© Penelope Gan – All Rights Reserved – Chandi Chowk, Delhi, INDIA

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In Islam, ’Halal’ (Arabic: حلال‎ ḥalāl, “lawful”) means permissible. ‘Haraam’ means forbidden.

Although the term halal and haraam are applied to many facets of life; and one of the most common uses of these terms is in reference to meat products, food contact materials, and pharmaceuticals. .

Commonly, forbidden items include pork and all its products; animals improperly slaughtered; alcoholic drinks, including all forms of intoxicants; carnivorous animals; birds of prey; and any food contaminated with any of these products. When reference to meat products are made, it simply means that the slaughtering of the animal (excluding fish and most sea-life as per Islamic law) has used the prescribed method of Ḏabīḥah (ذَبِيْحَة).

Ḏabīḥah calls for the use of  a well sharpened knife to make a swift, deep incision that cuts the front of the throat, the carotid artery, wind pipe and jugular veins but leaves the spinal cord intact when slaughtering animals. The head of an animal that is slaughtered is also required to be aligned with the Qiblah. 

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However, before the second world war, the religious ritual method of slaughter as practiced in Islam and Judaism has been described as inhumane by animal welfare organisations in the U.K. and the U.S.A., who have stated that it “causes severe suffering to animals. In 1978, a study incorporating EEG  with electrodes surgically implanted on the skull of 17 sheep and 15 calves, and conducted by  Wilhelm Schulze et al. at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Germany concluded that “the slaughter in the form of a ritual cut is, if carried out properly, painless in sheep and calves according to EEG recordings and the missing defensive actions” .

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The French Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fishing published the ASIDCOM’s Bibliographical Report on Religious Slaughter and the Welfare of Animals in 2008 which quoted scientific papers and French veterinary PhD which support the equality or even possible superiority of religious slaughter to other methods of slaughter.

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Ḏabīḥah  continues to be contested till today.

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For example, in 2003, the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), an independent advisory group, concluded that the way halal and kosher meat is produced causes severe suffering to animals and should be banned immediately. FAWC argued that cattle required up to two minutes to bleed to death when such means are employed. The Muslim Council of Britain countered the argument by stating that “it’s a sudden and quick haemorrhage. A quick loss of blood pressure and the brain is instantaneously starved of blood and there is no time to start feeling any pain.”

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The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Humane Society International was quoted to say that, “the animals that are slaughtered according to kosher and halal should be securely restrained, particularly the head and neck, before cutting the throat” as “movements (during slaughter) results in a poor cut, bad bleeding, slow loss of consciousness, if at all, and pain.”

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To appease the various fractions and opinion leaders on the above, in 2008, the Food and Farming minister in the UK requested that halal and kosher meat be labeled when it is put on sale, so that members of the public can decide whether or not they want to buy food from animals that have been bled to death. Lord Rooker was quoted as saying, “I object to the method of slaughter … my choice as a customer is that I would want to buy meat that has been looked after, and slaughtered in the most humane way possible.” The RSPCA his views.

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Frustrated by the opinions, Jewish and Muslims across the globe continues to provide meat products that uses the prescribed method of Ḏabīḥah (ذَبِيْحَة).

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© Penelope Gan – All Rights Reserved – Djamaa el Fna, Marrakesh, MOROCCO

The Haouz Plain that surrounds Marrakech provides the city with a rich variety of fruits and vegetables. Being a major orange producing region where naval oranges and clementines accounts for more than eight percent of the fruit grown in Morocco, it is no wonder that fruits that are less than perfect for the big European export markets ends up at the Djamaa el Fna, filling carts to the rim with its delightfully sweet and refreshening juice being freshly squeezed on demand.

Nonetheless, the mounds of oranges only makes its appearances at certain times of the year, depending on season.

Spring-apricots, cherries, kiwis, peaches, and strawberries

Summer- watermelon, wild artichokes, tomatoes

Winter-oranges, mandarins, carrots

Seasonal-almonds, walnuts, pumpkin, bananas, lemons

Being a predominantly Muslim nation where  cocktails or other intoxicating beverages are prohibited due to religious reasons, the Moroccans have as a result created a variety of some of the freshest natural fruit juices (sharbat) and shakes in addition to the famed mint tea and Arabic coffee. With oranges in abundance, a glass of freshly squeeze orange is about the only thing in Djamaa el Fnaa with fixed pricing and the best value for money available, even during Ramadhan where the vendors have no qualms exercising extreme price discrimination and other dishonest trade practices on tourists and travelers.

