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Nyarma is an enormous monastery complex founded around 1000 in Ladakh or ‘land of the high passes’. Ladakh is a region administered by India as a union territory that lies west of Tibet, north of Lahaul and Spiti and east of Kashmir, which is renowned for its breath-taking landscapes, crystal clear skies, and Buddhist monasteries and festivals.  Nyarma is an important site as it marks the beginnings of Tibetan Buddhism in the region. Unfortunately, its architectural splendour and mural paintings lies almost in ruins today. We speak to two Orientations contributors, Gerald Kozicz and Pimpim de Azevedo, on the draw of Ladakh, the importance of Nyarma and conservation efforts to preserve the complex.  

Gerald Kozicz is an architectural historian with more the 20 years of experience in Western Himalayan studies. Since 2005 he has been in leading position of five research projects funded by the Austrian Science fund (FWF). His studies included research on stupa architecture in Ladakh in the course of which he has focused on the interaction of container (architectural form, space and construction) and the contained (ceiling paintings, murals and iconographic composition). He is member of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, the International Association for Buddhist Studies, the European Association for South Asian Art and Archaeology, and frequent presenter at several other academic conference circles. He is currently based at Graz University of Technology with a project on the cultural heritage of Chamba, Himachal Pradesh.

Pimpim de Azevedo is an artist, researcher and conservator of Tibetan architecture. She received her Master degree in Heritage Sciences from University College London. She is a director of Tibet Heritage Fund (THF) founded together with late André Alexander in 1996. THF’s conservation programs started with the preservation of the old city of Lhasa, followed  by architectural conservation projects in Amdo (Qinghai), Kham (Sichuan), Mongolia and ongoing projects in India (Sikkim and Ladakh). Azevedo studied Tibetan architecture with Tibetan master builders for over 10 years, learning about different building techniques and materials used in traditional Tibetan houses and temples. Her research on Tibetan architectural terminology and traditional techniques and materials used prior to the 1950s developed two of her future publications: Illustrated Dictionary of Tibetan Architecture based on the materials she collected between 1995 -2004, and a Compendium of Traditional Technology used in Tibetan Architecture.

Yifawn Lee is the publisher and editor of Orientations, a magazine featuring the latest scholarly research, market analysis, and current news in the field on the arts of East and Southeast Asia, the Himalayas and South Asia. In 2014, she founded Asian Art Hong Kong as a platform to provide art-related lectures and events. In 2018, she helped organize ‘The Blue Road: Mastercrafts from Persia’ at Liang Yi Museum and ‘From Two Arises Three: The Collaborative Works of Arnold Chang and Michael Cherney’ at The University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong. She currently sits on the advisory board of Liang Yi Museum. (moderator)

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