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Towards the last two months of my last visit to India in the spring of 2012, I encountered the Tibetan community in exile in India experiencing painful news of their people self-immolating in fire one after another in China-occupied Tibet. My experiences in the past visits in India (drawing a cremation site in Varanasi, documenting fire pits, cremation alters, and contemplating on life and death around fire) synchronized with this particular movement, an extreme way of ‘offering’ their bodies to ‘fire’ for asking freedom and peace.I could not help drawing large and small drawings as emotional response and with a sense of mourning.

After coming back to Vancouver, the self-immolation kept happening and I felt that my personal and professional task is not finished.

I have come back to India to continue to document and draw under the same theme. tomoyoihaya@hotmail.com

10 December 2020

Raise Prayer Flags - on International Human Rights Day, December 10 2020

 

      Raise Prayer Flags  Mixed media on Japanese paper 2020  copy right Tomoyo Ihaya


Each human being is born to be free. 

Freedom.  Dignity. Equality. 

Universal value of human race across the boarder. 

Freedom of a body from illegal arrests, detention and torture

Freedom of ideology, conscience, religion and expression

Do not use one's freedom and rights to harm others' freedom and rights. 

- Words borrowed from the summary of the World Human Rights Declaration 


Back in April, I read news on the online news site in Tibetan-in-Exile community: In Amdo the local Religious Affairs Control Bureau announced that prayer-flags, one of the most widespread and traditional manifestation of religious devotion were forbidden.  

When I read the news, I looked outside and gazed the prayer flags in my balcony. I am not a Tibetan but know how important it is to raise prayer flags at their homes, temples, and passes on an auspicious day. My heart ached with somber. 'They even do not have freedom to raise player flags?  It is almost like having no freedom to recite mantras". 

Prayer flags are believed to spread prayers with wind to the world. 
It is a genuine form of people's prayers for every sentient being to be well and happy. 

Raising prayer flags, thus, became a part of my life routine for many years. 

Since April, there have been news of illegal arrests, detentions of and deaths caused by torture among not only Tibetan people but also the 'ethnic minority' people and political activists in other parts of the world. Each time I read the news, I look at prayer flags outside. I see many faces in the air, in the sky.
A vision of prayer flags that I carried in my mind finally came out as this drawing on International Human Rights Day.
I wish that every single human in struggle brings back their freedom and rights to express what their hearts want to believe.
I keep raising prayer flags for prayers to reach near and far.




A question myself: would I have enough courage to raise player flags and express my belief if I were under the same suppressive situation as they are?  




notes:  source: https://www.phayul.com/2006/04/25/12460/ phayul

https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/universal-declaration-of-human-rights/#:~:text=In%201997%20-%201998%20Amnesty%20International%20undertook%20a,Declaration%20of%20Human%20Rights%20%28UDHR%29.%20-%20%C2%A9Amnesty%20International

 (amnesty international, International Human Rights Declaration)

https://www.amnesty.or.jp/lp/udhr/?fbclid=IwAR1-0Nk09o5ceMJcz9Y-Oxk85jwYga6s3gKTSwE7pKmgP1e-HIf5MyFLt7Y

(Amnesty International in Japanese)



















https://www.phayul.com/2006/04/25/12460/