Potala Palace Doorway Details; Limited edition archival, museum-quality photograph; 20.9 x 28.7 inch birch frame with ph neutral mat

Limited edition (#12 of 108), archival-quality, framed photograph of architectural detail from a doorway at the Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet.  The photo is by London photographer Claire Pullinger, from the upcoming book by Louise Light, Opening the Eye of the Buddha: The Life & Work of Tinley Chojor, Master of Tibetan Architectural Painting & Decorative Arts (KTD Publications 2012) and is part of an inaugural collection of photos currently exhibited at Karma Triyana Dharmachakra in Woodstock, NY.  

THE ARTIST: The architectural detail shown in the photo was painted by Tinley Chojor (1937-2008), a seventh-generation lineage holder in the eri artistic style of Central Tibet and among the most important architectural and decorative painters of his time. This unique lineage dates from the 1650s, the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama, when Tinley's ancestors were recruited from their village to go to Lhasa to assist with the building of the Potala Palace. The scope of Tinley’s lifetime of work is formidable, spanning more than six decades across four countries (Tibet, Nepal, India and the U.S.) and encompassing all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as cultural institutions within the Tibetan community-in-exile and the western community of Buddhists.  His personal story is similarly dramatic, paralleling the experience of the Tibetan people in free Tibet, through invasion and occupation, and eventually in exile. 

THE POTALA PALACE AND THE STORY BEHIND THIS PHOTOGRAPH:  From age three, Tinley was meticulously trained, first by his father who was head of the Artist Guild of Lhasa, and later in a special school of the arts.  Spending the school months studying and the rest of the year traveling with his father, the young artist became accomplished in all aspects of his tradition, learning “on the job” at the Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple, the Norbulingka, Ramoche, and Sera, Ganden, and Samye Monasteries, along with countless other private and public commissions.  However, the trajectory of a promising artistic career was crushed in 1959, when the “peaceful liberation” of Tibet by the Chinese evolved into a program of systematic destruction that identified the artist class as enemies of the people. Tinley spent many of the next 20 years on forced labor “assignments,” suffering tragic personal loss of family, friends, and property similar to that of most of the Tibetan nation.

After 1979, the political situation changed and the occupying authorities put Tinley (who was now one of a few qualified artists surviving in the country) in charge of the restoration of the Jokhang where statues were broken, paintings obliterated and wood rotten from exposure to rain and snow. Later he joined similar efforts at the Potala, which had traditionally been the winter palace of the Dalai Lama and the symbol Tibetan Buddhism and its central role in the traditional administration of Tibet.  Here Tinley drew upon his memories and training to recreate much of what is seen by the visitor to Tibet today and would otherwise be lost forever.

This specific photograph illuminates in dazzling detail the treatment of doors and windows in Tibetan monasteries, defined by highly-intricate decorative elements created from carved and painted blocks of wood.  From behind the wind-blown fabric awning, once can glimpse a pair of snowlions, the mythological animals that still appear on the national flag of Tibet. Each wooden cube is embellished with images, each of which has a specific meaning, including the lotus, the Dharma wheel, the precious jewels, flowers from all the seasons and directions, and the chotseg (literally, “the piles of Dharma” or “the stacking of religious law”) which is a row of carved geometric four-sided equilateral pyramids. The small red reliefs within the pyramids symbolize the end of Dharma texts, stacked one on top of the other. 

This doorway photograph depicts only a small part of the legacy of this remarkable painter, who instructed the photographer on her assignments in Tibet, reviewed the images, and provided personal and artistic commentary in oral history interviews prior to his death in New York in 2008.  Please visit www.louiselight.net for more on this artistic tradition and the forthcoming book.

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER:  London photographer Claire Pullinger is best known for her work in Asia where she has spent much of the past 15 years documenting the traditions and lives of the Tibetan Buddhist and Himalayan Community. She has worked to support local and exiled groups and has been involved in projects resulting in the construction of monasteries, nunneries and schools throughout the foothill region of Northern India and has contributed many images to magazines and book publications  and exhibitions worldwide.  Please visit  www.clairepullinger.com/wp2 for more.