Event detail

Boundless: Contemporary Tibetan Artists at Home and Abroad

Exhibit - Painting | October 3, 2018 – May 26, 2019 every day |  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor:  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Featuring works by internationally renowned contemporary Tibetan artists alongside rare historical pieces, this exhibition highlights the ways these artists explore the infinite possibilities of visual forms to reflect their transcultural, multilingual, and translocal lives. Though living and working in different geographical areas—Lhasa, Dharamsala, Kathmandu, New York, and the Bay Area—the contemporary artists included in Boundless adopt and adapt elements of Tibetan Buddhist art and philosophy to construct works laden with layered meanings. By adopting and manipulating historical Himalayan forms, they express their latent feelings of displacement, fracture, and trauma, and the contradictions in their daily lives. Pulling from different visual traditions—from Himalayan thangka painting to American Pop art—these artists undertake innovative risks that highlight infinite visual possibilities derived from traditional forms. Contemporary paintings, multimedia works, performances on video, and collage are placed in conversation with historical works, providing viewers with a reference point to understand the visual language from which many contemporary Tibetan artists draw inspiration.

Event contact:  CA, bampfapress@berkeley.edu, 5106420808