In 2006, the CU Art Museum at the University of Colorado in Boulder presented the first major international exhibition of contemporary Tibetan art.  Since then, artists working in both Tibet and in exile around the world have presented work in dozens of solo and group exhibitions, often showing works together, creating, as scholar Clare Harris notes, “a Tibetan nation…imagined in the art world when it does not exist as a geopolitical entity.”  A major feature of works by these artists—a consistent theme transcending geographic boundaries—is a continued reference to Tibetan Buddhist imagery.  But these are not religious works.  Rather, the artists often use depictions of buddhas, mandalas, and ritual implements as markers of cultural rather than religious identity.  This presentation looks broadly at the last 15 years of work created by artists in Tibet and the diaspora and asks us to consider the various audiences, interpretations, expectations, and reception of the work. 

Lecture for Lamar University Art History Guest Lecture series. For more information, click here.