Marrakesh – famed for Djamaa el Fna, its vibrant main square dubbed the most exhilarating meeting place in the world, Marrakesh which is situated in southwest Morocco also features the landmark symbol in its walled old city (medina): the 800 year old minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque.

The minaret, capped with three golden orbs, not only dominates the Marrakesh skyline but also enhances the mosque’s reputation as a masterpiece of Islamic architecture. It was completed during the rule of Almohad Caliph Yacoub el-Mansour (1184-199) and stands nearly 230ft (77m) high and almost 40 ft (13m) wide.

The city’s character is, however, defined by Djamaa el Fna in the city’s medina square. By the day it is the scene of locals and tourists haggling for bargains with market traders and watching snake charmers.

The souk (or marketplace) bordering the square is the largest in North Africa; its alleyways are crammed with stalls selling carpets, kaftans, embroidered slippers, leather ware, lamps and other Moroccan craft items.

By night the main square is transformed into a mesmerizing  theateric scene of street entertainment of every kind: fire-eating, juggling, singing, acrobatics, story-telling, dancing, magic, drumming, fortune telling and stalls selling traditional medicines or Moroccan dishes of sheep’s brains and eyes, and goats’ testicles sizzling on the pan with smells wafting up to the Moroccan clear cloudless sky.

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]]> http://penelopegan.com/photoblog/2011/07/djamaa-el-fna-and-kautoubia-mosque-at-800-years/feed/ 0 http://penelopegan.com/photoblog/2011/07/ramadhan-djamma-el-fna/ http://penelopegan.com/photoblog/2011/07/ramadhan-djamma-el-fna/#comments Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:18:20 +0000 ganpenelope http://penelopegan.com/photoblog/?p=1164 © Penelope Gan – All Rights Reserved – Djamaa el Fna, Marrakesh, MOROCCO

Famed for its vibrant atmosphere, colourful lights, dare devil acrobats and antics, spoilt with choices of goods and food, the Djamma el Fna gets livelier after sunset during the Ramadhan month with mouth watering smells wafting up to the Moroccan clear cloudless sky as the pan sizzles.

Although the focus of Ramadhan – the Islamic month of fasting that involves abstaining from food, drink, sexual relations, smoking and other vices between sunrise and sunset – is spiritual, many cultures place a surprising emphasis on food during this holy month. Iftar, the meal at which Muslims break their fast, is highly anticipated with everyone looking forward to the spread of food each evening. At a Moroccan iftar, dates, milk, juices, and sweets are typically served first to provide the sugar surge needed after a day of going without food. This is followed typicaly by Harira – a cheap and hearty lentil and tomato soup – that quickly satisfies hunger and restores energy. Occassionally hard boiled eggs, meat or seafood pastries (briouats), fried fish, and pancakes are also served.

However, with improved economic standings and catering to the tourist, food stores that specialises in more exotic and expensive food such as shrimps, crayfish, squids, fish, chicken, meet and even sheep’s brains and eyes, as well as goats’ testicles out numbers those offering the local staple iftar set meal of dates, mint tea, Harira and sweets such as sellou and chebekia.

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Harira Receipe

(serve 6 to 8 people, and follows the pressure cooker method. To adapt cooking times for traditional simmering in a stockpot, read the Tips at the bottom of the page.)

Prep Time: 40 minutes |  Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes |  Total Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• ½ lb. uncooked meat (lamb, beef or chicken), chopped into 1/2” pieces
• several soup bones (optional)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 bunch cilantro (coriander), finely chopped to yield about 1/4 cup
• 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped to yield about 1/4 cup
• 1 or 2 celery stalks with leaves, finely chopped
• 1 large onion, grated
• 1 handful of dry chick peas, soaked and then peeled
• 1 tablespoon smen (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric or ¼ teaspoon yellow colorant
• 6 large tomatoes (about 2 lb. or 1 kg), peeled, seeded and pureed
• 2 to 3 tbsp dry lentils, picked over and washed
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste, mixed evenly into 1 or 2 cups of water
• 2 to 3 tablespoons uncooked rice OR uncooked broken vermicelli
• 1 cup flour

Preparation:

Step 1 – Ahead of Time

Make sure you have all the ingredients. Do the following before you begin cooking the soup.

