Tibetans furrious over Warner Music

[cd@xxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Tibetans furrious over Warner Music CD

from  Dawn Star in Paris, Tibetans furious over Warner Music Pro-Chinese 
CD Propoganda

Check it out, from the Nepal Digest news site, 
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To: nepal@xxxxxxxxxx
Date:          Wed, 28 Feb 1996 08:34:54 +0000
Subject:       POLITICAL FALLOUT: Pop CD with Buddhist Touch

 CROSS LISTED FROM WTN

 1.   Pop CD leads to political fallout - Critics say the
 haunting  `Sister Drum' tramples on feelings of Tibetans
Eastern Express, Hong Kong Friday, 26 January 1996 page 16
 (feature page)

 Didi Kirsten Tatlow
 Dadawa is Zhu Zheqin, a singer from mainland China.  Her music,
 inspired by the spirituality of traditional Tibetan culture, is
 mellifluous, haunting. She has clocked up impressive sales in
 Britain, Canada, Taiwan and China, where her CD, Sister Drum, is
 touted as Warner Music's "first 1 million CD in Asia".

 It is also an example of Han cultural imperialism, charge Tibetans
 in exile, and they have launched a campaign to publicise the fact in
 the run up to the January 30 release of Sister Drum in the United
 States.

 Warner Records and Dadawa have been badly advised in releasing the
 material to the public in its present form", the leaders of a
 campaign against the music, which began in London in December, say.
 The protesters want to place Dadawa's music squarely in the
 tradition of moral conflict such as that encountered by musicians
 and sportsmen during the apartheid era in South Africa.

 Led by Tenzin Gelek, a Tibetan who has settled in London, they argue
 the CD is an example of a popular art form from a democratic nation
 being used to help the image of a repressive government.  In the
 case of Dadawa's Tibetan music, the political underpinning of the
 music is clear, they say.

 The first line of the CDs introduction tells listeners that Tibetan
 music "celebrates the dignity of the Chinese spirit".  Exiled
 Tibetans say that is an example of how China is appropriating even
 the cultural traditions of their country.  They say they are
 fighting for the survival of their culture as China's growing market
 economy envelops Tibet's traditional lifestyle and the Han
 population rises each year in their homeland.

 "There are many aspects of the CD that show little understanding of
 the present situation in Tibet," Gelek, in remarks he has also
 addressed to Warner says.  It shows "little sensitivity to Tibetan
 people's feelings", he charges.

 As an example, Gelek points to the transliteration of the Tibetan
 mantra, Om Mane Padme Hum.  Crudely put into pinyin, the words of
 the mantra are being presented to the world as An Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong.
 This makes sense in Chinese, as all the syllables are from the
 system of transliteration of Chinese set up by the Communist Party
 shortly after the revolution. However, it makes no sense in Tibetan.

 In fact all the lyrics are a cultural nightmare Gelek says, and
 Dadawa's distributor, Warner, is to blame.

 "From the way Dadawa's lyrics have been interpreted on the CD notes,
 I expect anyone unfamiliar with Tibetan would think it was a dialect
 of Chinese", so thoroughly have they been "pinyinised" in the clumsy
 transliteration, he says.

 Another campaigner, Tim Anasuya, says the music and its packaging
 "blurs the distinction between Tibetan and Chinese culture".  "In
 its present form, Sister Drum demonstrates a worrying insensitivity
 towards Tibetan feelings," Anasuya says.  "The CD's packaging and
 promotion tacitly conform to a Chinese nationalistic view of China's
 relationship to Tibet."

 To prove the charge of cultural chauvinism, Anasuya points to the
 CD's sleeve blurb on which Tibet's holiest temple, the Johkang in
 Lhasa, is referred to as "Tazhou".  "Tazhou"  is a misspelt
 transliteration of the Chinese word for the Tibetan temple.  The
 correct spelling, "Dazhou", means "Great Cathedral" in Putonghua.
 "Tazhou" was simply non sensical, Anasuya points out.  "It could
 mean 'collapsing wrinkle' and 'pagoda of abuse'," he says.  Rather
 than showing active disrespect, the transliteration showed a
 damaging lack of familiarity with Tibetan culture, he added.

 Overall, the CD portrays Tibet as "unique, mystical, ancient,
 backward and romantic, but not necessarily a different country",
 Anasuya says.  That point of view was to be expected from a mainland
 Chinese pop star, given the paucity of knowledge of Tibet's culture
 and the violence of China's occupation of the mountain region since
 the Dalai Lama fled to exile in 1959.

 However, the record company was irresponsible in the extreme in
 going along with the charade, he says.  "That the first Chinese pop
 star to be marketed in the West is closely associating herself with
 Tibet without any mention of the realities of occupation is to be
 expected.  But it leaves Warner Music open to legitimate criticism."

