Mark MacKinnon, theglobeandmail.com, March 03

So the powers-that-be here have decided that British rock band Oasis can’t play their first-ever gigs in mainland China because Liam Gallagher (the Gallagher brother with the nicer voice and even less of a grasp on things like politics than his sibling) played at a “Free Tibet” concert on Randalls Island in New York in 1997.

That’s the reason being given by the band, anyway. Oasis were scheduled to play a pair of shows in Shanghai and Beijing in early April and said in a statement that they were “bewildered” by the decision, which came just three weeks after the shows were announced.

“According to the show’s promoters, officials within the Chinese Ministry of Culture only recently discovered that Noel Gallagher appeared at a Free Tibet Benefit Concert on Randall’s Island in New York in 1997, and have now deemed that the band are consequently unsuitable to perform to their fans in the Chinese Republic … during its 60th anniversary year,” the statement reads.

Leaving aside the question of just exactly what or where the “Chinese Republic” is, the government-ordered cancellation is bad news for Chinese music fans, even those who aren’t particularly keen on “Wonderwall” and everything that followed.

Here’s an incomplete list of some of other musicians who played that day at Randalls Island: U2, R.E.M., Eddie Vedder, the Beastie Boys, Alanis Morissette, the Foo Fighters, Sonic Youth, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, a Tribe Called Quest and Ben Harper. So the ban on Oasis might mean no shows by Bono, Pearl Jam or Alanis in the Middle Kingdom either, although Sonic Youth did play Beijing last year without any problems.

The Chinese government is hypersensitive regarding foreign artists performing here, particularly since last March, when Bjork – another singer who was on the stage that day in 1997 – finished a concert in Shanghai with her song “Declare Independence” and shouted “Tibet! Tibet! Raise your flag!” over the final bars. There was some chatter among Chinese music fans about what the notoriously unpredictable Gallagher brothers might do on stage.

(It’s not just the Tibet issue that gets the censors back in their 1970s frame of mind. All major foreign acts need to submit a setlist to the authorities before performing; the Rolling Stones were famously made to drop several songs with “suggestive” lyrics before they were allowed to make their 2006 debut in China. “Brown Sugar,” “Honky Tonk Woman” or “Beast of Burden” all got excised for fear of what hearing such songs live might do to the locals.)

In my books, if the Chinese authorities were going to ban Oasis for a perceived offence to the people of China, they should have targeted the other Gallagher, Noel (the one with the unibrow who writes most of the better tunes), who made a far bigger error when he referred to Shanghai – maybe you’ve heard of it, population 18.9 million – as “the middle of nowhere” in an interview with That’s Shanghai magazine.

The good news is that an April 7 Oasis show in Hong Kong is apparently still going ahead. “One country, two systems,” the formula under which Hong Kong was absorbed back into China in 1997, apparently means one concert for 1.3 billion people.

© Leo Golan for Tibetan Incense Blog, 2009. |
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Post tags: China, Politics

Tags: buddhism, China, News, Politics

A rare opportunity to view the Buddhist arts of the mystical kingdom of Bhutan – “The Last Shangri-La”.
At the Asian Art Museum through May 10th.

Located in the Himalayas to the east of Mount Everest and Nepal, Bhutan is unique as a sovereign nation that has maintained its culture, arts, and religious and political traditions intact. Bhutan is one of the few countries in Asia that was never colonized by its neighbors or Western powers. The exhibition provides an exceptionally rare opportunity to view some of the most sacred and beloved Buddhist arts of Bhutan. Many of the objects remain in ritual use in temples and monasteries and have never before been accessible to a Western audience. In an unprecedented effort, the exhibition also documents ritual Buddhist dance forms through video footage that will be shown on monitors situated in the galleries. The exhibition comprises more than 100 works of art dating from the eighth to the twentieth centuries, including thangkas (paintings on cloth), gilt bronze sculptures, and ritual objects. Bhutanese monks will remain in residence at the Asian Art Museum for the duration of the exhibition, performing daily ritual observances for the sacred artworks.

