Introduction and post-film conversation with Lama Tasha Norbu

This Dutch documentary provides a portrait of Tibetan monk and visual artist Tashi Norbu, who has been fighting for political freedom in Tibet for years. In his hometown Emmen, in the Netherlands, he founded the Museum for Tibetan Contemporary Art, the only one of its kind in the world. He has tirelessly made Tibetan art and the survival of Tibetan culture his life's mission. Because of this work, he is now considered a dissident by the Chinese government and can never set foot on Tibetan or Chinese soil again.

Lama Tashi has been in Williamstown and North Adams this spring in conjunction with WCMA’s Across Shared Waters: Contemporary Artists in Dialogue with Tibetan Art from the Jack Shear Collection, which presents works by contemporary artists of Himalayan heritage alongside traditional Tibetan Buddhist rolled paintings, or thangka. The WCMA show closes July 16.