New Beginnings

Witte de With is excited to unfurl her 2013 program with Tulkus 1880 to 2018, a project by visual artist Paola Pivi, that consists of the research and collection of thousands of portraits of Tulkus from the beginning of photography until today. In Tibetan Buddhism, Tulkus are the recognized reincarnations of late spiritual masters. As a prelude to this collection of valuable documents to be assembled, and ultimately let go by Pivi, Witte de With hosts independent filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam to screen and talk about several of their film projects that have documented the life of different Tulkus.

The documentary-film in focus explores the mystery and ambiguity, but also the personal and practical aspects that underlie the mechanics of the Tulku tradition. As such, this program will give a first insight in a vast and complex tradition that will form a source of inspiration for Witte de With’s upcoming research into the faculty of imaging, pictorially and descriptively, focusing on the interplay of sensation, memory, imagination, and most importantly the belief in the process of envisioning something.

Additionally during the day, ‘The Thread of Karma’ and ‘The Trials of Telo Rinpoche’ by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam will be screened on the hour on Witte de With’s first floor.

About The Reincarnation of Khensur Rinpoche

Choenzey is a 47-year-old monk living in a Tibetan refugee monastery in South India. His spiritual master, Khensur Rinpoche, a revered high lama, died four years ago. According to Tibetans he will soon be reincarnated. It is Choenzey’s responsibility, as his closest disciple, to find the reincarnation and to look after him.
The film follows Choenzey’s search and his eventual discovery of a 4-year-old boy who is recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan State Oracle to be the reincarnation. Without sentimentality, the film captures the moving relationship that develops between the erstwhile disciple and his young master.
Admission fee: €5 / €3 with discount