Entangled Territories | Tibet Through Images

Entangled Territories: Tibet Through Images reimagines Tibet by showing how it has been represented historically by outsiders, and how Tibetans themselves now present and talk about Tibet. This exhibition highlights the importance of Tibet’s rich cultural heritage as well as its current political context. Developed in collaboration with Tibetan Canadian community members and artists, the exhibition showcases Tibet and Tibetans through their own lenses and voices.

Following China’s Communist Revolution, Tibet was forced to surrender its independence and has been under China’s occupation since 1951. After a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama–Tibet’s political and spiritual leader–followed by about 80,000 Tibetans, fled to Dharamshala, India, now the home of the Tibetan government-in-exile. For nearly seven decades, the political situation has resulted in the continued displacement of Tibetans and their global relocation, forming the Tibetan diaspora. Many of those who identify as Tibetan were neither born in Tibet nor live there, but live in places like India and Nepal, and increasingly in North America and Europe. Canada is home to one of the largest concentrations of Tibetans outside of Asia.

The location and status of the Tibetan homeland remain a central issue for Tibetans, especially for younger generations. Their lived experience in Canada is reshaping Tibetan identity and their self-image, and many are questioning not only their diasporic condition, but also reimagining what homeland means.

Entangled Territories presents Tibet, its cultures and its communities in a different light. The exhibition also uplifts the efforts of the Tibetan-Canadian community to maintain their culture and history in the face of challenges associated with migration and the loss of their homeland.

This exhibition features works by artists Kunsang Kyirong and Lodoe Laura. One of Kyirong’s films, specially made for this exhibition, derives from her research on MOA’s archival materials including photographs taken by a British officer in Tibet in the early 1900s, and is showcased along with archival materials. Lodoe Laura’s photographic and installation works are about her connections with Tibet and also about the conditions inside the Tibetan Autonomous Region and beyond. Tibetan-Canadian community members and the artists selected objects from the Tibetan collection at MOA for display in the exhibition and shared their reflections.