She's Here!!!

Ama-la has arrived safe and sound, albeit a little weary. But it was a good flight apparently, and Tsering took great care of her. Her host family are Wonderful- Dolma, her husband Martin, and her mother Acha Rinzin, who took to Ama-la like an old friend she hadn't seen for a long time. So I feel she's in very good hands.



We took them to see the exhibition on their first day, and they both seemed very happy with it (I think we are approved officially now). And they watched the great video that Sergei made- he's the Romanian cameraman who was there at the Nangpa-Pass shooting and caught it all on camera. He very kindly made us our own film especially for this event and it has some very powerful images. Ama-la had also brought over some drawing she had collected in Dharamsala of the Nangpa-Pass incident- they are incredible, and we'll get some of them framed for the next exhibition. She has also put together a sheet of photos of the Art Refuge Program that we can use anywhere- like a travelling exhibition, which will be very useful. We were later taken out for lunch by Gonkar, to a typical English East End Caff, with lots of meat, and 2 veg.




So, so far, so good. Tomorow is the opening party/ launch- lots of people expected- just hope I don't have to make a speech! Will report later. By the way, if you want to make a comment, just write in as anonymous- then you don't have to go through the whole registering palavar!

Setting-up

Tom, Karen and I with the magnificent help of Gonkar, managed just about to get everything set up today. Ok, so we have some tidying up to do tomorrow, titles to display, catalogues to copy, sorting out the merchandise, etc, but for the most part, it's ready to roll! Very exciting :)

And we have a lot of merchandise: handmade paper notebooks, bags, incense, 2 books, (inlcuding Ama-la's own book), postcards, photos, and a lovely glossy catalogue. Karen sat on the steps and drank copious cups of green tea while trying to wake up, I wandered round and round in circles worrying about the arrival of Ama-la tomorrow (until I was told I was only allowed sequential panics and to focus on panicking about setting up the exhibition), and Tom and Gonkar put up the artwork, and sorted out the projector for our slide show (and it's a great slide show- hope you get to see it).

And then Mike turned up and gave his tuppence worth before dragging us all off to the Thai restaurant across the road for dinner (minus Gonkar who'd had to leave earlier).

Found out it would take 2 weeks approx for more of Ama Adhes' books to be delived from the USA, so have decided to go ahead and order some, which she can sign before she leaves and we can take orders for (so if you'd like your very own copy signed by her, let me know soon).

That's all for today- the grand opening is tomorrow- wish us luck!

ps. Will add photos tomorrow

Oops!

Oh dear, I seem to have a fried brain at the moment. The flyer that we have made to advertise Ama-la's talk has 2 errors on it, and I only found out about them (or had them pointed out to me, rather) one at a time. So in case you're reading this and wondering exactly what is going on and when, the first talk is on Sunday APRIL 29th at 3pm, and the 2nd talk is on THURSDAY May 3rd. All my contacts on my email list are going to get sick of me sending them corrected flyers every day! Good thing we weren't having them printed out in large quantities! Anyhow, we're still waiting to confirm the venue for the first talk but I'll keep you updated.

But we have some transport arranged for a few of the talks (just need to confirm times and locations) and have enlisted the wonderful services of Tobias and Karma Kars- check them out on his website- they are amazing! http://www.karmakars.net. Hopefully, Ama-la will feel right at home in them ;)

I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that the printers get everything ready on time, and that I can fit everything into the smaller suitcase...I don't particularly want to take the pink monster into town with me (it's huge, that suitcase- and one that you need to view with strong sunglasses on).

Tomorrow we're meeting at the Gallery around 3pm to start setting up. If I can I'll take some photos during the proceedings and post them later. That's all for today...

AMA-LA IS COMING!!

Such exciting news! Ama Adhe has been granted a visa to come join us at the exhibition. For those of you who don't know who she is, she's a Very Important Person. An elderly Tibetan lady from Eastern Tibet, she survived 27 years of prison by the Chinese, and once in exile, wrote a book about her experiences: Ama Adhe: The Voice That Remembers. She also just happens to be one of our staff members in Dharamsala, Northern India, so her presence here is a vital part of the exhibition. She arrives in London on Wednesday, accompanied by Tsering, who looks after our volunteers in Dharamsala and works as the data entry chap in the Office for the new arrivals. He'll be her travel companion and translator.

If you want to see Ama-la, she'll be giving at talk on Sunday April 29th at 3pm 'Tibet: a Voice that Remembers.' (venue to be announced in the next day or two)

She'll also be participating in the talk mentioned in the previous post on Wednesday May 2nd at the Sweet Tea House.

And as an extra bonus, Tibetan Youth UK and the Tibetan Women's Association are organising a talk on Friday May 4th- Ama Adhe: A Personal Account Under Chinese Occupation. Venue, Tibet Foundation, 1 St. James Market, London. 6:30pm. Refreshments provided. Admission- free.

Do come see her- there are not many women like her around any more- ones who remember Tibet before the Chinese arrived and who survived years of torture and torment. Within the Tibetan communities worldwide, she is considered a Tibetan heroine! These days she devotes her life to helping the newly arrived children from Tibet, and to prayer. She is an inspiration to see, hear and be around. Hope you get to see her while she's here.