1. Soak and skin the chickpeas. (You might want to soak them the night before you cook.)
2. Pick through the lentils and wash them.
3. Peel, seed and puree the tomatoes in a blender or food processor. Or, stew the tomatoes and pass them through a food mill to remove the seeds and skin.
4. Pick the parsley and cilantro leaves from their stems. Small pieces of stem are OK, but discard long, thick pieces with no leaves. Wash the herbs, drain well, and finely chop them by hand or with a food processor.

Assemble the remaining ingredients and follow the steps below.

Step 2 – Brown the Meat

Put the meat, soup bones and oil into a 6-qt. or larger pressure cooker. Over medium heat, cook the meat for a few minutes, stirring to brown all sides.

Step 3 – Make the Stock

Add the cilantro, parsley, celery, onion, chick peas, tomatoes, smen and spices. Stir in 3 cups of water.

Cover tightly, and heat over high heat until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and release the pressure.

Step 4 – Make the Soup

Add the lentils, tomato paste mixture, and 2 quarts (or about 2 liters) of water to the stock.

Set aside (but don’t add yet), either the rice or vermicelli.

Cover the pot and heat the soup over high heat until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking.

If adding rice: Cook the soup on pressure for 30 minutes. Release the pressure, and add the rice. Cover, and cook with pressure for an additional 15 minutes.

If adding vermicelli: Cook the soup on pressure for 45 minutes. Release the pressure, and add the vermicelli. Simmer the soup, uncovered, for five to ten minutes or until the vermicelli is plump and cooked.

Step 5 – Thicken the Soup

While the soup is cooking, mix together the 1 cup of flour with 2 cups of water. Set the mixture aside, and stir or whisk it occasionally. The flour will eventually blend with the water. If the mixture is not smooth when you’re ready to use it, pass it through a sieve to remove balls.

Once the rice (or vermicelli) has cooked, taste the soup for seasoning. Add salt or pepper if desired.

Bring the soup to a full simmer. Slowly — and in a thin stream — pour in the flour mixture. Stir constantly and keep the soup simmering so the flour doesn’t stick to the bottom.

You will notice the soup beginning to thicken when you’ve used approximately half the flour mixture. How thick to make harira is your own preference. I like to thicken the broth so that it achieves a cream-like consistency.

Simmer the thickened soup, stirring occasionally, for five to ten minutes to cook off the taste of the flour. Remove the soup from the heat.

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Tips for Making Harira

• If the meat had a lot of fat, expect to see some foaming as you simmer the thickened soup. Skim off the foam and discard it.
• As harira cools in the pot, it’s common for a skin to form. Simply stir to blend the skin back into the soup.
• A small wedge of lemon may be served as a garnish; its juice may be squeezed into the bowl of harira.
• When reheating harira, don’t bring it to a boil. Heat over medium heat and stir frequently to avoid lentils sticking to the bottom.
• Preparation Shortcut: Chop your cilantro, parsley and celery together in a food processor or blender. Add the peeled and seeded tomatoes, and blend until well-pureed. Add the onion and process until the onion is reduced to small pieces. Proceed with making the stock.
• Thickening with Egg: In place of flour and water, two or three beaten eggs may be used to thicken harira. (If desired, beat the eggs with 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice.) Add the eggs in a thin stream to the simmering soup, stirring constantly. You will see some cooked strands of eggs in the soup as it thickens.
• Prep and Freeze: If you plan to cook harira frequently, it’s helpful to prep large amounts of key ingredients in advance. Soak and peel chickpeas; drain well before freezing. Chop an ample supply of parsley, cilantro and celery; measure the mixed herbs by soup bowlfuls and freeze. Peel, seed and stew tomatoes; puree and freeze in 1 kg (about 2 lb.) batches.

Traditional Stockpot Method

If you don’t have a pressure cooker, use a 6- or 8-qt. stockpot and adjust the cooking time as follows:

• In Step 2, cover the pot and simmer for one hour.
• In Steps 3 and 4, partially cover the pot and simmer for double the suggested pressure cooking times.
• Proceed with thickening the soup according to the recipe, or try the egg thickening method in the Tips above.

Source: Moroccon Food.com

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I’ve met this man twice now. Always at the same spot, opposite the snake charmer. Separate trades; a flute seller and a snake charmer and yet when you hear them blow their lungs out in an indescript melody on two different (but similar) musical instruments, you’d think they were competitors competing for both the throng of tourists’ attention and that of the snake.

