Tibet Awareness Week opened in Punta del Este, a well known seaside resort of Uruguay in South America, on January 22nd and will last until January 28th. The event takes place in the gallery hall of the Punta del Este City Tourist Information Center.
The event includes a series of photo exhibition on Tibet, display of Buddhist scroll paintings (Thang-kas), film shows and talks on Tibet and Tibetan Buddhist culture. It is organized by Aloma Sellanes, a Uruguayan writer and Tibet supporter, in collaboration with the TGIE Liaison Officer to Latin America, Tsewang Phuntso. Aloma’s new book, “Latin Americans and Tibet” will be published sometime early this year.
In the photo exhibition section, four photographers from different backgrounds portray different aspects of the life of the Tibetan people. Sofia Abboud, a young Argentinean photographer who frequently visits Tibet, portrays the life in Tibetan monasteries in Tibet through her photo collections on Tibetan monasteries; Ciro Jaumandreu, a young Uruguayan artist, express his understanding of Buddha’s teaching through a series of conceptual and abstract art on the life of Milarepa; Sonam Zoksang, a New York based Tibetan photographer presents beautiful but emotional portraits of the Tibetan people inside Tibet; and Jianglin Li, a New York based Chinese independent writer, portrays various aspects of the life of Tibetan people in diasporas. Apart from their collections, there is also a section of black and white photos documenting the early exile life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Ana Maria Clasing, a Chilean who has been practicing Tibetan Buddhism for many years and who frequently visits Dharamsala, displays her collection of Tibetan Buddhist scroll paintings (thang-kas). On January 24th evening, she also gave a talk describing the history and significance of the Tibetan scroll paintings. On January 26th, she will be sharing her experience of visiting Tibet.
Commenting on the importance of organizing this event at internationally known summer holiday resort of Punta del Este in Uruguay, Aloma Sellanes said, “Since Punta del Este attracts so many influential and important persons—writers, artists, film stars, and intellectuals—from Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Brazil and Europe during the summer months, it is important to organize such event to create awareness on the plight of Tibetan people”. She further commented that, “Latin Americans being lived under the authoritarian military rule for many years, they can understand the plight of Tibetan people better”.
Apart from Ana Maria Clasing, speakers at the event include Gerardo Abboud, a Spanish translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Latin America, Aloma Sellanes, and Tsewang Phuntso. On opening day of the event on January 22nd, Tsewang Phuntso gave a presentation about the “Fate of the Tibetan Culture in Contemporary Tibet” and the next day, January 23rd, Gerardo Abboud gave a detail introduction about the Tibetan Buddhist Culture”. Tonight (January 25th), Tsewang Phuntso will give another presentation on “Preservation of the Tibetan Culture in Diaspora”. On January 27th, Aloma Sellanes will talk on “Brief History of Tibet and Life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama” followed by a screening of a movie on Tibet. For the past three days, all the talks were attended by 80 to 100 people and the responses of the audience turned out to be extremely good and engaging. The Tibet Awareness Week is covered by Channel 7 television network which broadcast simultaneously in Uruguay and Argentina.
The event will end with the film, “What Remains of Us”, on January 28th.
Punta del Este is most frequently visited seaside resort in Uruguay. Nearly half a million tourists visit this beautiful resort during the summer which begins here from the middle of December and last until the first week of March. Thousands of wealthy Argentinian families have built their summer homes in this resort. It is a meeting ground of Uruguayans, Argentinians, Chileans, Brazilians, Paraguayans, and Europeans.
