Victoria Kharchenko Art Collections

Tibet

The idea to visit Tibet was born when we with my husband taught in Pivot Point College in Sichuan province bordering Tibet province. There were national celebration and we had vacation for a week, so we bought guided tour for 5 days and flew over the Himalayas to Lhasa. The sun was aggressively bright, and when we left the plane, I had a feeling that suddenly light was turned on in a dark room. In such light colors are vivid and different details can be seen clearly and sharply. Sparse oxygen, the closeness of the sun and the deep blue sky create a unique rhythm of life. Open space is all around you. There is no urban infrastructure along the road. Occasionally, we came across some small white houses on a magnificent mountain landscapes. Clouds floating across the sky touch mountains tops, their shadows are clearly outlined and follow them closely. We were in the world between earth and sky. The sky is so close and you can constantly feel it. We came to the city center. There are Chinese broad highways, buildings and hotels that are not fit for the Tibetan climate. There was one sliding glass in the window frame. It was autumn: in the shadows, puddles were covered with ice, yet on the sun, one might want to take off their outerwear. I think this is the reason for the local tradition to wear a coat over one shoulder, one sleeve on, and the other one tied behind the back. People in the city are dressed in the national clothes, but modern Chinese clothing is also common many combinations of both. During the day, we were taken on excursions. I was trying to catch what guide was telling us via translator. The guide told us how many kilograms of gold were in one Buddha statue. He was Chinese. I turned to another English-speaking group with Tibetan guide. It was apparent from his clothing and Tibetan special manner to decorate hairstyles with gems (amber, turquoise, coral) as well as his face. I think, Tibetans look similar to Native Americans. They don't have Chinese button nose, their faces are elongated and seem even flatter. Tibetan guide was narrating a myth about the origin of his people, stories of Buddhist lamas lives in monasteries and the main Buddhist principles. When we had free time from excursions, we walked around the city. There was a square where the flow of people had flocked. Adults carried little children on their backs and rotated prayer drums. If tired, they sat right there to rest or eat. Chinese police tried to keep the square not so crowded and to enforce their order. Passersby looked happy. I have known that every person in Tibet had to make a pilgrimage to the holy places once a year, and we had been just in the square near the Dzhohang temple. I stood up facing the flow of people, watching for a long time and taking photos of the colorful crowd. The unity and diversity of the flow of life in this place is amazing. Mythology is mixed with the reality, stones come to life, heavens are in your hands and all of this is in the light of the bright, powerful sun, ruthless as the ancient God. The people are perceived differently. Here they are not megalopolis ants, they are residents of the peaks and mythic heroes. Strong, decorated with gems, they wield an ancient power of the primordial life on Earth. In their own world people do not separate themselves from the nature, the Earth pulse is their pulse. Yaks walk all over mountains. They provide people with fuel for the furnace, wool, meat, milk and its products. Yaks are the life guardians. We were watching unbelievably beautiful sky on our last day in Tibet. A huge cloud of incredible turquoise shades was emerging on the horizon. We had brought it closer with camera lens, and it brought snow after the lunch. With the first snow this autumn, we left Tibet. A few years later, when impressions began to fade, I decided to go on a different journey for the new ones. Visiting Spain and Austria, I was hoping to live a new little life, but it has never happened. The Western world is too humanistic. Perhaps, there is wisdom, comfort and the triumph of reason. But something important, experienced in Tibet, I was missing: sense of belonging to the power of life, a place in eternity. Victoria Kharchenko. === Translation made by Anastasiia Sokolova ===