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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

5 March 2022

For Tsewang Norbu March 4th 2022 ( February 25, 2022)


 For Tsewang Norbu, 26 years old, who carried out a self-immolation protest in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa on February 25th 2022. He passed away on March 4th, the second day of Tibetan Losar.  

He was a popular singer and composer of modern, ethnic, popular, traditional songs such as 'Tsampa", "Dress Up" and "Except You" among many that were popular among the Tibetan community at home and abroad. 

The comment section of Norbu's social media accounts have been deactivated due to abundant inflow of condolence messages, while many of his songs are now removed from many Chinese music apps. 

The Potala Palace was the winter palace of historic Dalai Lamas from 1649 until 1959, when the current Dalai Lama fled to India after an uprising against Chinese rule over the formerly independent Himalayan region, triggering a crackdown in which the palace was shelled and thousands were killed by Chinese communist troops in March 1959. 


Source:  RFA English ( Tibet)  -link will be posted later



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