Kalsang Dawa

Kalsang Dawa serves as a Continuing Studies Instructor at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, specializing in traditional Tibetan art forms.

His artistic practice focuses on:

• Tibetan Thangka Painting
• Mandala Creation
• Contemporary Interpretations of Traditional Techniques
• Religious Iconography in Buddhist Art

Dawa has exhibited his work at prestigious institutions including The Royal British Columbia Museum, STM Art Gallery at University of Saskatchewan, and Saint Norbert Arts Centre in Winnipeg. His most notable commission is the "Mandala of Compassion" (2009) for the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, featuring the Four-Arm Avalokiteshvara deity rendered in ground mineral pigments with gold on cotton cloth.

Originally from Lhasa, Tibet, Dawa began painting traditional Tibetan art at age 14 before studying under Master Artist Venerable Sengye Yeshi (the Dalai Lama's former personal painter) in Dharamsala, India. He relocated to Vancouver in 1998, where he maintains his artistic practice while teaching workshops on mandala creation and traditional techniques.