Pema’s Story or The Flight of the Ducks
Pema Dhargyal is only one among over a hundred-and-twenty thousand Tibetan refugees in exile across the world that have fled their homeland in an effort to practice and conserve the Tibetan way of life. Severely threatened by the increasing Sinicization of the Tibet plateau, the immensely rich religion, language, culture, heritage, and unique habitat of this peace-loving people today faces extinction. Perhaps its last unthreatened traditional bastions remain in the Indian Himalayas, and in settlements in Bhutan and Nepal, while a Tibetan Government-in-Exile struggles to cohesively function from a hilltop called McLeodgunj in India.
Pema Dhargyal is only one among over a hundred-and-twenty thousand Tibetan refugees in exile across the world that have fled their homeland in an effort to practice and conserve the Tibetan way of life. Severely threatened by the increasing Sinicization of the Tibet plateau, the immensely rich religion, language, culture, heritage, and unique habitat of this peace-loving people today faces extinction. Perhaps its last unthreatened traditional bastions remain in the Indian Himalayas, and in settlements in Bhutan and Nepal, while a Tibetan Government-in-Exile struggles to cohesively function from a hilltop called McLeodgunj in India.
The Tibet plateau and the contiguous high
altitude plateaus of the Indian and Nepal Himalayas lie on the flight path of
the migratory Brahminy or Ruddy Shell ducks. The glacial lakes of these regions
are home to this endangered species in the summer months where they
mysteriously dwell in solitary pairs in the icy waters, giving birth to their
young before flying further afield.
An integral participant in the fragile
ecosystem that sustains these freezing plateaus, the Brahminy duck is today as
threatened by shifting political and cultural agenda in the region as is the
larger habitat, wild life, and indigenous human population of the Tibet
plateau.
Pema’s Story or The Flight of the Ducks is a multi-layered narrative in the tradition of animal tales from the region that draws a parallel between the flight of the endangered Brahminy ducks and that of the Tibetan refugees. The work consists of eight panels, each traditionally designed as an interactive wooden box with a sliding lid carved with the eight Tibetan lucky signs intimate with the life and teachings of the Buddha.
Pema’s Story or The Flight of the Ducks is a multi-layered narrative in the tradition of animal tales from the region that draws a parallel between the flight of the endangered Brahminy ducks and that of the Tibetan refugees. The work consists of eight panels, each traditionally designed as an interactive wooden box with a sliding lid carved with the eight Tibetan lucky signs intimate with the life and teachings of the Buddha.
WORK DETAILS:
Title: Pema’s Story or The Flight
of the Ducks
(Set of 8)
Medium: Etching
& serigraphy on paper, serigraphy on acrylic sheet, and hand-cut wooden box
Size: 17.25” X 27.75”
each
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