No-Man’s Land: Identity and Cultural Continuity in Traditional and Contemporary Tibetan Painting

Stephanie Lusk

Mentor: Ms. Cathy Tedford

The search for defining persona has led the younger generation of Tibetans across many boundaries, literally and figuratively speaking. Those born into post-communist Tibet struggle with conflicting ideas of self-perception; do they associate themselves with the Chinese and the communist ideals that have been forced upon them, or do they break from their present reality and connect with a culture that is in essence their own legacy, but has since been nearly obliterated? Those Tibetans born in refugee camps and in exile around the world also face a similar position.

Tibetan youth in exile are confronted by a past that no longer exists and a future that is determined by the actions that they perform in their existing present. Do they cling to the heritage that is imparted to them from their community, one that they perhaps do not relate to, or do they realize that it is time to move on, that culture and tradition—along with time—is steadily moving forward? Is there a way to act on both?