Museum of Contemporary Tibetan Art

Museum of Contemporary Tibetan Art
	Location within Netherlands
Established	1 June 2017
Location	Hoofdistraat 18, Emmen
Coordinates	52°47′4.8″N 6°53′52.5″E / 52.784667°N 6.897917°E
Type	Art museum
Accreditation	https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Museum_of_Contemporary_Tibetan_Art&action=edit
Director	Tashi Norbu
Curator	Tashi Norbu
Nearest parking	next to Fletcher Hotel
Website	museumofcontemporarytibetanart.com

The Museum of Contemporary Tibetan Art is a museum located in the Rensenpark in Emmen, in the northeast Netherlands close to the german border. It displays permanent and temporary exhibitions of contemporary Tibetan art^[2].^{[citation needed]}

Museum

The Museum of Contemporary Tibetan Art in Emmen, Netherlands was created with the mission of spreading awareness and educating local and international visitors about contemporary Tibetan art ^[3] and has been open since June 2017^[4]. The museum has a collection of pieces that features work by Tibetan and Tibet-inspired artists, ^[5] but consists mostly of works created and donated by the founder of the museum^[6], Tashi Norbu. Today, the museum is host to several retreats, workshops, lectures, performances, and other events held throughout the year that focus heavily on preserving and teaching the public about Tibetan art and culture^[7]. The museum is run by the foundational board with help from over 40 volunteers ^[8].

Museum founder, Tashi Norbu

Tashi Norbu was born in Bhutan.^{[citation needed]} He studied Thangka painting in Dharamshala, India, where he worked as a painter at H.H. Dalai Lama's residence. In 2000, he went to Belgium and in 2007 moved to the Netherlands. During subsequent studies he earned art degrees at Sint-Lucas (Ghent). He is also a sculptor. Several of his sculptures, made of waste materials called "Urban Buddha", are situated in Chicago, (4.5m high), Bihar India, (5×6m), and California Encinitas (3.9m high). They are intended to send messages across the globe about environmental awareness.^{[citation needed]} He is the Founder of the Tibet House Holland. His art has been exhibited at the Queens Museum in New York, at the Bridgeport Art Center in Rotterdam and in galleries all over the world as well as in Museums and private collections. Tashi Norbu's Tibetan name was given by Namkhai Nyingpo Rinpoche who belonged to the legendary sacred “Sky Dancers of Tibet”.^{[citation needed]}

Inspired his whole life by Rinpoche, Tashi Norbu painted the Sky Dancers, the Flying Monks, and Nuns and they are known as the famous “Time Travelers.” He was ordained as a Thangka Painter, by the previous reincarnation of Bokar Rinpoche. As the eldest son of the family, he had to accompany his two younger brothers into monastic life in Tibetan Monasteries of India. Norbu's life from age 4 to 18 was spent in a Tibetan School in India and Bhutan, where he was ordained as a Buddhist practitioner, being intensively taught Buddha’s doctrines and philosophy, in addition to his general educational school studies. From 19 to 21 years of age, he studied in monastic settings, such as Sherabling, the residence of the 11th Tai Situ Rinpoche, founder of the 17th Karmapa, who was recognized by the HH Dalai Lama. Norbu had dialogues with Tai Situ Rinpoche regarding art, as Rinpoche was also a painter.^{[citation needed]}

Until the age of 25, Norbu followed Buddhist dialectics in Dharamsala. He also painted along with other Tibetan Thangka Painters in the Monastery Tai Situ Rinpoche that is dedicated to the art of painting Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In his two years at the monastery, he had a chance to experience and share monastic life with monks, teaching them English at the same time. Norbu's monastic life ended at the age of 25 when he came to the West, where he became a contemporary Tibetan Artist. Although he blends the traditional with the modern, his paintings still teach enlightenment and the path to Buddha-hood. They are filled with magical tales, colorful imagery, presenting valuable insight into the living quality of Tibetan Buddhism.^{[citation needed]}

Tashi Norbu was ordained as a Monk by H.E. Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche and he was given the name Karma Choeying Tashi. Also, his Bodhichitta vows were given by Tulku Yeshi Rinpoche. He dedicated himself to monkhood (Sangha) and Buddhism, yet he still engaged with his artistic activities--giving live painting performances, Mandala festivals, Tibetan Mantra Lounge recitations, and workshops on how to make a Buddha for the purpose of art and communication with the higher realms. He achieves trueness to ethnic-cultural Tibetan art while simultaneously speaking to the themes of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, where the practice of Buddhism is part of Tibet’s cultural heritage and asset. He talks about his depictions of the world and explains his artworks with reference to the Buddha’s teachings and theories.^{[citation needed]}

Norbu was also ordained by a Female nun of Tibetan Buddhism who is in a Dharamsala Monastery (who wants to remain anonymous); she advises and supports him. He specifically asked to be ordained by a nun, because he had been supported all his life by women, including his mother, sisters, and others. Furthermore, he supports the equality and rights of women in Tibet and the monastic world.^{[citation needed]}

Rensenpark

The museum is established in the former zoo of the Rensenpark, Emmen, Drenthe, Netherlands. Emmen Municipality which supports Museum, founded a creative industry hub in the Rensenpark, with a place not only for the Museum of Contemporary Tibetan Art, but for various art galleries, and other artistic and non-artistic places.^{[citation needed]}