Between Tibet and Assam
Cultural diversity in the eastern Himalayas
23 October 2008 – 13 April 2009
Room 91
Admission free
The mountainous region of Arunachal Pradesh in India is located
in the eastern Himalayas between Assam, Bhutan, Burma and the Tibet
Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. An
unresolved border dispute between India and China is still a
feature of life in the area. Until recently access to
the region was restricted, and it was little known or
studied. However, a collaborative research project undertaken
by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and the
British Museum, and funded by the Economic and Social Research
Council, has been shedding new light on this area of great cultural
diversity.
The exhibition, which forms part of the research project,
illustrates the cultural diversity of the region. Arunachal Pradesh
has a population of around 1 million, drawn from 35 tribal groups
speaking 25 languages and practicing a variety of belief systems.
Two tribal groups from different parts of the state form the focus
of the exhibition: the Monpa from the northwest who practice
Tibetan Buddhism and the Apatani from the centre who are animists.
The exhibition will feature a mixture of fascinating historical
objects from the British Museum’s collection – most never before
displayed - contextualized by contemporary objects acquired during
the project. Ritual textiles, such as handwoven woollen shawls,
jackets and headdresses worn by shamans will be displayed as well
as wooden masks used in Buddhist monastic dance. The cultural
variety of the state is evident from a display of four types of
visually unusual headgear– two made of felt and two of woven cane –
textiles and woven cane/ bamboo feature particularly in the
exhibition. These objects illustrate the fact that these
cultures have been influenced for many centuries by both the Assam
plains to the south and the Tibetan plateau to the north.
Photography is a key feature of this exhibition in a way that is
unusual in the British Museum. Photographs from the archives
of the outstanding anthropologists Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf
(1940s) and Verrier Elwin (1960s) are shown alongside contemporary
images from the project’s photographer, Michael Aram Tarr. In
the Apatani section, there is a sequence of objects relating to the
sacrificial ritual of Murung, with both contemporary and older
items as well as rare archival and exceptional new photographs. In
the Monpa section items acquired more than a century ago but
without information are contextualised as a result of the project
research. Also in this section the transition from
block-printed to computer-generated Buddhist ritual texts is
illustrated. Change and continuity are clearly evident in Arunachal
Pradesh. This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to engage
with this remote and mountainous region of Asia.
For public information or 020 7323
8299
For further information or images please contact Hannah Boulton
on 020 7323 8522 or hboulton@britishmuseum.org
Notes to editors
- A book to accompany the exhibition, Through the Eye of
Time: Photographs of Arunachal Pradesh, 1859–2006 by Michael
Aram Tarr and Stuart Blackburn, is available in the Museum’s
shop.
- A seminar related to the exhibition, Tribal Transitions:
New Research in the Eastern Himalayas, will take place on
Friday 24 October, 10.30–16.00, at SOAS (Room 116). For more
information, visit www.soas.ac.uk/events/event45864 Open
to all, admission free
- Tribal Transitions is a unique collaborative project between
the School of Oriental and African Studies, the British Museum,
Arunachal University, the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, the
Centre for Cultural Research and Documentation and the British
Council in New Delhi. The project is funded by the Economic and
Social Research Council, UK