Tibet in Song

Australasian Premiere

Tibet is often called “an ocean of music and dance”. In spite of centuries of history, there are only a handful of musicians and teachers left who can recount this identity. Filmmaker Choephel wanted to capture the vestiges of Tibetan cultural before it became lost forever.

During China’s Cultural Revolution, Tibetan music was officially banned in favour of pro-Communist Chinese music. It had devastating effects on the traditional folk songs which passed along Tibetan history and traditions. An entire generation grew up with no knowledge of their own cultural heritage. Like most youth of today, Tibetan youth prefer to listen to modern pop songs and in this case, innocuous Chinese pop music.

A hybrid form mixing Tibetan and Chinese tropes has developed, but as one Tibetan explains, “Chinese can dance Tibetan dance
and Tibetans can sing in Chinese, but when they perform this combination, the audience doesn’t understand it.” This results in a prevailing general ignorance and indifference of most young Tibetans to traditional Tibetan music.

Filmmaker Choepel’s effort to preserve the authentic music of his land, came with a high personal cost and this elevates what is a personal quest to an especially potent and impactful statement.