Negotiating Memory in Exile: Tibetan Performative Arts in Kathmandu

Abstract

In the past decades, thousands of Tibetans escaped China and took residence in foreign states,
which afforded them varying degrees of political protection and integration. They developed
various strategies to survive across borders, keep the “Tibetan spirit” intact, and create a political
system of their own choosing.
The affirmation of a Tibetan identity, separate from China, is actively hindered by the CCP.
Tibetans, though, are devoted to safeguarding their identity through the preservation of their cultural
heritage, which is in good part entrusted to public performances of music, dances and operas.
Besides playing an important role in the conservation of Tibetan language, these art forms are often
imbued with collective memories.
While in exile such activities can be practiced with less constraints, within China they face heavy
forms of control and are often reinterpreted according to new political and aesthetic directives.
From outside Tibet, there are various opinions on how deep the hegemonic culture penetrated into
the mindset of Tibetans living under the CCP rule, creating a divide between older and recent
Tibetan refugees. Whether the performative arts will endure as a mean of political expression, is a
question that scholars in this area have not yet stopped asking themselves.
In my research I explore the formal and informal practices connected to Tibetan performative arts in
Kathmandu, and their adaptation to the Nepalese socio-political setting.