Programs: TibetFest
Date2005-2011
MediumPaper
ClassificationsInformation Artifacts
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.67.1-.5
Description2015.196.67.1: program, TibetFest 4, 2008
2015.196.67.2: program, TibetFest 5, 2009
2015.196.67.3: flyer, TibetFest 7, [2011]
2015.196.67.4: program, TibetFest, 2005
2015.196.67.5: program, TibetFest, 2006
NotesSubject Note: TibetFest, a volunteer-run annual weekend-long event that celebrated the cultural heritage of Tibet and Tibetans, has been held since 2005. Begun by Michelle Weik of Litchfield who organized the festival along with Tibetans living in Connecticut and New York, TibetFest has been a community-driven, unique, and very popular event. Funds raised are donated to Tibetan causes. The 2018 festival was organized by Students For a Free Tibet, based in New York City, and in 2022 the festival began to be managed by the Tibetan Association of Connecticut. The Festival has presented many renowned Tibetan musicians onstage. Guest speakers give audiences up-to-date information on the situation in Tibet. Audience members and performing artists gather for dance circles. The arts area includes monks creating sand mandalas and butter sculptures, artists showing woodcarving, weaving, and thangka panting – several of them Tibetan artists living in Connecticut, and photography exhibits. New York and New England Tibetan artisans and vendors sell Tibetan art works, books, and jewelry, and food vendors provide Tibetan foods. 2015.196.67.2: program, TibetFest 5, 2009
2015.196.67.3: flyer, TibetFest 7, [2011]
2015.196.67.4: program, TibetFest, 2005
2015.196.67.5: program, TibetFest, 2006
Since the Tibetan Resettlement Project brought twenty-one Tibetans from India to live in Connecticut in 1992, the state has become home to one of the fastest growing Tibetan communities in the U.S. Several Connecticut Tibetans are traditional artists of great skill who are deeply committed to expressing and passing on Tibetan culture. The story of the Tibetan community in Connecticut shows resilience and commitment to making a home in a new world. These first arrivals were sponsored to live in Old Saybrook, and they quickly found housing, jobs, and a welcome there. Many of them still had spouses, parents, and children back in India and Nepal so they applied for family reunification visas which often took years. The community has thrived and grown rapidly, choosing to remain in this part of the state. Recently the availability of jobs especially in the Asian gaming sections of Connecticut’s two casinos has encouraged many new Tibetan arrivals to settle in Norwich, bringing the community’s population up to about 500. Tibetans gather regularly for community social and ceremonial celebrations in Norwich and Old Saybrook, and they work tirelessly to educate others about the difficult situation faced by Tibetans in Tibet as they fight to protect their centuries-old culture that is threatened by a dominant political and social Chinese presence.
Many of the community’s excellent traditional artists continue a wide variety of art forms as a way to sustain their language and culture and pass their heritage on to their children. Music and dance, featuring flute player Lakedhen Shingsur and dancers both young and old, are part of every Tibetan gathering especially Losar (New Year) and the Dalai Lama's birthday celebration in July. Yeshi Dorjee, a Buddhist monk, lives in Old Saybrook where he offers spiritual support for the community’s ceremonies and teachings. A multi-talented artist, Yeshi creates sand mandalas, butter sculptures, religious paintings, book illustrations, and is a storyteller. Jampa Tsondue paints thangkas, religious images of deities and Buddhist teachings, and has taught his daughter this process. Carpet weavers Tentso Sichoe and Kunga Choekyi participated in CCHAP’s Apprenticeship Program to share and teach their specialized craft and produce new carpets on a loom donated by weaver Tsultim Lama. Tibetan families use these folk arts every day in their homes, especially in the rooms devoted to their Buddhist spiritual practice. Many of these artists as well as other Tibetans from New York and New England participate in TibetFest.
In 2016, CCHAP was part of a collaborative project, New Lives New England, that brought a Vermont-based Tibetan performing group to the festival to connect with Connecticut Tibetans and develop reciprocal cultural heritage activities. Artists and Tibetan community members camped out nearby for the weekend, creating a social gathering that was eagerly anticipated as an important part of the festival. Several Connecticut-based Tibetan artists performed and displayed art work at the festival, along with their families. Substantial photographic and video materials are present in the CCHAP archive relating to this event, this community, and the artists.
Additional materials exist in the CCHAP archive for this event.
Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
2002-2010