The fact is snake charming is a practice of pretending to hypnotise a snake by playing an instrument, typically one made from a gourd known as a been or pungi. Regardless of instrument used or the quality of the melody produced, the snake does not react to the tune and is unable to hear! What appears to be a response to the musician’s tune with the snake emerging from its container and extending its hood for cobra is a normal defensive reaction of the snake startled by the change of its darkened environment to one that is bright with the removal of the container’s lid. It’s swaying movements which appears as if it were hypnotised is a reaction towards the vibration it feels from the deliberate swaying movement of the snake charmer’s instrument and tapping of his feet.

Taking advantage of the snake’s timid nature, snake charmers sit just out of the snake’s striking range of about a third of the cobra’s body length and amazes onlookers by kissing its head as cobras are incapable of attacking things above them. Understanding this creatures habits and keeping them groggy and lethagic in dark, cool containers, snake charmers are also trained in handling methods and arm themselves with rudimentary knowledge of treating snakebites.

Though this holds true, in some extreme cases of precautions, snake charmers are known to removing the creature’s fangs or venom glands, or even sewing the snake’s mouth shut. This amongst other treatment to the creature have raised the brows of Animal Rights Protection groups.

Having originated from Ancient Egypt with the practice extending throughout Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa, snake charming is today in danger of dying out due to a variety of factors including pressures by Animal Rights Protection groups to governmental law enforcement such as the 1972 law in India that bans the ownership of snakes; though enforcement remains questionable.

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Being a hardy beast of burden who moves at a relatively fast pace of 8-9 mph (13-14.5 km/h) for hours at a time across arid landscapes void of food and water, the one hump camel – dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) – has been used by Persian conquerors to nomadic pastroralists of the deserts for transportation, milk, dung, hair, hide, meat and even blood!

With its myriad of usage and versatility, dromedaries are believed to have been domesticated in the coastal settlements along the southern Arabian peninsula somewhere between 4000 BC to as recent as 1400 BC. Around 2000 BC, the dromedary was introduced to Egypt and North Africa.

Today, dromedaries are used to ferry tourists on treks across desserts in popular tourist destinations such as Egypt, Morocco and India despite being reputed for their ill-tempered, obstinate temperament – one that involves spitting, kicking and dismounting its rider by stamping its feet and running erratically.

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{photo manipulated for grunge effect}

At a rate where more than 90 percent of the world’s rhinoceros have decimated over the past 40 years due to illegal rhino horn trade, in no time, these wonderful beast would be no more than a distant memory viewed only on aged photographs.

Reports by the IUCN/TRAFFIC claims that the illegal trade in rhino horn had become progressively worse since 2006 both in Africa and South Asian region of Nepal and India. The major trade route for the latter’s infamous Great One Horned Rhinoceros is from Assam to Kathmandu in Nepal, via Siliguri, and then on to Tibet before it makes it to the major Chinese market that has a long standing history of crediting the rhino horn with the potency to cure a wide array of maladies* ranging from headaches, fever to even exorcism!

But does rhino horn really have any useful medicinal properties?

Various tests carried out by researches including those at Hoffmann-LaRoche in 1983, the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1990 and more recently the Zoological Society of London in 2008 revealed that the rhino horn, like fingernails, is made of agglutinated hair and has no analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmolytic nor diuretic properties, and no bactericidal effect could be found against suppuration and intestinal bacteria. In short, none of the studies were able to support the wild claims of the rhino horn’s curative power.

Conservationist have long taken efforts to arrest the problem by adopting a two-pronged approach via (1) awareness and education and (2) by undermining the activities of poaches with guarded reserve parks.

In some areas, such as the Kaziranga National Park, drastic measures have been taken whereby park rangers are known to be light on the triggers of their riffles adopting the ‘self defense’ approach with poaches. Whilst the risks faced by poaches have increased over the decades, the rise in wealth and hence purchasing power in China and Southeast Asia continues to prove itself to be far stronger an allure to deter the illegal rhino horn trade.

