8 Tibetan Artists and Small Businesses To Support
Jess here! Founder of co-mrkt :) If you didn’t know already, I’m Filipina American and my partner is Tibetan. My partner is the first Tibetan I met and that was in my mid-twenties. Since becoming friends and eventually partners, I have been passionate about learning the Tibetan culture and participating in their community.
Tibetan New Year, also known as Losar, was from Thursday, March 3-Saturday, March 5. To celebrate Losar, I wanted to highlight 8 Tibetan artists and small businesses through the co-mrkt platform. Why did I choose 8? In Tibetan Buddhism, there are 8 auspicious symbols.
I’ve asked my dear friend Rigzin Taring, founder and owner of Sweet Momo Studios, to talk about her favorite up-and-coming Tibetan entrepreneurs around the U.S. and Canada. I’ll let Rigzin take it from here!
Hello! My name is Rigzin and I’m a self-taught Illustrator based in New York. I was born in India and immigrated to the states with my family when I was nine. I started Sweet Momo Studios during the pandemic as a creative outlet that allowed me to share my doodles and glimpses of my Tibetan heritage through cute stickers and goodies.
It’s amazing seeing many Tibetans pursue creative entrepreneurship in this current era. I believe it speaks to the level we have reached as a Tibetan-exile community as a whole. This generation of Tibetan creatives are versatile, brave, and imaginative. The best part is how supportive and encouraging everyone is of one another. I hope to see more Tibetans represented in the AAPI creative community. Here are 8 Tibetan artists and small businesses for you to support!
Kalsang is a potter/ceramicist based in Woodside, New York. Kalsang Pottery products are all hand-thrown at potter's wheel and crafted in New York City in Kalsang’s small Woodside home studio. He makes high quality functional art pieces that can be used for everyday gastronomic pleasures and decorative home decor items that are visually pleasing and artfully therapeutic. Each piece is one-of-a-kind, handmade with the user in mind, with each perfection (and imperfection) solely thrown for the purpose of giving a character to the product that is unique and un-reproducible.
Tenzing is a cartoonist, illustrator, and designer. Born in Vancouver, Washington, Tenzing uses her skills in storytelling and humor to connect with other Tibetans around the world. In May of 2019, she graduated with a BFA in Design at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington. She’s a cartoonist at The Lily and Real Change News, Illustrator & designer at Students for a Free Tibet, co-founder of Drokpa Zine, and proud member of the Yakpo Collective. You can support her through her Patreon.
Himalayan Dumplings was created by KyiKyi. Her journey as the first woman-owned Tibetan food brand in the US began years ago with a dream to preserve her at-risk heritage. She started with pop-up events; cooking Tibetan food out of a 10 x 10 tent, with borrowed cookware, a tin cash box and her cherished family recipes. She currently takes pre-orders for in-person pickups for her delicious momos, shaphaleb, and sepen in Beaverton, Oregon.
The Yakpo Collective provides a platform that showcases contemporary artworks by Tibetan artists. Their aim is to include but not limit to: challenging the confines of mainstream media’s portrayal of the Tibetan diaspora, encouraging dialogues on how art can serve as a vehicle for cultural expression as well as preservation, and fostering an engaging environment for the youth and older generations alike to participate in the arts. They often organize engaging events to bring together and uplift the Tibetan creative community. Their online shop features a range of art prints and merchandise designed by various Tibetan artists.
Nineteen59 is a youth-led group based in Toronto that focuses on enriching Tibetan identity and culture preservation through arts, fashion and community development. They create merchandise that promotes the message of oneness and awareness of the Tibetan identity. The collected profit and money raised goes back to the Tibetan community through organizing events for the youth and elderly, to empower community members through workshops, networking events, creative activities, collaboration outings, and mobilizing to create safe spaces.
Tenzin Tsering is a multi-disciplinary artist who focuses on illustration, concept art and design based in Toronto, Canada. She loves comics, characters and color which is greatly reflected in her work. She is inspired by books, music, fashion, and current trends, though she also loves to explore the deep rootes of her Tibetan and Filipino cultural heritage. She currently works at Crash Course and is part of the FBC Collective. You can purchase her beautiful originals at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair.
Sezo Taste is founded and run by Lobsang, who hails from the Tibetan village of Sezo, located in the lush valleys of Amdo Ngaba in northeastern Tibet. The region is famous for its soil’s remarkable fertility and versatility, producing a diverse range of nutritious and organic foods for its inhabitants. Lobsang believes it is his duty to preserve the Tibetan nomads' unique food culture by sharing it with the world. He founded Sezo Taste to bring the authentic taste and unmatched nutrition of traditional Tibetan foods to the world. Sezo Taste’s online shop features Sezo Tsamba Mix, an organic roasted barley mix and Sezo Shakampo, air-dried, all natural grass-fed Tibetan beef jerky.
The Snowlion Club is a small Tibetan brand composed of local Tibetan youth. Their primary focus is to create a collective that utilizes art to engage & educate Tibetan youth about our rich history and culture. They started as a clothing brand to bring Tibetan culture into the world of street fashion. Through time they were able to collaborate with young Tibetan artists, which allowed the artist to showcase their artwork on their merchandise. As there is a very small Tibetan community in exile, there is no organization in Canada that focuses on Tibetan art culture, thus they wanted to take this opportunity to help young Tibetan artists to explore, experience, and showcase their work on a bigger stage.
