
The stripes themselves?
How many Buddhists are there in the world today?
In the old days, how did Tibetan families contribute to the monasteries?
Why did many leave Tibet in the 1950s?
Why is Mustang such an important place for Buddhists?
Why do Buddhists take a pilgrimage to the cave on the road to Lo Manthang?
How do Buddhists use flags?
What do the colors of the prayer flags mean?
How was Lo Manthang wealthy in its era, 500 years ago?
What do monasteries do for society?
How are the wall paintings in the old monastery, Thubchen, viewed by Buddhists?
What reaction did the locals of Lo Manthang have on the renovation of the temple?
What ancient ingredients did the renovators use to reconstruct the temple?
What three skills were the Newar masters at?
Why wouldn't the renovators use modern machines and ingredients that would obviously make it easier and faster to fix the temple?
What did the infrared video reveal about the wall paintings?
What materials were the paints made out of and how were they transformed?
Why was it not the custom for the painters to sign their names to their works in Tibetan culture?
What do the images in the temple depict about the Buddha and his teachings?
Why does the King of Mustang think it is important for the conservationists to fill in the cracks and holes?
How does this conflict with the beliefs of the conservationists?
What does a mandela represent?
How is the transportation of Lo Manthang being transformed?
How will this affect the ancient paintings and structures in the town?
How has the renovation led to a revival of the Thubchen temple?
If the belief of Buddhist thinking is impermanence, why do you think the King and people of Mustang pushed for the renovation of the temple? What other belief is held by the Buddhists to support the rebuilding?
Sent in by
Anna Amsler
Emerson Junior High School
Davis, CA
(Gr. 9-12)
Objective
To get students to think critically and challenge common assumptions about Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism.
To challenge stereotypes about cultures unfamiliar to us.
To expand awareness of the range of factors that help constitute a cultural identity; to research, organize, and present information about everyday life in an unfamiliar culture.
To create an imaginative firsthand account of life in an unfamiliar culture.
Materials
Video: NOVA's "The Lost Treasures of Tibet"
Excerpts from "The Struggle for Modern Tibet—Autobiography of Tashi Tsering" by Goldstein, Siebenschuh and Tsering
Student's Journals
Procedure
In the Nova video, we find that Mustang is actually in current-day Nepal, at least by political boundaries. Though it is a part of Nepal, Mustang falls within the ethnic realm of Tibet. While Nepal is not in the People's Republic of China, it is sandwiched between India and China.
Begin by asking students questions about their impressions of Tibet and what it means to them. Ask other questions, such as:
"Have you ever seen a bumper sticker that says, 'Free Tibet'? What does that mean to you?"
"Have you heard of the Dalai Lama? Who is he? What does he represent?"
After having a brief discussion on their ideas, view the NOVA episode, "Lost Treasures of Tibet." Following the program, discuss the following ideas with students:
"What are the main differences between the way the Western artists who worked on the art restoration view their job, and that of the local people?"
"Who were the original artisans?" (They were likely Newaris from the Kathmandu area of Nepal.)
"How does the lama from Dharamsala fit into to this equation? Why did they have no local Lama? What is the role of the local king (raja) in the situation?"
We know that in Tibet, many of the monasteries were destroyed on purpose, and the monks and lamas were forced into a secular life, particularly during the Cultural Revolution. However, here in Mustang there was no similar external force to destroy the monastery. "Why are there no monks or Lamas to maintain this monastery?"
In Tibet, prior to the arrival of the People's Liberation Army of China, the lamas, monks, and about 200 aristocratic families controlled Tibet's wealth and power. Villagers paid taxes and gave tribute to support them, and gave yaks, butter and other gifts for blessings or "merit." There were no public schools, and only the aristocracy, monks, and lamas could ever hope to learn to read and write their own language. Today even common Tibetans can go to school. "When you see 'Free Tibet' as a bumper sticker, do you think the people are aware of the inequalities that existed in traditional Tibet? How has the Tibetan Buddhism been viewed by the West?"
Have students read "The Struggle for Modern Tibet: The Autobiography of Tashi Tsering." Note: This book has a few passages that may not be suitable for 9th and 10th graders, it may be more appropriate for 11th and 12th grade students. The book is one man's journey from a poor village to being a dancer for the Dalai Lama to being a student to being a political prisoner and more. This will give students a more concrete reality of the issues surrounding Tibet. Note: The Tibetan footage in the NOVA video comes from a heavily biased film called "Compassion in Exile," directed by Mickey Lemle, and gives students/viewers no context for the violent scenes. As reprehensible as they are, this does not help viewers apply critical thinking skills. [Editor's note: Liesl Clark, the producer of the NOVA program, responds: "We felt that the context -- the Chinese cultural revolution -- was so broad that it included specific events like those shown in the film, the beating of the monks and nuns by Chinese police and footage of destroyed monasteries by the Chinese. These are well known clips that have been distributed by the International Campaign for Tibet for use in documentaries like ours that only begin to touch on the atrocities."]
Assessment
Argument
Comparison of primary and secondary sources
Research
Classroom Tips
This may be used for Social Studies or Literature/critical thinking lessons.
Sent in by
Rex Michael Dillon
Silver Creek High School
San Jose, CA
NOVA travels to the Mustang region in Nepal where a small group of Westerners are working with local townspeople to preserve murals on monastery walls.
The program:
explores the village of Lo Monthang where the way of life has remained the same for the past 500 years.
discusses Mustang's importance as a last stronghold of Tibetan culture, which was mostly destroyed when China invaded Tibet in the 1950s.
focuses on the preservation of paintings on the walls of a monastery in Lo Monthang.
explores the dynamics between Western preservationists and the citizens of Lo Monthang.
examines the importance of Buddhism in Tibetan culture and the key role the monasteries play in town politics and education.
documents techniques used by visiting specialists to preserve the monasteries and their paintings.
shows the technology used by locals to repair the monasteries.
compares the Renaissance periods that took place simultaneously, yet independently of one another, in Europe and Tibet.
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Lost Treasures of Tibet
Related NOVA Resources
The following resources from the companion Web site accompany this program:
Before and After
Compare nine paintings in Lo Monthang's Thubchen monastery before and after restoration. (Flash plug-in required.) (Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12)
Creating a Wall Painting
Read about the steps involved in restoring the 15th-century Thubchen and Champa monastery murals. (Grades 9-12)
Tour Mustang
Take a look at the people, villages, and vistas of Mustang in this photo tour. (Grades 3-5, 6-8, 9-12)
Deciphering Buddha Imagery
Learn about some of the familiar traits found in the Buddha image, as well as the meanings of the five most common hand gestures, in this interactive feature. (Flash plug-in required; non-Flash version available.) (Grades 6-8, 9-12)
Plus:
Resources
Program Transcript
Complete narration for the TV program.