“The recent coronation of Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, Bhutan’s first democratic king, introduced many to this remote Himalayan nation steeped in tradition,” says Jay Xu, director of the Asian Art Museum. “The Asian Art Museum is pleased to bring to San Francisco the remarkable exhibition under royal patronage The Dragon’s Gift: The Sacred Arts of Bhutan, which provides an unprecedented view of Bhutan’s spiritual and artistic traditions that are so inextricably woven into its culture. The unprecedented access granted to the organizers and the resulting exhibition are a gift from Bhutan to the world.”

“In the eyes of the Bhutanese, these objects are not ‘art’ in the conventional sense, but are sacred images, supporting Buddhist practices,” says Terese Tse Bartholomew, curator emeritus of Himalayan art at the Asian Art Museum and guest curator of The Dragon’s Gift. “The daily veneration of the objects by the monks who will remain in residence at the Asian Art Museum throughout the exhibition testifies to their spiritual significance. Even in the temples in Bhutan, these sacred works are rarely seen. Perhaps one object at a time might be brought out for ritual use. I cannot stress enough what a remarkable opportunity it is for Western audiences to see these works. The phrase ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ is overused, but in this case it most certainly applies.”

Bhutan has a population of roughly 700,000, comparable to San Francisco, yet its geographic range is similar to that of Switzerland. Located in the Himalayas to the east of Mount Everest and Nepal, Bhutan is known as “Drukyul, the land of the Thunder Dragon,” by speakers of Dzongkha, its official language. Bhutan has the distinction of being one of the few countries in Asia that was never colonized. It also has the distinction of adopting an uncommon official policy of defining the quality of life through Gross National Happiness, emphasizing mental and spiritual well being over material prosperity. Bhutan is the only existing Vajrayana (“Tantric” or “Esoteric”) Buddhist kingdom in the world, and the Drukpa lineage is the dominant school and state religion. The country is well known for its vigorous efforts to preserve its Buddhist heritage and traditional culture, which remain vibrant and active today. Since the 1960s the country has embarked on deliberately slow-paced reforms with the intention to preserve its own identity. Foreign dignitaries and the media were allowed into Bhutan for the first time during the coronation of the last king in 1974. Foreigners to this day are still restricted with only 20,000 tourists allowed access each year on heavily supervised trips.(…)
Read the rest of The Dragon’s Gift Tour: Now in San Francisco (239 words)

© Leo Golan for Tibetan Incense Blog, 2009. |
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Post tags: Bhutan, Buddhism, Buddhist Art, Buddhist_Symbols

Tags: Bhutan, buddhism, buddhist art, Buddhist_Symbols, Himalaya, News

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 2nd of February urged China to resolve the ‘underlying issues’ in Tibet.

Addressing a joint press conference with visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Brown also indicated that his country sought improvement on the human rights front in the world’s most populous nation.

"The UK will continue through our regular dialogue to seek rapid progress towards all international human rights standards and I urge further dialogue on the Chinese government to resolve the underlying issues in Tibet," Brown said.

Brown tempered this implied criticism, however, by crediting Wen’s social and economic policies with "lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty".

Prior to Wen’s visit, Brown has been warned not to sacrifice human rights concerns to the prospect of boosting exports.

Wen’s visit has been marked by raucous street protests in London, which saw around 50 pro-Tibetan demonstrators gather outside 10 Downing Street on Monday. Five pro-Tibet demonstrators were arrested in London on Sunday.

Tibet saw massive anti-China protests in March 2008 resulting in a harsh clampdown from Chinese authorities.

Brown insisted that human rights concerns had not been forgotten in the bilateral relationship.

In a written ministerial statement issued in October last year, British government went on to acknowledge that the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama has actually met conditions set by the Chinese government in order to have dialogue for a negotiated settlement on Tibet’s issue.

“Chinese Government has said that it is serious about dialogue and that it hopes for a positive outcome. It has set conditions for dialogue which we believe the Dalai Lama has met,” British Foreign Secretary David Miliband stated in the statement.

“No government which is committed to promoting international respect for human rights can remain silent on the issue of Tibet, or disinterested in a solution to its problems,” the statement further emphasised.

Source: www.phayul.com

© Leo Golan for Tibetan Incense Blog, 2009. |
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Post tags: Dalai Lama, Politics, Tibet

Tags: buddhism, Dalai Lama, News, Politics