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LHASA TRAIN

3. Gade
Railway Train

Tibet
2006
mixed media on Tibetan paper
60 x 130 cm.
Gade<br>Railway Train

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"The whole shape is of the reclining Buddha. Nowadays Tibet has lots of changes brought by the West, and the East too. Our generation is a time when we experience this the most and see the effects from all of these changes. In my painting you can see lots of things, like Disneyland, a China Mobile signboard, Coca Cola signboards, which are seen by us every day in our lives. Of course, Disneyland is not here yet, but just like the train, maybe in the future it will also come to Tibet.

Tibet has gone through a cultural revolution, and now commercialism, so now Tibetan culture has become some sort of circus center, or resort center, where you can see everything. Some things are very foreign, almost extraterrestrial. All of these changes are not brought only by the train, but the train plays the role of instigator and is a focus point. So now we cannot place our identity in a fixed area, as there are too many things that have happened. And we feel this loss of identity, and maybe we are the only generation to experience such a thing. I am just displaying such circumstances."


Detail: close up of train and monks
Detail: close up of boat on far right

Artist's Biography

all text and images © Peaceful Wind
photographs by and © Jason Sangster 2006
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