The cosmos has been providing. Momentum is building for our grassroots project on Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal. By remaining unaffiliated and traveling on tourist visas, we are finding that it may increase our success in getting intimate portraits of people caught in the diaspora. Alison Wright published a beautiful book in 1999 on refugees in India, but I know our vision for the project will yield very different results.
Rick Ray (Soul of India, 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama) has been instrumental in giving us advice and connecting us with the right people. I am very excited about connecting with Sidney Burris at the U of Arkansas. His TEXT project (Tibetans in Exhile Today) sets out to record the oral history and traditions of Tibetans. It would be a great project to weave into our plans and may connect us to the refugee communities intimately.
I walked into the Tibet House US in NYC yesterday to check their library. I was hoping they might have some resources for my research. The library was inaccessible so I was introduced to Ganden Thurman, the Executive Director and Sonam Choezom, the Membership Coordinator. They gave me some great leads and solidified a need to continue the project upon returning to NY.
I hope to continue a relationship with the people I meet along this path and feel that everyone has earnestly contributed their time and knowledge for this cause.
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