Despite the many efforts undertaken, many other factors are stacked against the rhinos and conservationist efforts continues to be plague by many shortcomings. For example, the Pobitoro National Park which stands at 38.8 square kilometres for instance is clearly too small and inadequate as a rhino reserve and some have argued that it is possibly counter productive in its aim. Being a cattle reserve prior to being declared as a forest reserve in 1971 – thanks to some rhinos who had strayed out of Lawkhowa and Orang Wildlife sanctuaries and took resident – Pobitoro is surrounded by approximately 20 villages with around 2,500-3,000 cattle grazing on the grounds daily and the illegal collection of thatch grasses, firewood and fishing, thereby depleting the natural food source for rhinos. Coupled by the fact that it is inundated by high-flood during the monsoon season, the swamp areas and ‘beels’ in Pobitora are not only gradually becoming shallow due to silt deposits, but the lack of highlands platforms forces the rhinos to congregate in limited areas, making poaching easier.

With all these stacked up against the rhinos despite concerted efforts by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) and the World wide Fund (WWF) to conserve this species in India and Nepal, one can’t help but wonder if the Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceros would be a fable for the future generations.

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* According to Bernard Read’s 1931 translation of Li Shih-chen’s 1597 materia medica Pen Ts’ ao Kang Mu, rhino horn was prescribed for nearly everything:

“To cure devil possession and keep away all evil spirits and miasmas. For gelsemium poisoning. To remove hallucinations and bewitching nightmares. Continuous administration lightens the body and makes one very robust. For typhoid, headache and feverish colds. For carbuncles and boils full of pus. For intermittent fevers with delirium. To expel fear and anxiety, to calm the liver and clear the vision. It is a sedative to the viscera, a tonic, anti-pyretic. It dissolves phlegm. It is an antidote to the evil miasma of hill streams. For infantile convulsions and dysentery. Ashed and taken with water to treat violent vomiting, food poisoning, and over dosage of poisonous drugs. For arthritis, melancholia, loss of the voice.”

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The tanners are the only craft corporation to have a gate named after them – Dar Debbagh. Believed to be the first to settle in Marrakesh, not only did their prosperity give rise to an old adage ‘Dar Debbagh, bab dehed’ - ‘Tanners’ Gate, golden gate’, there are numerous legends surrounding them that gives the tanners a mysterious clout.

One legend claims that seven virgins (sisters of the seven protector saints of Marrakesh) were buried in the gate’s foundation and women who desire a child should offer them candles and henna, while another popular legend has it that Dar Debbargh is inhabited by Malik Gharub, a genie who dared to lead a revolt against Sidna Suleyman, the Black King, only to be condemned to tan a cowhide and cut out belgha soles for eternity as his punishment.

Whatever the truth that may have given rise to the legends, the tannery has long been considered a dangerous place; the entrance to the domain of the ‘Other Ones’ with the tanners spending their days in pits working and facing only skins – the unseen world of the dead.

On the other hand, built as the eastern gate into the (old) city, the Dar Debbagh is said to be a symbolic representation of the rising sun which is akin to the skin being reborn as leather. In this context, the men who are in daily contact with the skins are revered as masters of fertility, capable of ‘breathing’ a second life to dry, dead skin, which skin in itself is a symbol of preservation and fertility.

Despite the various and occasionally contradictory legends, one fact remains clear. The tanneries in the Dar Debbagh continues to attract attention; though not for its legend, tourist flocks the tanneries with mint leaves shoved into their nostrils to witness the tanning processes that have existed since antiquity as follows:

• First, the skins are soaked in a ‘swamp’ – or iferd - filled with a fermenting mixture of pigeon guano and tannery waste for 3 to 6 days, then dried out before scrapping off hair followed by further soaking of the skin into pits of lime and argan-kernel ash for 15-30 days to remove remaining flesh and hair as well as preparing the skin for the actual tanning process.

• Then, the skins are thoroughly washed and placed in a qasriya – a round pit with more pigeon dung and fresh water. This stage is undertaken with great care by the tanners as they believe that a djinn lives in the qasriya and has the ability to ruin through over stretching and thinning, if the skins are left too long in the solution.

• This is followed by soaking in wheat fibre and salt for 24 hours to remove any traces of lime and guano.

• The actual tanning process then begin, using only plants – roots, barks and certain seeds and fruits. Acacia and oak bark are generally used in Marrakesh, along with takkut (the ground-up fruit of the tamarind) with water, where the skins receives three soakings.

• Finally, the skins are prepared to receive the dye where they are scraped with pottery shards, beaten and coated with oil, alum and water before being hand dyed.

Such primitive process applied is not only labour intensive, but uses approximately approximately 30-40 m³ of water are used per t of hide processed and generates a large quantity of effluent – a mixture of biogenic matter of hides and a large variety of organic and inorganic chemicals that contains high levels of salinity and pollutants.

