Flames of Justice:
Inside view of Tibetan artist Tashi Norbu.
Read here the full interview (pdf)

Tashi Norbu,1974, is a Tibetan born in Bhutan. After high school he graduated as a traditional Tibetan Thangka painter in Dharamsala, India (The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives – LTWA, Dharamsala, year 1999). In 2000 he moved to Belgium where he studied Visual Arts at Saint Lucas Art Academy. During his four years long study course and while working in the SMAK (Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art) in Ghent he was able to intimately admire and actually hold in his hands the most important expressions of contemporary art.
He has redublicated lost panals of Expo in SMAK, painted wall paintings of around 20 meters of Golden Alphabets for Leo Coopers , also assisted Chinese Artist Cia Qua chin in SMAK with building Tibetan YAK Skin Boat,
In Exhibition IN Haus Beda Museum, Museum Huis Van alijn, Gent. Tibet Museum Dharamsala , Kamers kloosters exhibtion in 2nd Best Contemporary Art Museum in Ghent.
2007 Tashi’s work was published in `Happinez`- the biggest mind style Magazine of The Netherlands.. see http://www.tashinorbu.be/happinez.pdf

In 2008 Exposures of his 13 Billboard Tibetan paintings of 12/6 metrs to the 10.000 visitors for a single day Tibetan Art/Festival in Amsterdam`Ticket For Tibet`.
He initiated Tibet House Holland foundation for Tibetan Art and Culture.
In2009 Tashi successfully organized TIBET ART NOW exhibition in cooperation with Tibet Art Movement foundation, (SOTC/Foundation meets with Tibetan Culture),(Gallery ArtSite), Louwrien Wijers (AmSSE) altogether. Tibetan artists like Gonkar Gyatso (53th Venice Biennial 2009 and the 6th Biennale of Sydney 2010), and Losang Gyatso from all over the world came to Amsterdam to participate in this special exhibition, 16.4.2011 Tashi Norbu exhibited in germany Darmstad.

TIBET ART NOW – Shown at Tibet Art Gallery in Amsterdam, 3 June - 6 July 2009. `Tibet Art Now` aims to contribute to recognition of the contemporary art of Tibet in a totally positive way. It wants to add a genuine contribution to the development of the culture of Tibet for Tibetan artists outside as well as inside Tibet. The exhibition shows the art that bridges the ancient art of Tibet with the new artistic imagery of Tibet's new generations of artists. The vision is to offer viewers a stepping stone to a possible future development of the culture and the art of the Tibetan people.

Tashi Norbu reflects the contemporary spirit of one world, one peace and individual responsibility for our modern culture in each work produced by his hand. He applies a collage technique typical of the Abstract Expressionism of the 50s, but he glues on his canvas such self absorbing elements that meditation becomes unavoidable while observing his work. It is not the New Yorker hellish society of Rauschenberg and Warhol, but the silent equilibrium of Tibet, its Art and Culture.

TASHI’S ARTIST STATEMENT

Through my further artistic training and experiences in Europe, I am very aware of international and conceptual developments in modern art, and I know that being a Tibetan, I feel it is important to present my identity as a Tibetan visually, and to share the traditions and beauty of my cultural heritage.

I seek to explore the ways of western art that inspire me in combination with Tibetan motifs, deliberately presenting elements of the contemporary world that sit alongside my culture. From ripped jeans to prayer scripts in collages, mixing sacred symbols and letters, my work fuses different elements of materials and styles. I try to bring energy of abstract expressionism in harmony with the meditative and reflective spirit of Buddhism.

WEBSITES FEATURING THE WORK OF TASHI NORBU

http://www.tibethouse.nl/tan/index.htm

http://issuu.com/tibetartnow/docs/tibetartnow

http://www.himaalaja.ee/blog/

http://www.himaalaja.ee/artists.html

http://www.zebrart.be/expositions.php?artist=41

http://www.tashinorbu.be/himalayan/index.htm

http://www.tamgalerii.ee/EST/Tood-muugis-Kunstnikud//Tashi%20Norbu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgXZPClzqlk

info: tashi@tibethouse.nl