“Responding to History:”

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Full Talk Title:“Responding to History:” A Discussion with Tibetan artist Tenzing Rigdol and Elena Pakhoutova

Speaker: Tenzing Rigdol, Tibetan Contemporary Artist

Discussant: Elena Pakhoutova, Senior Curator, Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, NYC; Adjunct Instructor, EALAC: Tibetan Art and Material Culture (Spring 2026)

Moderator: Lauran Hartley Associate Research Scholar and Director, Modern Tibetan Studies Program, WEAI; Adjunct Assistant Professor, EALAC, Columbia University

“Responding to History” is a focused discussion led by Tenzing Rigdol who is interrogating his artistic practice as a Tibetan artist trained in both traditional and contemporary art forms while living in the US, Nepal, and the world. During the presentation, Rigdol will investigate how internalized perspectives of historical context, cross-cultural and social experiences contribute to creative output, artistic production, choices of topics, forms, and intentions of his select recent work.

Speakers Bios:

Tenzing Rigdol is a nepal-born Tibetan-American contemporary artist, poet, and filmmaker. His oeuvre ranges from painting, sculpture, drawing and collage, to digital, video-installation, performance art and site-specific works. His paintings are the products of collective influences and interpretations of age-old traditions. Inspired by philosophy, science, literature and politics, he often captures ongoing issues of human conflict. He pursued his academic studies at the University of Colorado at Denver (1999-2005), where he received BFA in painting/drawing and a BA in art history. He also studied traditional Tibetan thangka painting, traditional collage art, sand painting and butter sculpture in Kathmandu, Nepal. In 2011, his site-specific installation Our Land, Our People, which received global media coverage, involved the covert transportation of twenty tonnes of soil out of Tibet, through Nepal, to Dharamsala, India. There, displaced Tibetans were given the opportunity to walk on their native soil once again. The soil’s journey was later chronicled in a full-length feature documentary, Bringing Tibet Home (2013). In 2013, Rigdol’s Pin Drop Silence became the first artwork by a Tibetan artist to be acquired by The Met. In 2015, he established the Dialogue Artist Residency in Dharamshala,india to support emerging artists to foster exchange and collaboration with Tibetan and international artists. In the year 2022, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of colorado at denver. His most recent notable work, “Biography of a Thought”, a site-specific immersive installation was commisioned and exhibited by Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2025. This immersive installation explores the genesis and evolution of a single thought, as it gathers momentum, and crystallizes into complex and often conflicting ideas. The work garnered widespread critical acclaim and enthusiastic reviews, underscoring his innovative approach to reinterpreting ancient traditions through a contemporary lens.

Dr. Elena Pakhoutova is Senior Curator, Himalayan Art at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, NY. Beyond curating exhibitions that present Tibetan and Himalayan Art and educational initiatives that introduce Tibetan Art and visual culture in higher education, her interests include contemporary Tibetan art and creative projects with artists who bridge the historical, traditional, and contemporary expressions in innovative conceptual forms for diverse audience.

This event is hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute and co-sponsored by Modern Tibetan Studies Program (MTSP).

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