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A stuffed fennec head lies next to mountain goat horns, monkey skulls, dried tiger penises and gutted out air dried lizards.

Parts of vanishing species from Africa’s forests are laid out for local buyers seeking sex boosters, spiritual and physical cures for multitude of ailments ranging from a simple cough to cancer, and exotic food, while the skins of jungle cats, snakes and other reptiles are draped impressively with lit bulbs carefully positioned to attract Western buyers / collectors of exotic fur and skin used to fashioned out luxurious fashion items and souvenirs.

While, noticeably a sizeable quantity of wildlife is hunted and felled to supply dealers and medicine men in this scruffy part of UNESCO enlisted Djemaa el Fna, Djemaa el Fna is just one node of a trade network that funnels the wildlife from across the region to satisfy the insatiable global demands.

With millions of people in Asia and Africa still believing that rhino horn prevents convulsions, tiger wine provides strength, bear paws enhances bravery, pickled turtle flippers increases longevity, fresh snake blood makes potent aphrodisiac and that the consumption of exotic fare endows them with added social status, the demand for wildlife is unlikely to wane. The supply of illegal wildlife available openly in Djemaa el Fna is just the tip of the iceberg of the global illegal wildlife trade problem.

Whilst the true immensity of the illegal wildlife trade is unknown, Interpol experts believes that it generates between 10 – 20 million dollars annually; coming a close second to the trade of illicit drugs in regards to revenue.

Although enforcement and awareness efforts have been stepped up globally in recent years by the likes of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) and WildAid Asia, focus has been predominantly in Southeast Asia and China, especially in the wake of trade liberalization in the region and the proliferation of air and road links with China.

In Morocco, awareness have been limited to the Barbaray Macaques, which remains very much a localised issue. As a preferred source of protein and where primates are considered a delicacy, up to 40,000 primates are killed and consumed each year in Africa alone, with a small fraction of these game meat being supplied all over Europe and the United States by “bushmeat” hunters in addition to souvenirs made from tortoise.

Although a member of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), Moroccan wildlife trades and medicine men seems unperturbed and continues to boldly display and ‘push’ their wares. Much of this is due to lax law enforcements that is rife with corruption and the steep cultural and spiritual believe by enforcers themselves in the spiritual and physical healing properties of these wildlife, thereby legitimating the ‘product’ and trade.

With big-time operators, documentations are often doctored; falsely listing the source of the wildlife to circumvent conditions and species proscribed under CITES.

This practice of “laundering” wildlife through approved enterprises which breeds endangered species such as musk deer, bears and tigers have created an added complexity for enforcers and conservationists  who is adopting a two-pronged approach by complementing theirs strikes against suppliers with education to lessen demand:

“When the buying stops, the killing can, too”

WildAid -

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Drawing from their long history of Buddhism, Tibetan art has always been synonymous with Thangkas – religious scrolls that projects iconographical and religious elements. However, with changes in Lhasa brought about by the arrivals of pilgrims  from all corners of the world prostrating in front of the Jokhang and thus the emergence of a plethora of entertainment venues hosting kitschy Tibetan cultural shows, Tibetan artist have been undergoing ‘similar’ transformation or ’progress’.

Tired of being  exotic-sized in the West as “mystics,” and “ethnic”, they have broken norms and boundaries, fiercely defending their right to express their own identities within the modern dialectic under the purview of art schools such as the Gendun Choephal School in Lhasa. 

Neither a traditionalist tantric influence nor an avant-garde fan, I was instantly attracted to the middle-of-the-road approach used by this artist at the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre.  What was pleasantly surprising, if not shocking, was to find a docile lady in exile producing such fine pieces that continues to reflect the cultural identity of Tibet, while producing works that are commercially viable, despite being isolated and hence insulated from the developments of the Tibetan art world that has attracted both positive and negative opinions;

1. the ecumenical modern art world (though comprising mostly of artists hailing from the developed Western world) looks at contemporary Tibetan artists as a group playing catch up with post modernism, and
2. whilst the native Tibetans are concern that in the haste to embrace globalisation to overcome social, psychological and economic changes of the world, Tibetan will lose their tradition. 

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check out Thangkas: Buddhist Religious Scrolls a multimedia piece by Mohit Gupta; brilliant engineer, enthusiastic photographer and friend

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