 Other criticisms point to the cover of the CD which shows Dadawa
 standing against a Himalayan landscape, garbed in the maroon robes
 of a Buddhist nun.  As Gelek points out: "She is not a nun.  I
 believe most Tibetans would be offended by this image, especially
 those in Tibet... even though they are not in a position to voice
 such criticism openly."

 Musically, Tibetans are particularly irritated by what they allege
 is the pseudo-Tibetan theme of the CD.  Lyrically, all seven tracks
 have some reference to Buddhism or Tibet with song titles like Sky
 Burial and The Turning Scripture.  Dadawa's songs claim to "sketch
 out the relationship between... Tibet and modern society", according
 to the liner notes.  Yet Tibetans familiar with regional music are
 unimpressed.  "The CD has no actual Tibetan musical content,"
 Anasuya says.

 Warner has described it as "ethno-ambient" music. "There are
 occasional motifs that are probably meant to sound like overtone
 singing or monks chanting,"  Anasuya concedes.  However they "bear
 little similarity to the sounds they are trying to evoke".

 Auasuya and Gelek are not calling for a full-scale damning of the
 CD. "From the opinions they have canvassed, the initial reaction of
 Tibetans is that they are not necessarily out of sympathy with the
 music", which is lyrical and pleasing to the ear.  "The problem
 definitely lies with the packaging," they say.

 Dadawa's public remarks about the "spirituality" of Tibetan culture
 have, however, angered some Tibetans.

 The Chinese government has admitted to "excesses" in Tibet,
 particularly during the Cultural Revolution.  Independent estimates
 put the devastation of temples at about 80 per cent and estimate up
 to 1 million people may have died since the Dalai Lama fled to India
 in 1959.

 "Warner have gone about their project in a very ill-advised way,"
 Anasuya says.

 Officials contacted at Warner UK have declined to comment on the
 row.
 2.   Dadawa's 'Sister Drum' CD Causes International Outrage
 Amongst Tibetans
Joint Press Release                                     27
February 1996
 Tibet Support Group.UK
 The Tibetan Community in Britain
 Contact: Timothy Nunn  Phone 0171 359 7573 or 0378 90 11 98 (mobile)

 `Sister Drum', a seven track CD by the Chinese popular singer Dadawa
 and composer He Xuntian, is causing deep offence to exile Tibetans
 by its insensitivity and its perpetuation of the Chinese state view
 of Tibet.

 It is clear from the marketing of 'Sister Drum' that the artist and
 record company are either ignorant of the realities of China's
 occupation of Tibet, or have wilfully disregarded the feelings of
 Tibetans.

 The CD released by Warner Music International- which has been
 available in China since August 1995 - is now being extensively
 marketed world-wide.

 Tibet Support Group UK and Tibetan Community in Britain are calling
 for the immediate withdrawal of the CD from sale world-wide.

 Warner claim 'Sister Drum' is Asia's first million selling CD - with
 almost all units sold in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the PRC - though they
 usually omit to mention that 750,000 sales are accounted for by no
 less than three pirated versions.

 Timothy Nunn, General Secretary of Tibet Support Group UK says:

 'In its present form, 'Sister Drum' demonstrates a worrying
 insensitivity to Tibetan feelings. The CD's packaging and promotion
 tacitly conform to a Chinese nationalistic - if not overtly
 Communistic - view of China's relationship to Tibet: that Tibet is a
 unique, mystical, ancient, backward and romantic region, but not
 necessarily a different country.  Needless to say, there is no
 mention of the detrimental effect of Chinese culture in Tibet since
 1949.'

 The promotional video for single, 'Sister Drum', was filmed in Lhasa
 and includes a sequence of Dadawa 'embracing' an exterior wall of
 the Jokhang temple. This appears to be good evidence of cooperation
 between the artistes and the Chinese state who have barred the
 international media from Tibet.

 Dadawa and Warner Music are clearly eager to capitalise on the
 appeal of Tibet but anxious not to involve themselves in a political
 debate. Warner and the artist have inelegantly tried to side-step
 some of the inevitable questions about the project by being
 economical with the truth. 'Tibet has preserved the spiritual side
 of life' according to Dadawa (quoted in 'Music Week' on November
 11th). By invoking the spirit of Tibet but making no mention of the
 Chinese occupation, Dadawa and Warner are involving themselves in
 the political issue by their own choosing.

 Dadawa and composer He Xuntian visited Tibet and recorded material
 for 'Sister Drum' there in 1993 (according to press reports this,
 involved 'sampling' Tibetan monks chanting). She cites the visit as
 both an inspiration for her music and a turning point in her life.
 In view of this and similar comments made while promoting 'Sister
 Drum', one can only conclude that she was not influenced by the
 ruins of monasteries and temples or the true history of Tibet during
 her stay.

