Tsering Wangmo at the Brooklyn Museum

 

Dr. Tsering Wangmo braved the weather this past weekend in order to facilitate a packed poetry workshop at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City. Professor Wangmo's workshop was part of a series, titled "I See You Face to Face," named in honor of Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," referencing that Whitman once worked at the Brooklyn Apprentices' Library, which ultimately became the Brooklyn Museum. The series of workshops takes place in art galleries within the museum, allowing poets to draw from the art they see around them in crafting their verse. 

Dr. Wangmo's workshop took place in the Rubin Museum Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room. According to the Brooklyn Museum's website, "The Rubin Museum Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room presents more than 100 artworks and ritual objects as they would be displayed in an elaborate Tibetan Buddhist household shrine—a space used for devotional prayer, offerings, and rituals. Scroll paintings (thangkas), sculptures, ritual implements, and musical instruments dating from the 12th to 21st century are arranged on traditional Tibetan furniture according to their use in Tibetan Buddhist practices... The design incorporates elements of Tibetan architecture and the color schemes of traditional Tibetan homes, offering visitors the opportunity to experience Tibetan religious art in its cultural context." The workshop began with an overview of the space and its art, before transitioning into an opportunity to write poetry inspired by the surroundings. 

Dr. Wangmo's most recent book is The Politics of Sorrow, and her books of poetry include Revolute and My Rice Tastes Like the Lake.