Today, Lhasa has become a big stage where grandiose projects that aim to change our history by imitating the past are being played out. A big stage where casually dressed plain-clothes police lurk on rooftops of the city’s monasteries and private residences, sometimes even pretending to play with Tibetan beads. But, even when the smallest whispers have been silenced, this big stage fails to hide the countless fears that exist in this city…
At dawn, I take my DSLR camera and see through the lens a 」copycat」 Potala Palace now seating across the Lhasa river. This building, labeled by the Tibetan Autonomous Region and the city of Lhasa as their 「Number One」 project, is a theatre built round the clock to be the stage for the mega-production 「Princess Wencheng」.
Under the influence of political and economic agendas, the myth of Princess Wencheng is finally becoming a 「brain washing」 tool. The play will use the latest modern electronic technology to celebrate the revival of an old 「splendor」. But, when we talk about celebrating a 「splendor」 are we celebrating the splendor of the Tang Dinasty, or rather China’s current big nationalistic splendor? Perhaps this is an attempt to the Princess Wencheng’s myth to materialize the glorious 「China Dream」, which in fact is a 「Sinicization Dream」.