Auspicious Blessings, Minnesota: St. Olaf exhibitions spotlight Himalayan art and campus connections to Tibetan communities
Two exhibitions at St. Olaf College this fall bring Himalayan art traditions into conversation with the living Tibetan community in Minnesota — and with an alum whose camera has quietly documented that community for years.
In the Flaten Art Museum, the traveling exhibition Gateway to Himalayan Art introduces the forms and meanings of Himalayan art through thangka, scrolls, sculpture, ritual objects, and multimedia learning tools from the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art’s educational initiative, Project Himalayan Art. Steps away, in the Object Study Room, བཀྲིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ | Tashi Delek, Minnesota! (Auspicious Blessings, Minnesota!) offers an intimate glimpse of Tibetan Minnesotan life drawn from the archive of Thor Anderson ‘87, who documented community events, teachings, and gatherings for the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota (TAFM) for the better part of a decade.
For Anderson, the story began in 2010.
“I have a small business in South Minneapolis, called Saving Tape Media Conversion, and one of the members of the Tibetan community came to our shop with a suitcase full of videotapes,” Anderson explains. “His name was Thupten Dadak, and he was seeking some help in digitizing these one-of-a-kind videotapes from community members from the early days of the settlement in Minnesota. We helped digitize those tapes, and he introduced me to the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota. That’s where it all started.”
TAFM is a nonprofit community organization that serves Minnesota’s Tibetan diaspora population through cultural preservation, education, and civic engagement. TAFM organizes Saturday language and culture school, dance and music programs, community festivals and religious observances, youth leadership and elder services, and coordinates public initiatives — including participation in elections for Tibet’s parliament-in-exile and protests for a free Tibet — advancing its mission to preserve and promote Tibetan culture and spiritual heritage under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Minnesota.
After their initial introduction to Anderson, TAFM invited him to help make a 20th-anniversary documentary about the organization, and then to continue filming key moments of community life: annual cultural celebrations, elections, classroom moments at Saturday school, protests in Minnesota and beyond, and multiple visits from Buddhist spiritual leaders.
The resulting body of work — including terabytes of raw footage backed up to hard drives in Anderson’s keeping — became a way for Minnesota’s Tibetan diaspora community to share its story with sister communities, first by distributing DVDs locally, and later disseminating content via YouTube and social media.
“It was a way of showing other Tibetan communities what this community was doing, giving each other ideas, supporting each other, inspiring each other,” Anderson says. “In the age of Facebook and global access, virtual spaces became really the most powerful way we were sharing these videos — to connect with immediacy to fellow Tibetans the world over.”
Anderson’s return to St. Olaf as co-curator of བཀྲིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ | Tashi Delek, Minnesota! — alongside St. Olaf Professor of Art and Art History and Asian Studies Karil Kucera — feels like “coming full circle.” He traces the line back to the study abroad program in Asia he participated in during his junior year.
“That was a very formative experience,” Anderson says. “Our curriculum was focused on Buddhist traditions in several countries, which laid a foundation for me to become a lifelong student of Buddhism. That fact helped me to form relationships within the Tibetan community I was documenting, with whom I did not have much prior experience or knowledge.”
Professor Emerita of Religion and Asian Studies Barbara Reed, who led that study-abroad program, helped connect Anderson to the Flaten Art Museum team as they explored ways to contextualize the Rubin’s traveling exhibition locally.
“What you’re seeing in the Rubin exhibit as a kind of rarefied art form is, in fact, part of a living tradition right here in Minnesota,” Anderson says of the pairing with Gateway to Himalayan Art. “Several of the videos shared through our interactive kiosk were shot at Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies and empowerments in the Twin Cities. Those who have seen the Rubin exhibit will quickly identify many of the ceremonial objects and instruments used in the videos.”
Among the works he’s most excited to share is an impressionistic film from a July 6 community celebration honoring the Dalai Lama’s birthday.
“There is no text. There’s no particular storyline. It’s just from beginning to end a meditation on the community and their deep connection to the Dalai Lama,” Anderson says.
