Sonali Joshi

This project stemmed from extended periods I had spent in Dharamsala, northern India, home to HH the Dalai Lama and a large community of Tibetan refugees, as well as a trip I made to Tibet in 2005.

The programme explored migration and the Tibetan refugee experience as represented through film, along with some films made in Tibet. With a longstanding interest in Tibet from both geopolitical and artistic perspectives, along with an interest in issues around migration, I made several trips to Dharamsala where I discovered a vibrant arts and creative scene, full of artists and aspiring filmmakers, many Tibetans, some Indians and others from around the world.

Over the course of three years, I brought together several curated programmes and two photography exhibitions exhibited in 14 cities around the UK including ICA (London), Filmhouse (Edinburgh), Cornerhouse (Manchester), Glasgow Film Theatre. I also collaborated with various international partners to take the project to Copenhagen twice (Danish Film Institute, Grand Teatret) including events related to COP15, Vienna (Schikaneder cinema) and Seoul Human Rights Film Festival.

Highlights included a specially curated archive programme in partnership with the BFI featuring HH the Dalai Lama pre-1959.

In 2009, the project was supported by Tibet House Trust, a UK registered charity working with the Central Tibetan Administration based in Dharamsala, India, to deliver educational, health, cultural and other projects for Tibetan communities in exile, particularly in India and Nepal. Tibet House Trust is the charitable wing of the Office of Tibet in London, the official agency of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for the UK and Northern Europe.