August 28, 2010

to

August 29, 2010

2010 TIBET FEST RAFFLE TICKET WINNERS!
1st Prize:    Bill, Bothell, WA (32GB IPOD TOUCH)
2nd Prize:    Kristine Honda, Seattle, WA (16GB IPOD TOUCH)
3rd Prize:    Tenzin Chokey Sokpo, Seattle, WA (8GB IPOD NANO)

15th Annual TibetFest in Memory of 4/14/10 Tibet’s Earthquake Victims.

Special Guest Performers:

Phurbu T. Namgyal  (Tibetan Pop Star based in MN) Tenzin Ngawang (Member of Melong Band based in MN) Minnesota’s Tibetan Traditional Dance Troupe Sand Mandala By Namgyal Monastery Monks from Ithaca, NY), Culture Brothers based in Alaska, and Amalia Rubin (2007 Best International Artiste for Tibet)

2010 TIBETFEST SCHEDULE PROGRAM Click here to Download

SUPPORT LETTER:

• Rep. Lobsang Nyandak, Office of Tibet
• Senator Maria Cantwell
  
• Congressman Jim McDermott
• Mayor Mike McGinn

Message from the TAW President: 

On behalf of the Tibetan Association of Washington (TAW), I would like to
welcome all to the 15th annual Tibet Fest in joint collaboration with
Seattle Center.
As we all know that devastating earth quake and mudslide struck in Tibet
which took so many lives, left many injured and many others have been
rendered homeless and made this year an annus horribilis. With our thoughts
and prayers, TAW, would like to dedicate this year’s Tibet Fest to the
victims of recent disaster in Tibet.

We also need to realize the silent & deliberate disaster that is taking
place on Tibetan culture and identity within Tibet under communist rule.
For us, outside Tibet, our culture is at a crossroads.  Tibetans in the
Diasporas have experienced a different kind of pressure. Having been
uprooted from our motherland and transplanted to a different cultural
environment, we have to cope with maintaining our culture while adapting to
changes and evolution of our culture in the 21st century.
Tibet is renowned for its majestic beauty, and also for its ongoing
struggle for cultural survival.  Our vibrant culture and spiritual
traditions have remarkably flourished over thousands of years on the ‘roof
of the world’ until 1959.  The 1959 invasion of Tibet by China provoked an
exodus of over 100,000 Tibetans, who fled to neighboring countries like
India, Nepal and Bhutan.  This Diasporas and influx of Han Chinese in Tibet
has threatened the continuity and development of our tradition and culture.
With great vision of H.H. the Dalai Lama and generous help from the United
States government, The Tibetan United States Resettlement Project (TUSRP)
was founded in 1989.  Seattle was one of the cluster sites chosen due to
its previous establishment of Tibetan cultural sites by monks, scholars and
lay people, with the assistance of already established Tibetans and
American sponsors, who took it upon themselves to provide temporary homes
to about forty Tibetans.  Today, we have over three hundred Tibetan
families residing in the state of Washington as a result of family
reunification, relocation and children born in USA.
With modern technology, the world has become a smaller place.  It is
essential to have awareness and understanding of today’s world and also be
able to communicate one’s own culture.  Similar to other cultures in the
world, we cannot shun the process of modernization and this particularly
makes our younger generations vulnerable.  Young Tibetans with western
education face this huge dilemma when there is a contradiction between
Tibetan belief and modern world view.  We have established an
institutionalized system where knowledge of our culture is passed on more
through classroom than through living experience.
Through festival such as Tibet Fest, we are able to help young Tibetans
establish stronger cultural traditions within their new communities.  In
addition to dialects, they are able to form traditional dance troupes, play
traditional music, sing Tibetan songs and recite Tibetan folk tales.
The essence of our culture values harmony and openness to other cultures.
Therefore, through Tibet Fest, we strive to achieve and create better
understanding and appreciation of unique Tibetan culture for our American
friends.
It is our sincere wish for all to have wonderful time during the festival.
TASHI DELEK!!
Jampa T Jorkhang
President, TAW

www.washingtontibet.org

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Photos of NY/NJ Tibetan Dance Troupe at 2007 Tibet Fest

Discover more …Tibet’s ancient and modern history is woven through Tibet Fest, which preserves and presents centuries-old cultural traditions with artwork, dance and discussions of the Tibetan people. Explore the rituals and customs of Tibet through handmade arts and crafts, prayer flags, children’s activities and traditional foods. Symbolic masks, ancient movement and expert speakers illuminate the culture’s foundation in Buddhism. Presented by the Tibetan Association of Washington.

Seattle Center Festál, a series of 22 world festivals presented at Seattle Center on weekends throughout 2010, highlights the distinct cultures and common threads of ethnic communities in our region through traditional and contemporary art, music, foods, youth activities, workshops and more. This collection of cultural events is produced with the generous support of Wells Fargo, Verizon Wireless, KUOW 94.9 Public Radio and Western Washington Toyota Dealers. Additional support is provided by Seattle Center Foundation and the City of Seattle.