A photograph from a Mayo Clinic visit shows His Holiness during an exchange with gathered devotees.
“There was a point at which His Holiness approached a group of elders, and there was a very aged Tibetan woman sitting in a wheelchair. She was holding up a white silk katak with both hands, and His Holiness leaned down and gently touched her face. It was a beautiful moment that embodied both the compassion of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the profound reverence Tibetans have for him.”
Anderson gradually stepped back from his documentarian work around 2018, as a new Tibetan videographer took the lead, and the prevalence of smart phones made same-day sharing commonplace.
“I really felt like my tenure in that role was complete, and now I consider myself the keeper of those video files, safeguarding what we documented during those years and keeping my eyes open for a long-term home for the archive that meets the objectives of the community,” he says.
While Anderson’s archive captures the community from the outside in, the exhibition also highlights voices from within the Tibetan American diaspora. First-year St. Olaf student Tenzin Kunsel ‘29, a biology major on the pre-med track from Edina, will serve as a student liaison for the opening. Her path to St. Olaf ran through family friends and admitted-student visits.
“I had heard so many great things about the support St. Olaf offers to the community of Tibetan American kids like me, so I knew it was on my short-list,” Kunsel says. “And as soon as I stepped onto campus, it smelled like cookies — so I knew it was for me. It was such a cozy feeling, and I could just see myself being academically successful.”
Kunsel grew up in Minnesota’s Tibetan community, which she describes as a family built from shared background and purpose.
“We’ve successfully fostered a community from the foundations of hope, resilience, and a need for the preservation of our Tibetan identity,” Kunsel says. “Each and every person in our community plays a big role, whether it’s being the president of the TAFM board, volunteering at Tibetan Saturday school, or even just speaking Tibetan daily.”
Saturday school anchored her childhood. From kindergarten through eighth grade, she participated in language and history classes, as well as Tibetan music and dance lessons throughout high school, performing at Timberwolves halftime shows, Asian and Pacific Islander festivals, and community events. After graduating from the Saturday program, she returned as a volunteer teacher’s assistant.
“I still speak Tibetan, and I dedicate that to the Tibetan Saturday school,” Kunsel says. “I think the most important thing for our younger generation of Tibetans to understand is how important it is to uphold the responsibility of being a Tibetan American, whether that be speaking Tibetan, going to Saturday school, being a part of Students for Free Tibet, or even just joining your school’s Tibetan club.”
The exhibitions, she says, are a chance for her peers to encounter that living culture — its art, its hardiness, and its joy.
“Any representation of the Tibetan people is an achievement,” Kunsel says. “There are so many people who don’t even know about our displacement, and our oppression goes unnoticed. So any type of exposure, like this exhibition, of not only our struggles, but of our culture and traditions to the outside world, is a step towards a free Tibet.”
She encourages visitors to the exhibits to take the time to absorb the context and history that precipitated the objects and art on display, and the implications for current Tibetan culture.
“Learn at least one fact about Tibet and our situation as Tibetans,” Kunsel advises. “I hope that people understand the heaviness and magnitude of the topic, and try to educate themselves on knowing the Tibetan story, and what we’re going through right now.”
Only having recently arrived on campus, Kunsel is already recruiting classmates and seeing strong interest in the exhibit.
“Even though I am a first-year, I’m getting an overwhelming amount of ‘yeses’ when I invite people to attend the opening.” she says. “It’s really nice to hear that — especially since they want to know more about me and my people.
Kunsel herself only recently saw early installations of thangka paintings in the exhibit, but they made a profound impression on her.
“Growing up, you see a lot of thangka, they’re a part of our daily lives, so it’s really cool to see them as other people are seeing them for the first time — admiring them as art pieces, and appreciating them as something outside of the typical.”
Anderson hopes the shows help St. Olaf students see their Tibetan peers in a new light. He points to various clips in the installation — from a Tibetan rock video filmed under a “gnarly” Mississippi River Bridge to tense protest footage at state capitals and private audiences with His Holiness the Dalai Lama — as indicative of the broad range of Tibetan American cultural expression and experience.
