Lobsang Wangyal
Encyclopedia
Lobsang Wangyal is a photojournalist and event producer, based in McLeod Ganj
, Dharamshala, India
. He has been a stringer reporter and photographer for Agence France-Presse
for many years.
Through his eponymous company, Lobsang Wangyal Productions, he has been producing Tibetan cultural events since 2000, the best-known of which is the yearly Miss Tibet Pageant
. He also maintains a news website, Tibet Sun
, beginning in 2008.
He is considered an icon in Tibetan exile popular culture
.
in east India, in a small Tibetan refugee village. His father, Tsering Tendhar (late), was from Kham
(Tehor), in eastern Tibet and his mother, Tsering Dolkar, from southern Tibet. They were in their teens when they escaped the Chinese suppression of an uprising in their country in 1959
.
He was graduated from Central School for Tibetans, Mussoorie
, and attended college in Shimla
, Himachal Pradesh
, for his B.A. degree, which he obtained in 1995. He has been working as a photojournalist since 1994.
He was a founding member of the Association of Tibetan Journalists
in 1997, and was president of the organisation for two terms, from 2004-2009.
He became a producer in 2000 with the Free Spirit Festival, and produced the first Miss Tibet
Pageant in 2002. He has gone on to produce more events, mostly in McLeod Ganj, and a film festival in Hawaii. His productions are mostly funded by himself through his photojournalism. He reached a high point in his career as a showman when he produced a show for Prince Charles
in October 2003.
in 2002, as well as "Beyond Shangri-La" in the "Five Candles Photography Exhibition" in 2000 in the Prince of Wales Museum, India. Lobsang Wangyal photography is also on the web at LobsangWangyal.com Photography and the
Tibetan Photo Project, in various news stories at TibetSun.com and Tibet.net, and unattributed in AFP stories.
.
His longest-running production started in 2002: the Miss Tibet Pageant
, a platform for young Tibetan women to showcase their talents and aspirations. This event has continued yearly.
The Tibetan Music Awards (held every two years) and Free Spirit Film Festival followed. He started the Free Spirit Award in 2003, to honour the works of artistes and individual supporters of the Tibetan cause in particular, and world peace, social and environmental issues in general.
He has also produced one-time events such as a film festival in Hawaii, US, in January 2007. In October 2003 he produced a show for Prince Charles at the Tibetan camp Majnu ka Tilla in Delhi. His most ambitious production, in 2008, was the Tibetan Olympics 2008
in Dharamshala, India.
His productions are now expanding world-wide, with the upcoming Sing for Tibet event to be held in New York and Brussels on 10 October 2010, and Tibet Fashion Week in 2011.
All productions are mostly funded by himself through his own works.
by Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin.
He is in addition a dancer, graphics designer, and website producer.
McLeod Ganj
McLeod Ganj, McLeodGanj, or Mcleodganj, is a suburb of Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It has an average elevation of 2,082 metres ....
, Dharamshala, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He has been a stringer reporter and photographer for Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
for many years.
Through his eponymous company, Lobsang Wangyal Productions, he has been producing Tibetan cultural events since 2000, the best-known of which is the yearly Miss Tibet Pageant
Miss Tibet
Miss Tibet is an annual beauty pageant held in Dharamshala, India. It is produced by . The pageant is a much-awaited annual Tibetan event, especially popular among the younger generation of Tibetans....
. He also maintains a news website, Tibet Sun
Tibet Sun
Tibet Sun is an English-language news website focusing on Tibet andthe Tibetan people, world news, opinions, essays, and photography.It was founded and produced by Lobsang Wangyal in 2008, and is based in Dharamshala, India. Lobsang conceived the idea of Tibet Sun in 1999, but got the domain in...
, beginning in 2008.
He is considered an icon in Tibetan exile popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
.
Bio
Lobsang was born in 1970 in OrissaOrissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
in east India, in a small Tibetan refugee village. His father, Tsering Tendhar (late), was from Kham
Kham
Kham , is a historical region covering a land area largely divided between present-day Tibetan Autonomous Region and Sichuan province, with smaller portions located within Qinghai, Gansu and Yunnan provinces of China. During the Republic of China's rule over mainland China , most of the region was...
(Tehor), in eastern Tibet and his mother, Tsering Dolkar, from southern Tibet. They were in their teens when they escaped the Chinese suppression of an uprising in their country in 1959
1959 Tibetan uprising
The 1959 Tibetan uprising, or 1959 Tibetan Rebellion began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the Communist Party of China since the Seventeen Point Agreement in 1951...
.
He was graduated from Central School for Tibetans, Mussoorie
Mussoorie
Mussoorie is a city and a municipal board in the Dehradun District of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is located about 35 km from the state capital of Dehradun and 290 km north from the national capital of New Delhi...
