Tibetan Mustang

A Cultural Renaissance

Photographers Luigi Fieni and Kenneth Parker document the cultural revival of Tibetan Mustang “the hidden kingdom” of the Himalayas. A restoration project of its sacred temple murals directed by Luigi Fieni over more than 20 years has reawakened Buddhist traditions. Included is Mustang’s extraordinary landscape as well as the Lobas’ spiritual and secular way of life.

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The kingdom of Mustang, where Tibetan Buddhist tradition continues, is emerging as a beacon of community-directed art conservation and resurgent culture. Sacred temples dominate the medieval capital Lo Monthang. Following centuries of deterioration a mural restoration project has taken place over more then 20 years, directed by conservator/photographer Luigi Fieni. This included training the unskilled Lobas in Western conservation methods. This extraordinary initiative led to a vibrant cultural renaissance in the kingdom.

press commentaries

The arresting photographs in Tibetan Mustang, along with accompanying morsels of insightful text, illuminate the ongoing effort in a remote corner of Nepal to preserve a sublime, precariously endangered culture and the community it sustains. It’s an absolutely magnificent book.

Jon Krakauer, author of Into the Wild and Under the Banner of Heaven

This is an incredible book by someone who has lived the Loba life. Luigi and team gives you an authentic picture of Mustang, its culture and people. I am immensely grateful to Luigi, American Himalayan Foundation and the team who have worked relentlessly for more than two decades in the restoration of Jampa and Thupchen monasteries. I am proud to say their work has brought life back to our monasteries and turned it back into a spiritual haven for the people of Mustang. My father, the late King Jigme Palbar Bista, dreamt of seeing Mustang in its full glory while requesting AHF to help restore the monasteries, and now seeing monks perform religious ceremonies and pilgrims coming from all over Mustang, I truly understand that my father’s dream was — a cultural renaissance. This book is special for me and my family because Luigi is a local of Lomanthang in true sense, he dances our dance, eats our food like it’s a delicacy, understands our language and culture, and most importantly understands us like a family.

Jigme Palbar Bista, Crown Prince of Mustang

Tibetan Mustang: A Cultural Renaissance is a marvelous book. The photographs are stunning, rich, gorgeous, and perfectly curated. And Luigi’s clear and soulful writing has well distilled his twenty-year experience restoring Mustang’s cultural treasures. As someone who has traveled to Mustang many times, I have watched Luigi literally turn farmers into restorers and seen the many years of neglect and weather be wiped away to reveal vibrant living deities under his skill and direction. Now the crown jewel, Thubchen Gompa, is once again a masterpiece filled with rare Buddhist wall paintings restored to their original exquisite beauty. And, meaningfully, in this book he lets the reader in on how many pieces had to be gently coaxed into place for those paintings to be restored. In Tibetan Buddhism, the paintings themselves are deities and they must be made whole for the sanctity of temple to also be restored and the gods worshipped. It is conservation at its most meaningful and culturally relevant.

Erica Stone, President, American Himalayan Foundation

There is no secret: if this book succeeds in capturing the magical surrealism of Mustang, it’s because it’s the fruit of over 20 years of a passionate love story.

Éric Valli, Academy Award nominated film director and photographer

It is fascinating and moving to witness these works while leafing through the impressive illustrated book. // Es ist faszinierend und bewegend, im beeindruckenden Bildband blätternd Zeuge dieser Arbeiten zu werden.

NDR Kultur

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Details

Luigi Fieni, Kenneth Parker

Photographer Luigi Fieni, Kenneth Parker

In stock

Foreword by HH Sakya Trichen, Essays by Luigi Fieni and Amy Heller

248 pages, 180 colour illustrations
27.9 x 35.6 cm, hardcover

HIRMER PREMIUM
Oversize volume, structured paper cover, luxury art paper stock

ISBN: 978-3-7774-4197-9