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Meet the Norbulingka Artists |
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Tenzin Norbu and Dolmakyap Zorgey |
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Norbulingka Institute
Dharamsala, India |
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The dreams that gave rise to Norbulingka Institute began in the 1980s, when the Tibetan refugee community recognized the urgent need to preserve, disseminate, and research the Tibetan traditional arts. Building began in 1988 and the first artists arrived a year later. As the Institute grew, Master painters, carpenters, wood-carvers, sculptors, and appliqué artists began to pass on their skills and knowledge to young Tibetans born in exile and those recently escaped from Tibet. Since its official inauguration by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1995, Norbulingka has emerged as the premier Tibetan fine arts training and research center. Emory University and the Emory Tibet Partnership are honored to be partnering with this renowned institution. The visits of Tenzin Norbu and Dolmakyap Zorgey represent the first manifestation of this partnership. |
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Tenzin Norbu
Master Thangka Painter |
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Tenzin Norbu was born in Lhasa, Tibet, in 1973. As a child, after seeing traditional paintings (thangkas) done by his grandmother’s brother, a monk at Sera monastery, Tenzin Norbu was inspired to follow in his footsteps. However, his mother decided to send him to study with Dr Tenzin Chodak, a relative of his father’s who was serving as chief physician to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, at the Tibetan Medical Centre (Men Tsee Khang) in Dharamsala, India. |
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Leaving Lhasa in March 1989, Tenzin Norbu thus began to study medicine at Men Tsee Khang. But, in 1991, after meeting Norbulingka Institute’s master thangka painter, Mr. Tenba Chöphel, he decided to shift there, driven by his early burning desire to paint. He soon became part of a core group of eight students studying under this renowned master, who became like a father to him. Following Tenba Chöphel’s untimely demise in 2008, Tenzin Norbu became Norbulingka Institute’s Master Thangka Painter. In this capacity he is now responsible for training dozens of students and supervising all work done in the Painting Studio. |
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Dolmakyap Zorgey
Deputy Managing Director |
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Dolmakyap Zorgey was born in 1976 to a traditional nomadic family not far from the great Tibetan monastic university of Labrang Tashi Kyil, in Eastern Tibet. After a brief period in Lhasa, he escaped to India where he did his higher studies. He joined Norbulingka Institute in 1997, and became the Deputy Managing Director. In this capacity he is responsible for the general functioning of the Institute, particularly in terms of sales, training, and the preservation of traditional arts. |
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Dolmakyap Zorgey will be accompanying Tenzin Norbu, not only as his translator and assistant, but also as a scholar in his own right and the representative of Norbulingka Institute. He aspires to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of Tibet’s living artistic traditions by creating an appreciative awareness of them in the world at large, and by ensuring the consistent training of young Tibetans who will carry these traditions into the future. |
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