2002 Tibet Cultural Week Opens Saturday

This year's festival is the first time that China has held a Tibet-themed cultural exchange activity in Europe and North America. The aims of the festival are to introduce Tibet¡¯s social and cultural achievements to the wider world.

One obvious feature of this year¡¯s festival is that it has attracted some of Tibet's most eminent intellectual and religious personalities. These include the revered Tibetan scholar Pasang Wangdo and living Buddha Tadrak. They will exchange views with experts from other countries in fields including Tibetan culture, religion and traditional Tibetan medicine. Pasang Wangdo says that they hope through this cultural festival to show the world more about Tibet.

¡°We try to show to the world the magnificent culture of Tibet and its traditions. We hope, through the festival, to show people in other countries more about Tibet and about China. We specially hope to show people the study of Tibetan culture, history and society developed in its birthplace.¡±

Exhibitions in the festival will include pictures and photos, Tibetan singing and dancing, documentary films of Tibet and exhibitions of Tangka. Tangka is a special Tibetan art form, which takes the form of a scroll of colored pictures drawn on cloth or embroidered on silk.

The delegation composes a 49-strong group of representatives. The festival will last for three weeks. Political leaders from both Belgium and Canada have sent their congratulations for the Tibetan Cultural Week.

-CRI