Tashi Norbu, an accomplished contemporary Tibetan artist based in Amsterdam, brings his powerful artwork to Toronto for the first time with Time Travellers: The Art Of Tashi Norbu art exhibit. Courageously transcending boundaries to forge the new frontier of Contemporary Tibetan Art, Norbu reveals parallels between emerging Western scientific knowledge and ancient Buddhist Philosophy, while maintaining a vigilant voice of Tibet's suffering under occupation and cultural genocide.

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From quantum physics to flying monks, Norbu's artworks explore fantastical realms inhabited by diverse ancient religious symbols and pop culture icons. Originally educated at the ‘court’ of the Dalai Lama, Norbu is fully trained in traditional arts including Tibetan thangka painting. His education is also steeped in Western culture, having completed studies in classical European arts, while living and working in Belgium. Norbu’s contemporary approach to painting today challenges the rigid constructs prevalent in both of these formal traditions, employing humour and intelligence to convey a new reality.

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This exhibition features 20 of Tashi Norbu’s works at Gallery 1313, right in the heart of “Little Tibet” in Parkdale, Toronto. There were also off-site events including: #LightForFreedom, a storytelling/live painting exploration of the Tibetan self-immolations, and 108 Buddha's Painting Workshop For Kids.

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Norbu's outreach and activism on behalf of Tibet have resulted in initiatives such as the 2008 co-founding of Tibet House Holland, an organization promoting Tibetan Art and Culture with chapters world-wide. In cooperation with the International Tibet Art Movement, Norbu also organized the Tibet Art Now exhibition in Amsterdam during the visit of the Dalai Lama in 2009.

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TIME TRAVELLERS is the artist's first exhibition in Toronto and Canada.

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PRESENTED BY:

BPL | Tashi Estates | JC | Students For A Free Tibet Canada | Tashi Norbu | Gallery 1313