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National Identity

© Patricia Simko
June 2005

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This collage speaks to the crisis in Tibet of maintaining a national identity in the face of the efforts of the Chinese government to eradicate by digestion the Tibetan culture. Tibet is approaching the point of cultural oblivion. This work attempts to capture the reality of Tibetan school children as they are torn between their national and familial heritage and the appeal of ‘belonging’ with the dominant culture of the Chinese. Schools in Tibet are run in Chinese; there is no education in Tibetan language, history or culture, and participation in Tibetan customs and rituals is punished. Tibetan children strive to be awarded the coveted blue kerchief, the mark of belonging to the Communist youth group and a sign of belonging and approval by their teachers.

To qualify for this award, children must vow to never visit a Buddhist temple, never to chant Buddhist chant, never to light candles, thus forsaking the behaviors of their families, behaviors and values most deeply associated with their identity as Tibetan Buddhists.

Red and gold are the colors associated with Tibet; blue is the color of the school children’s uniforms and kerchief.