PITTSFIELD (Berkshires Week)- “From the Roof of the World: Art by Tibetan Bon Children,” a show of more than 100 works of art, will be exhibited at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts in downtown Pittsfield tomorrow through August 20. The crayon, paint and pastel works depicting pastoral landscapes, a lotus springing to life, and other traditional images as well as contemporary ones, are all created by Tibetan Bonpo refugee children.
Pittsfield resident Jonathan Kramer, who organized the show, first saw the colorful and vibrant artwork by Tibetan children during his periodic travels to India’s Menri monastery and children’s home near the Tibet border, where more than 450 children live and study.
“As desperate as the conditions may be, the children are wonderful natural artists whose colorful pictures reflect not only the essence of their culture, but the universal joy of childhood,” comments Kramer.
The works, which were brought back to America by Kramer and friends, will be on sale throughout the exhibition, with proceeds going to support the Bon Foundation and Menri, its Tibetan orphan children’s home in India, where Kramer, a medical doctor, is a frequent visitor and volunteer, supplying free medical treatment. The children — many of whom are orphaned, and others who are given up by their families due to extreme poverty — are sent to Menri from poor regions in the borderlands of Tibet and Nepal for their sustenance and education.
Kramer will give a slide-illustrated talk on Thursday evening, Aug. 4, at 7, in which he will relate his experiences working in India. That evening silk Thankas and traditional rugs created by Tibetan refugees will be on display and available for purchase.
The Bon Foundation was founded to assist Bonpo refugees who have settled in India and to help preserve the ancient traditions of Bon. Among the millions of Tibetan refugees who have fled their homeland since the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, many are Bonpo, followers of Bon, the oldest spiritual tradition of Tibet. Today there are approximately two million Bonpo in Tibet and neighboring countries.
The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts is located at 28 Renne Ave., off Fenn Street. For more information call 499-9370 or www.culturalpittsfield.com. The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5.
