Tibetology: Present Research and Future Perspectives

7 October 2024

7–9 October, 2024, Basel, Switzerland

A workshop titled “Tibetology: Present Research and Future Perspectives”―organized and hosted by the Tibet Institute (Andiast), the Lumbini International Research Institute (Lumbini, Nepal), and the Himalayan Art Collection Christian H. Lutz (Basel/Therwil)―took place in Basel, Switzerland during October 7–9, 2024. The event, which was generously financed by the Tibet Institute and the Himalayan Art Collection Christian H. Lutz, included presentations by 17 Tibetologists, covering a wide range of Tibetological topics based on recent research of Tibetan literature.

The program started with a visit to the Himalayan Art Collection Christian H. Lutz, which mirrors the main aspects of the religious and mundane life of the Himalayan people. The participants enjoyed a guided tour through the exhibition, focusing on various exquisite Himalayan artefacts spanning from religious items to worldly objects, including a unique collection of medical tools of traditional Tibetan physicians.

One evening Dieter Schuh showed three documentaries focusing on Northern Nepal, Ladakh, and Tibet he had filmed in the 1980s. These films are of particular historical value in our fast changing world, since they provide a glimpse of the old traditional way of life, which has by now almost diminished.

The workshop ended with a discussion about possible ways of promoting Tibetan and Himalayan Studies. In the light of some tendency in recent years to subsume Tibetan Studies under wider or other fields, the importance of sustaining institutions with focus on Tibetan Studies was particularly emphasized, for it was seen necessary in order to secure the future existence of the field as an independent discipline.

For the lists of speaker and topics, see the workshop program.