 Mr.
Tashi Norbu is a pioneer who is the first private citizen in
Bhutan to be engaged in preserving and maintaining traditional
culture, primarily music. Located in the Himalayas, the Kingdom
of Bhutan, with a population of 700,000, has developed a traditional
culture under the great influence of Tibetan Buddhism. The country's
policy is to protect its traditional culture and natural environment,
but globalization has gradually brought about change in Bhutanese
society. This has had a major impact on the music that has been
handed down as an activity of the people.
Mr. Tashi
Norbu developed a great interest in traditional Bhutanese music
under the tutelage of his father, a musician and dancer. Alarmed
that the country's traditional music would disappear due to
the strong influence of music from overseas, he formed Tashi
Nencha, the first private group featuring traditional music
in Bhutan in 1987. At that time, the Royal Academy of Performing
Arts already existed for the preservation and development of
folk music and dance, but it was a truly groundbreaking step
for an individual to form a group for this purpose.
In the 1990s,
as "rigsar" (popular songs and music) enjoyed widespread
popularity, Mr. Tashi Norbu consistently preached the importance
of preserving traditional music. As the director of Tashi Nencha,
he assiduously continued his activities of passing the music
on to the younger generation. Song and dance are inseparable
parts of traditional Bhutanese music, so he incorporated dance
in the group's activities in 1995. Working primarily in the
central part of the country, he is striving to recreate the
traditions as meticulously as possible to preserve music and
dance that had not been recorded in the country. He is devoting
a great deal of energy to developing traditional music, including
attempts to improve the musical instruments, with the objective
of improving the musicality while maintaining the tradition.
Fulfilling
the role as a cultural ambassador from the private sector, Mr.
Tashi Norbu has given several performances overseas as the leader
of Tashi Nencha, bringing traditional Bhutanese music, and therefore
the distinctive aspects of Bhutanese traditional culture, to
the world. Moreover, he has made a significant contribution
to recording and preserving culture on film by producing "Folk
Songs of Bhutan", the first documentary created by an individual
Bhutanese.
Mr. Tashi
Norbu has passionately continued his activities as a private
citizen working to protect and hand down traditional music as
it rapidly changes with the trends of contemporary civilization.
For this reason, he is a worthy laureate of the Arts and Culture
Prize of the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prizes. |
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