INTRODUCTION
TIBETAN ART / TIBETAN CULTURE
The Tibetan Art / Tibetan Culture website is a study of the art of the Tibetan people who live in the Tibet Autonomous Region in China and throughout the Himalayan Region where they have established their culture. The lessons are for high school art students and teachers. The goal is to advance visual literacy through the decoding of the imagery, and through becoming aware of underlying values. Students will gain insight into and appreciation for this rich culture, connect them with the work of contemporary artists working within this sensibility, and interact with these ideas in their own studio work .
Perhaps the most important single lesson students will learn is the difference in the reason for creating visual imagery between their own culture and the Tibetan culture. Tibetan art for thousands of years has been made in verneration for and edification about their Buddhist beliefs. Work has been made according to tradition, and individual input is kept minimal. From the western viewpoint which values art for its individuality, this is often difficult to fully understand.
One premise in the making of studio art in the context of this website is that there are three levels of response to the images presented, and that student work will occur on the first two levels. Work of contemporary internationally exhibiting artists will demonstrate the final stage of working within this sensibility. Within each category below both weak and strong can emerge.
1) imitation and illustration
2) variation on the the idea
3) personal and original work that comes from assimilation and transformation
LESSONS
Symbols of Tibetan Buddhism
Exploring concepts of Buddhism through symbols that are found throughout Tibetan Art
TIBET: powerpoint: Thanghkas and mandalas
Lesson: Develop a vocabulary of symbols from researching Buddhism in sketchbooks, and invent personal ones. Make prayer flags by printing with stamps and forming a larger composite form on cloth.
Ephemeral Art Forms as Expression of Impermanence
Chalk drawings, butter sculptures and sand andalas
TIBET: Powerpoint
View the work of Sanford Biggers
Lesson: Large scale outside chalk drawings; making mani stones for the stream, and the making of ritural.
Architecture within the Himalayan Landscape
Buddhist belief, Himalayan geography and the architecture adapted to it: monasteries, stupas, houses and nomadic tents
TIBET: powerpoint section: Architecture and Landscape
View contemporary artists who make use of digital to combine realistically: Botanicals/New Genres
Lesson: Building a structure by digitally collaging details of Tibetan architectural elements.
Sutras: One Thousand Tibetan Hats
The transmission of Buddhism. Texts. Sutras.
TIBET: Powerpoint: Sutras
View: DVD on Bookmaking: Tradition Plus Digital
Lesson: Students locate as many different hats from Tibetan resources and make line drawings of them. After refining them in pencil, layout four to a page in sutra format, and finish in ink. Compile between two cover boards.
Shamans Bonpos Buddhas
TIBET: Powerpoint: Shamans Bonpos Buddhas
Lesson: Making black clay effigies with narrative of ritual and power. Mixed media added.
Thangkas and Mandalas
Buddhist art in thangkas and mandalas
TIBET: powerpoint section: Thangkas and Mandalas
Thangkas and mandala traditions and readings (Jataka, Milarepa, HH, more)
Lesson: Preparing canvas, creating a design and painting a thangka with a mandala form. Students choose a faculty member to represent in a portrait thangka.
Politics and Art
Mao's social realism and propaganda posters
TIBET: Powerpoint: Politics and Art
Lesson: Students choose a political cause and digitally create a graphic image and text to communicate its message.
Neighbors:
Islamic Influences in West and Southern Himalayan Region
Mosaics and mosques
TIBET:Powerpoint: Indian neighbors
View work of Simon Rodia and Antonio Gaudi
Lesson: Students make a concrete form covered with mosaic pieces as a seat for reflection in the Stuart woods
Neighbors:
India: Mogul Painting
A summary of Hindu gods and beliefs
TIBET: Powerpoint:Indian Neighbors
View work of Shazia Sikander on http://www.pbs.org/art21/series/seasonone/spirituality.html#
Lesson: Take any fantasy story, and illustrate it with guache on a small scale