Auspicious Signs: Tibetan Arts in New England - Sonam Lama
Subject
Sonam Lama
(Tibetan)
Date1996
MediumPhotography; color slide on plastic in cardboard mount
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.226.1-.2
DescriptionSlides showing buildings made by Sonam Lama. These images were used for the "Auspicious Signs: Tibetan Arts in New England" exhibit project and catalogue. Images courtesy of Sonam Lama.
2015.196.226.1: Slide showing a traditional painted stone house constructed by Sonam as an apprentice in Ganden, Tibet.
2015.196.226.2: Slide showing a chorten (stupa) built by Sonam in Libertyville, Illinois, on a farm owned by Buddhists who commissioned it for the Dalia Lama's visit in 1991. Chortens are structures built on high points as symbols of transcendence from this world to enlightenment. Chortens marks places where deities may have lived, or where historical or special events have occurred. Their function is both commemorative and devotional.
NotesBiographical Note: Stonemason Sonam Lama has adapted his traditionally learned Tibetan building skills to his new home in Greenfield, Massachusetts, where he runs a business constructing New England stone walls. In Tibet Sonam went to become a novice monk in Ganden monastery, one of the thousands which had been destroyed by the Chinese during the Cultural Revolution. There were few teachers because the monastery was virtually in ruins, so in addition to his religious training Sonam became an apprentice to a master mason, an artisan who had built a number of monasteries. A group of young monks and the old master spent four years at Ganden, rebuilding. This was a dangerous activity, and Sonam was imprisoned. After promising to stay on the family's farm in Kham, where he would have little freedom or future, Sonam escaped to India. He came to the U.S. in 1984.2015.196.226.1: Slide showing a traditional painted stone house constructed by Sonam as an apprentice in Ganden, Tibet.
2015.196.226.2: Slide showing a chorten (stupa) built by Sonam in Libertyville, Illinois, on a farm owned by Buddhists who commissioned it for the Dalia Lama's visit in 1991. Chortens are structures built on high points as symbols of transcendence from this world to enlightenment. Chortens marks places where deities may have lived, or where historical or special events have occurred. Their function is both commemorative and devotional.
For the Auspicious Signs exhibit, Sonam built a chorten, called stupa in Sanskrit. These stone structures, which originated in India, occur throughout the Tibetan landscape as well as other areas where Buddhism is practiced, built on high points as symbols of transcendence from this world to enlightenment. A chorten sometimes held the remains of a saint or perhaps just his possessions, especially when made in gold or silver as a reliquary and placed inside a monastery. Chortens mark places where deities may have lived, or where historical or special events have occurred. Their function is both commemorative and devotional. Constructed as metaphors for the body and evolution of Buddha, the chorten base stands for earth, the dome is water, the thirteen rings on the shaft represent the stages toward enlightenment, crowned by the spire top carrying symbols of the sacred flame of Buddha (fire); the half moon (air); and sun (infinite space), unite compassion and wisdom at the moment of Buddha's attainment of Nirvana. People visit chortens regularly, both informally and as pilgrims, walking around the structure clockwise.
Inside the chorten Sonam placed coins, turquoise, gold, silver, herbs, and sandalwood in honor of the deity of the north, one of the kings of the four directions. Underneath are a toy gun and tools, representing the burying of anger and attachment to earthly goods. Twenty-nine books of mantras are placed inside as written prayers to Buddha and other spiritual figures, bringing heart and spirit to the chorten's body.
This chorten is dedicated to Namgyal, the goddess of long life who protects against bad diseases and natural disasters.
"Chortens are supposed to represent everything, earth, sky, sun, moon...basically a chorten is heart of the Buddha...it's like a memorial, something not to forget, something you honor...between the bottom of the chorten (which) is a seat, all the way up to the top, there is a complete body. When you put mantras inside there is a mantra of body, mantra of heart, mantra of mind - for each level. Also goes some tools, weapons, some gold, also a branch of the juniper...goes from bottom to top like a spine...in Tibetan Buddhism we believe that this kind of statue is not really Buddha but is like Buddha - you respect it as him."
Subject Note: "Auspicious Signs: Tibetan Arts in New England" was an exhibit project developed by the Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program (CCHAP) at the Institute for Community Research in Hartford in 1996. The exhibit opening and a festival of Tibetan arts and music served as the major public events of an eighteen-month research and programming project conducted by CCHAP in partnership with the Tibetans. The project celebrated the Tibetan community's preservation and practice of their traditions in America.
Since the Tibetan Resettlement Project brought twenty-one Tibetans to live in Connecticut, the state has become home to one of the fastest growing Tibetan communities in the United States. Several Connecticut Tibetans are traditional artists of great skill who are deeply committed to expressing and passing on Tibetan culture. Members of the Tibetan community are also dedicated to educating others about the difficult history and circumstances of the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
The collaborative project team consisted of three Tibetan project assistants, exhibit designer Sarah Buie, the Tibetan Cultural Center of Connecticut, artist Sonam Lama who was at the time Vice President of the Massachusetts Tibetan Association, and curator/folklorist Lynne Williamson, then director of CCHAP. The interdisciplinary nature of the team served to broaden the project's outreach to regional Tibetan communities as well as to incorporate a rich variety of expertise and perspectives.
The project team produced an exhibit displaying Tibetan religious art as well as everyday traditional arts, a day-long festival featuring artists, performers, demonstrations, and discussions, and an illustrated catalogue. Artists Jampa Tsondue, Ngawang Choedar, and Tsering Yangzom were featured in a video documenting their artistic process.
Funders included the Lila Wallace Readers Digest Community Folklife Program administered by the Fund for Folk Culture and underwritten by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund; the National Endowment for the Arts Folk and Traditional Arts Program, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Connecticut Humanities Council and the Institute for Community Research.
To mark the exhibit opening, the Tibetan community held a festival attended by over three hundred people, including Tibetans from all over the region. Four music and dance groups performed outside, while in the exhibit gallery three Tibetan artists demonstrated weaving, woodcarving, and thangka painting. The event also featured a bazaar, a common Tibetan cultural activity. Many Tibetans are keen traders, maintaining links to Dharamsala, India, and Nepal through import of goods to the U.S. and sale through small shops here. Six Tibetan vendors from all over the region set up tables during the festival with a great variety of Tibetan books and crafts. Lakedhen and five other community members had risen at dawn to prepare food, which they sold during the day. Several speakers described the background of the project, the story of the Connecticut community, the current political situation in Tibet, and the history and character of Tibetan culture. Cholsum dance group from New York City and musicians Lakedhen and Thupten performed and accompanied the dancers. Singer DaDon and her group played for over an hour.
Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to this artist.
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
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