About Tamding

Professional Tibetan Tattoo Artist: Tamding

 

I was born in Adom Tsonung, Tibet, my village’s name was Vidu. Growing up I didn’t know who my father was and I didn’t meet him until I was 16 years old. When I was 10 years old my mother grew very ill so my little brother lived with my mother’s twin sister. He was 2 years old at the time. I lived in my uncle’s home working for him as a nomad but my Grandfather was the person who really took care of me. My Grandfather was a famous artist and carpenter among other things, he always told me to try and do my best on my own first before seeking the help of others. This is why he was so good at many different things. He invented the machine that grinds wheat and seperates the grass all in one machine and this made him famous. My Grandfather would tell me stories about our village and the day when the Chinese came and killed 6,000 people in one day. My Grandfather also told me stories of great starvation and many hard times, as young kids we wondered why there were so many women and children but no men in our village and surrounding villages, it was because they were killed. My Grandfather and his stories would later be the inspiration for much of my art work and political activism.

One year later my mother passed away leaving me and my 3 year old brother behind as my father had a family of his own and did not care for us. My uncle had no plans of sending me to school but I felt the need to experience more and get more knowlegde, so I ran away at the age of 18 to the capital of Tibet, Lhasa. I arrived in the city with only 5 yen and I didn’t speak the local language of Lhasa or Chinese. I had no food for three days but I finally managed to get a job washing dishes at a restaurant. Slowly, I watched the way the chefs prepared the food and was able to work my way up to a place where I learned how to cook food and earn money doing that. I played music and sang in a club to make a living as well. It was really difficult in the beginning because of the language differences and I only made 150 yen per month. I was always very interested in the English speaking tourists who came to the restaurant and this made my interest for English grow. One day a Tibetan man from India came to my restaurant and he said that if I wanted an education and a good life, I should move to India. He was the one who convinced me to go there and he explained to me how to get there. So I saved up money to go to India – and here I am!

There were 49 people to begin with on my journey from Lhasa to the Tibetan refugee reception center in Nepal. We all met one night with our two guides and paid them 2500 yen each. We drove off in big lorries, mashed together inside. They took us to the outside of the city and we talked with each other, learned about our differences, but still saw how similar we all were, our backgrounds. Our guide walked with us for 3 days and showed us the way through the mountains. It was a very difficult journey and the conditions were so cold that my skin split open on my face in parts, I still have some scars from this today. On the fourth night, going through a particularly dangerous mountain pass, we saw flashlights shining in our direction. We thought it was the Chinese army that had spotted us so many people scattered. The next morning, only 24 people could gathered. We did not know what had happened to the rest of them. We tried to look for them but they were nowhere to be found. The guide disappeared as well, and we knew that if the Chinese police had caught him, he would already be dead.

Because of the now reduced amount of people carrying food in my group, we had a shortage of food. We could see the snowline of the mountains and we knew that we had to keep going across the mountain passes. We had no map or any idea where we were supposed to go, but fortunately in the mountains you can see far away and coordinate your direction in that way. On our way we passed Chinese police tents but we were lucky, it was so freezing that night that the police did not come out.

Forty-three days after we set out from Lhasa, we arrived in the Tibetan refugee reception in Kathmandu, 10 people were arrested and sold by the Nepali police back to the Chinese police. Two of them, one was a monk – managed to escape from the vehicle that was to take them back to Tibet, but he died in the attempt. A third man escaped and swam upstream a river into safety. Their attempt of escape was solely based on their fear of going to a Chinese prison. That fate was considered by them much worse then dying. Twelve of us made it safely to the reception center. While we were there, we spoke to others who had made the same journey. One group told us that they lost a girl who fell between the crevice in some ice. They had tried to pull her out but had failed. I felt so lucky that I had made it safely.

When I arrived in India I was sent to the TTS (Tibet Transit School) in Dharamsala where I learned English for one year. I saw that they had a Tibetan traditional art class where they taught Thangka art. I learnt the art but slowly, began to dislike it because there were many rules and there was no freedom in the art form. While I was there I also learned the guitar and had a growing interest in modern art. Later I formed the Akupema music group where I sang and danced and also played music. Slowly, the group fell apart so I went to Norblinka and worked as a modern art teacher, relief painting teacher and music teacher. While living there I opened a hairdress and tattoo shop, it was the first modern hairdress shop opened by a Tibetan. In July 2006 I moved to Dharamsala and continued to have a tattoo and painting studio. With help from a friend in the USA, Serena, I bought professional equipment and began a real tattoo shop in the Mcleod Ganj area.

In response to the 2008 uprisings in Tibet I began my t-shirt designs which were very succesful and this inspired me to continue making designs. I was active politcally before this, but after the March 14th killings in Tibet I became highly active and was selling t-shirts and participating in every protest. I still work with many NGO’s in the area such as the Tibet Hope Center (THC) and Learning and Ideas for Tibet (LIT) who work to improve the language skills and lives of Tibetans in exile. Every Thursday I participate in THC’s and LIT’s Tibetan Traditional night where I play music and sell t-shirts. I am also a member of Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) and the Democracy Party of Tibet.

Now, in Dharamsala my tattoo studio is succesful and I enjoy being a part of this community. My work is now well-known, and through it I meet people from all over the world.

I also use music to express myself. In 2012 I produced my first album called ‘Open Road’. Inspiration for the music came from the 2008 uprisings in Tibet as well as the tragic self immulations. The album is made as a tribute to these heroes. I had the opportunity to perform in front of his Holiness the Dalai Lama for Kalachakra this year. I was very nervous but it was a great honour.
In October 2011, I had my first acting role in the film ‘Escape from Tibet’ which was filmed in Ladakh, Kashmir. I played a rural Tibetan farmer who sends his children across the Himalayas to safety in India. Although it braught back painfil memories from my past, it made me very happy and proud to be part of this production.

At my tattoo studio, I follow a few simple rules. I don’t tattoo monks because monks should be simple, I don’t tattoo young people because their skin is very young and the tattoo will shift with their age, also in the future they may not like the tattoo. Lastly, I don’t do images of the Buddha because I am Buddhist and I don’t want to make money on the image of the Buddha; I don’t want to make a business by the use of the Buddha. But everything else I do! I do political tattoos for free; for example, if you want a “Free Tibet” or “Save Tibet” tattoo I will do the image free. Please feel free to come to my studio and see my art work if you are interested in a tattoo, t-shirt, banner or more.

 

Best regards,
Tamding