Tulkus 1880 to 2018 by Paola Pivi

Tulkus 1880 to 2018 by Paola Pivi


SIR artist Paola Pivi, who worked on Grrr Jamming Squeak on the Coolsingel for over a year is coming to Rotterdam again. 

Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art presents Tulkus 1880 to 2018—a project bringing together photographic portraits of tulkus dating from the early days of photography until today.

In Tibetan Buddhism, a tulku is the recognized reincarnation of a previous Buddhist master (a highly realized teacher or lama, e.g. H.H. the Dalai Lama or H.H. Karmapa) who is able to choose the manner of his or her rebirth and can often reveal the place of his or her next birth by means of cryptic clues. It is believed that there are currently over two thousand tulkus. Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art hosts the first exhibition of the project with more than 1,000 photographs. This project (a work in progress) aims to achieve a comprehensive survey of most, if not all, tulkus belonging to the various Buddhist and Bonpo schools in all the areas of the world where Tibetan Buddhism is practiced. A complete photographic archive of this kind has never before been compiled. An ancient Tibetan thangka portraying Tsuglag Gyatso, the Third Pawo Rinpoche (c. 1567–1630) and dating back to the first half of the 17th century is displayed as the centerpiece. Tulkus 1880 to 2018 is co-commissioned by Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art and Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art and curated by Davide Trapezi.

Tulkus 1880 to 2018 by Paola Pivi
25 January 2013 – 5 May 2013
opening: 24 January 2013, 5 pm
Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art
www.wdw.nl