 Aside from these general reservations about the project, Tibetans
 have called attention to a number of specific aspects of the CD, its
 packaging and promotion which they find highly offensive:

 *       In the sleeve notes, Tibetan religious terms and prayers are
 portrayed in a Chinese form: the mantra usually translated
 phonetically in to English as 'Om Mani Padme Hum' is transliterated
 as 'An Ma Ni Ba Mi Hong', the Tibetan name 'Dolma' as 'Zhouma' and
 'Jokhang temple' as the 'Tazhou temple' the Chinese term for Tibet's
 holiest cathedral, an inaccurate transliteration from the Chinese.

 *       The CD itself features an overprinted circular mantra,
 saying 'Sister Drum' phonetically in Sanskrit, but which is meant to
 look like a prayer wheel or circular Mani stone.

 *       On the cover of the CD, Dadawa is wearing a garment clearly
 meant to resemble a Buddhist nun's maroon robes (she is not a nun).
 In a letter to Anne-Marie Nicol, Vice President of Artist
 Development, Warner Music International, Tenzin Gelek, a Tibetan
 resident in the UK, remarks 'I believe most Tibetans will be
 offended by this image, especially those still in Tibet, though they
 aren't in a position to voice such criticism openly'.

 *       Lyrically, all seven tracks have some reference to Buddhism
 or Tibet. Song titles include 'Sky Burial', 'Zhouma of Zhoumas', and
 'The Turning Scripture'. There is also a song called' 'Di Wei Shin
 Kan, New Wei Shin Kan (Paradise Inferno)'. The title track 'Sister
 Drum' includes a chorus of 'Om Mani Padme Hum'. Lyrics appear in the
 sleeve notes in Chinese characters and English. There is a two page
 preamble in the CD booklet about Dadawa, He Xuntian and their
 insights on Tibetan spirituality.

 The release of the album has provoked strong reactions from the
 exile Tibetan community world wide:

 Tenzin Gelek, resident in the UK, in a personal letter to Warner
 Music:

 'I grew up in Lhasa, and was working for the state tourism bureau
 before I escaped.  I have seen the way the Chinese manipulate
 Western interest in and sympathy for Tibet, both for profit and to
 strengthen their occupation [...] Many Tibetans living in the UK who
 I have shown 'Sister Drum' have expressed strong objections to the
 incorporation of images from our culture'.

 (Ms) Losang Rabgey:

 'It is highly misleading to say that Tibet has preserved its
 religious heritage under the Chinese occupation, while in fact the
 singer's own government has worked to systematically destroy all
 aspects of Tibet's cultural heritage for the last four decades
 [...W]hat this artist (and with hardly a doubt her marketers) is
 doing smacks of cultural appropriation of a dominated and colonised
 peoples [...'Sister Drum'] is using Tibet's image to capture an
 audience but at the same time she is also sinocising the material
 and making a profit'.

 (Ms) Deke Samchok exiled in Canada writing to Randy Stark, Vice
 President of Marketing and Promotion, Warner Music, Toronto:

 'As a Tibetan, forced into exile by China's illegal occupation of my
 homeland, I am deeply disturbed by this album [...] Music and
 musicians have always been at the forefront of social and political
 issues.  I would have hoped that your company would have been more
 sensitive to the Tibetan issue [...] This current regime in China
 uses any means at its disposal to try and disseminate its propaganda
 on Tibet.  Dadawa and your company have inadvertently become
 apologists/propagandists for a very repressive and brutal
 occupation'.

 (Mr) Tsering Dhundup, Secretary, Tibetan Community in Britain:
 ' 'Sister Drum' is not a hymn in praise of Tibet, but rather a
 politically motivated musical weapon to sinocise traditional Tibetan
 culture and society [..] If Zhu Zeqin [Dadawa] and He Xuntian truly
 feel an admiration for Tibetan spirituality and culture, they should
 persuade Warner to support the international campaign to end Chinese
 colonial and military occupation of Tibet'.

 Warner have produced no evidence that they sought independent advice
 about Tibetan culture before releasing 'Sister Drum'.

 To date, Warner Music have declined to directly answer any of the
 concerns raised by Tibetans in personal initiatives they have taken
 to open a dialogue.  Instead they have referred their comments to
 the Taiwanese arm of Warner and to Dadawa herself.  This begs the
 question, who would Warner Music approach for advice about the
 opinions of Tibetans other than Tibetans themselves?

     T I B E T  S U P P O R T  G R O U P  UK
     9 Islington Green
     London N1 2XH
     Telephone +44 (0)171 359 7573
     Fax +44 (0)171 354 1026
 - an independent membership organisation campaigning in support of
 the rights of the Tibetan people to freedom and independence.