Exhibition: "Tibet - Nomads at Risk" | Germany

This exhibition, organised by the Tibet Initiative Deutschland e.V., the Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker e.V. and the Museum of Ethnology Hamburg, an ASEMUS member, shows the life, the traditions and threats faced by Tibetan nomads with photos of different photographers, supplemented by objects from the everyday life and ritual objects from the Tibetan collection of the museum. Tibet is one of the highest inhabited regions of the world, with an average altitude of 4,600 meters. Due to the altitude the cultivation of grains is not possible in all places. In these regions of Tibet, inhabitants have perfectly adapted their lifestyle to the harsh environment. As nomadic cattle herders they rely on the products of their animals. Moving their encampments several times a year the nomads roam the Tibetan grasslands with their yaks, sheep and goats. Today, about two million people live as nomads in Tibet. Besides numerous cultural similarities in their lifestyle and mode of production the various nomadic groups display also some regional differences. In the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Chinese provinces with Tibetan inhabitants, the nomads were able to avoid state control better than others and preserved many elements of their culture. Since 2006, the Chinese government has been following a policy of forced settlement. All Tibetans nomads are supposed to live in so-called “socialist villages” by the year 2015. Thus, the traditions of the Tibetan nomads reaching back centuries are now threatened to disappear forever. The exhibition opened in August 2014 and has been extended until March 2015. For additional information, visit http://www.voelkerkundemuseum.com/681-1-Tibet---Nomads-at-Risk.html Photo credits: Iris Lehmann and Uli Kujawski