“They may have been friends with a Tibetan American for years, but not have a strong sense for their cultural and community life,” he says. “Hopefully, these exhibits will provide some insight, or spark some questions about this rich part of the Minnesota cultural fabric.”
Programming
St. Olaf College’s Flaten Art Museum is thrilled to present Gateway to Himalayan Art, a traveling exhibition organized by the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art that introduces the main forms, concepts, meanings, and traditions of Himalayan art and cultures. The exhibition, which will be on display September 12 — December 7, features objects from the Rubin Museum’s collection as well as multimedia elements (audio, videos, essays, maps, and more) from the Rubin’s educational initiative, Project Himalayan Art, a resource designed to support the inclusion of Tibetan, Himalayan, and Inner Asian art and cultures into undergraduate teaching on Asia.
In addition, the Flaten Art Museum is hosting a companion exhibition, Tashi Delek, Minnesota! (Auspicious Blessings, Minnesota!) from September 12 to October 17, in the Object Study Room, Center for Art and Dance. This exhibition will give visitors a glimpse into the public life of Tibetan Minnesotans through photographs and videos. Tashi Delek, Minnesota! (Auspicious Blessings, Minnesota!) was curated by Thor Anderson ‘87 and Professor of Art and Art History and Asian Studies Karil Kucera with the Tibetan American Foundation of Minnesota, and is not organized by the Rubin Museum.
Blessing & Opening Reception
Friday, September 12, 5 p.m. Blessing | 5:30-7 p.m. Opening Reception
Flaten Art Museum, Center for Art and Dance, St. Olaf College
All are invited to the 5 p.m. blessing and 5:30 p.m. opening reception for Gateway to Himalayan Art and Tashi Delek, Minnesota! Minneapolis Tibetan dance group Gyalshey Rukhag will perform and monks from the Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery in Minneapolis will offer a ceremony. The opening reception begins at 5:30 p.m. with brief remarks and light refreshments. This event is free and open to the public. Free parking is available for visitors outside Buntrock Commons.
Avalokiteśvara Tibetan Buddhist Sand Mandala Residency with monks from Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery
September 30 – October 5
Groot Gallery, Center for Art and Dance, St. Olaf College
- * Tuesday, September 30—Saturday, October 4. From 10 a.m.–5 p.m. daily, four Buddhist monks from the Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery in Minneapolis will assemble a sand mandala depicting Avalokiteśvara, the Buddha of Compassion, in Groot Gallery. Visitors are invited to observe the mandala’s creation from the ground level or the overlook on level two. The monks will pause for lunch from approximately 1-2 p.m. each day.
- * Monday, September 29, 5-6 p.m. Living as a Refugee in Exile and a Buddhist Monk. Our partners at Carleton College welcome visitors to join Geshe Lobsang Jigmey from the Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery. The program will be held at Skinner Memorial Chapel with a complimentary dinner and reception to follow in Severance Great Hall.
- * Tuesday, September 30, 10 a.m. Consecration Ceremony. Observe a 15-minute ceremony as the monks offer prayers and rituals to purify and bless the sand mandala site.
- * Tuesday, September 30, 5 p.m. Buddhist Meditation Practices. Join Geshe Lobsang Jigmey from the Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery for a presentation on Buddhist Meditation Practices.
- * Sunday, October 5, 2 p.m. Dissolution Ceremony. Observe a ceremony as the monks remove the sand, then join them in a 1-mile walk to Northfield’s Bridge Square to disperse the sand.
- Throughout the week, Interfaith Fellows from St. Olaf’s Lutheran Center will host office hours near the sand mandala site from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. The fellows are available to provide information about the sand mandala tradition within Tibetan Buddhism and field questions from visitors.
Tibetan Medicine: Intersection of Ethics, Philosophy, and Healing Lecture with Tenzin Namdul, TMD, PhD
Tuesday, November 4, 7 p.m.
Regents Hall for Natural Sciences 150
Visitors are invited to a lecture with Dr. Tenzin Namdul, University of Minnesota Assistant Professor and Director of the Tibetan Healing Initiative.