, and attended college in Shimla
Shimla
Shimla , formerly known as Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In 1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as the "Queen of Hills," a term coined by the British...
, Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh
Himachal Pradesh is a state in Northern India. It is spread over , and is bordered by the Indian states of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west and south-west, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the south, Uttarakhand on the south-east and by the Tibet Autonomous Region on the east...
, for his B.A. degree, which he obtained in 1995. He has been working as a photojournalist since 1994.
He was a founding member of the Association of Tibetan Journalists
Association of Tibetan Journalists
The Association of Tibetan Journalists is an Tibetan organization in exile, that was settled in 1997 in Dharamsala in India.Its founding members were:*Pema Dhondrup, former producer and editor of the news magazine Sargyur...
in 1997, and was president of the organisation for two terms, from 2004-2009.
He became a producer in 2000 with the Free Spirit Festival, and produced the first Miss Tibet
Miss Tibet
Miss Tibet is an annual beauty pageant held in Dharamshala, India. It is produced by . The pageant is a much-awaited annual Tibetan event, especially popular among the younger generation of Tibetans....
Pageant in 2002. He has gone on to produce more events, mostly in McLeod Ganj, and a film festival in Hawaii. His productions are mostly funded by himself through his photojournalism. He reached a high point in his career as a showman when he produced a show for Prince Charles
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
in October 2003.
Photographer and journalist
Lobsang has been working as a photojournalist since 1994. Except for a crash course in journalism, he is self-taught in both this field and photography. He was taught photography by friends and visitors in McLeod Ganj, and went on to make news photography his day job, with many unattributed photos in stories for Agence France-Presse. His photos appear in the books Little Lhasa: Reflections on Exiled Tibet, by Tsering Namgyal, and Tibet in Exile, published by Friedrich Naumann StiftungFriedrich Naumann Foundation
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation is a German foundation for liberal politics, related to the Free Democratic Party. Established in 1958 by Theodor Heuss, the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany, it promotes individual freedom and liberalism.The Foundation follows the ideals of the...
in 2002, as well as "Beyond Shangri-La" in the "Five Candles Photography Exhibition" in 2000 in the Prince of Wales Museum, India. Lobsang Wangyal photography is also on the web at LobsangWangyal.com Photography and the
Tibetan Photo Project, in various news stories at TibetSun.com and Tibet.net, and unattributed in AFP stories.
Producer and Director
Lobsang Wangyal began his producing career in 2000, when he started an eponymous company, Lobsang Wangyal Productions and produced the Free Spirit Festival — an event to celebrate contemporary Tibetan arts and cultureTibetan culture
Tibetan culture developed under the influence of a number of factors. Contact with neighboring countries and cultures- including Nepal, India and China - have influenced the development of Tibetan culture, but the Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinctive local...
.
His longest-running production started in 2002: the Miss Tibet Pageant
Miss Tibet
Miss Tibet is an annual beauty pageant held in Dharamshala, India. It is produced by . The pageant is a much-awaited annual Tibetan event, especially popular among the younger generation of Tibetans....
, a platform for young Tibetan women to showcase their talents and aspirations. This event has continued yearly.
The Tibetan Music Awards (held every two years) and Free Spirit Film Festival followed. He started the Free Spirit Award in 2003, to honour the works of artistes and individual supporters of the Tibetan cause in particular, and world peace, social and environmental issues in general.
He has also produced one-time events such as a film festival in Hawaii, US, in January 2007. In October 2003 he produced a show for Prince Charles at the Tibetan camp Majnu ka Tilla in Delhi. His most ambitious production, in 2008, was the Tibetan Olympics 2008
Tibetan Olympics 2008
The Tibetan Olympics 2008 was held from 15 to 25 May 2008 in Dharamsala, in northern India. Its purpose was to ensure that Tibetans could also celebrate the excitement of world's biggest sporting event — the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing — following the approach of sports and...
in Dharamshala, India.
His productions are now expanding world-wide, with the upcoming Sing for Tibet event to be held in New York and Brussels on 10 October 2010, and Tibet Fashion Week in 2011.
All productions are mostly funded by himself through his own works.
Other activities
Lobsang Wangyal appeared as the "Love Guru" in the first production of the movie "Richard Gere is My Hero" by Tashi Wangchuk, and in Dreaming LhasaDreaming Lhasa
Dreaming Lhasa is the 2005 Tibetan language debut feature film of veteran documentary filmmakers, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam, who have been making films about various aspects of Tibet under the banner of White Crane Films since 1990...
by Tenzing Sonam and Ritu Sarin.
He is in addition a dancer, graphics designer, and website producer.
External links
- lobsangwangyal.com, his personal website