Martin Brauen (born 15 March 1948, in
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
) is a cultural anthropologist from
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
, Switzerland who specialises in
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
, the Himalayas and history of religions.
Biography
Martin Brauen studied
ethnology
Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology).
Sci ...
and religious history at the
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...
and
Buddhology at the
University of Delhi
The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
. He earned a doctorate after defending a thesis in Zurich on ''Holidays and ceremonies in Ladakh'' and a degree of ''Privatdozent'' (Habilitation in the field of anthropology of religions). Since 1975 he has had several positions at the EthnographicMuseum of the University of Zurich (Head of the "Himalaya, Tibet and the Far East" department, deputy director and director ad interim), as well as becoming a lecturer.
[Martin Brauen]
Wisdom Publications From 2008 to 2012 he was chief curator at the
Rubin Museum of Art
The Rubin Museum of Art, also known as the Rubin Museum, is dedicated to the collection, display, and preservation of the art and cultures of the Himalayas, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and other regions within Eurasia, with a permanent ...
in New York City.
[Brigitta Niederhauser: ''Ein Berner Ethnologe in New York''. In: '']Tages-Anzeiger
''Tages-Anzeiger'' (), also abbreviated ''Tagi'' or ''TA'', is a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland.
History and profile
The paper was first published under the name ''Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und K ...
'', 12 March 2012
Online
/ref>
Since then he is working as an independent curator: Kosmos – Rätsel der Menschheit (Museum Rietberg); Yak, Yetis, Yogis – Tibet im Comic (Museum Rietberg); Bill Viola: Passions (in the Cathedral of Berne); Cesar Ritz (old railway station Niederwald).
Brauen is the author of several books and many exhibitions on Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Ladakh, and Japan. Among his books, ''Mandala: Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism'' is best known to the general public and has been translated into six languages. Well known is also his book Dreamworld Tibet – Western Illusions (in German: Traumwelt Tibet).
Martin Brauen has also produced several films and documentaries on Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
and the Himalayas, and has worked in the areas of aid and development policy in a Swiss NGO (Brot für alle).
He met Tibetans for the first time in 1965 and the 14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...
in 1970 during an interview, and has since been committed to the Tibetan cause.
He is married to the Tibetan artist Sonam Dolma Brauen
Sonam Dolma Brauen (born 1953) is a Tibetan-Swiss contemporary painter and sculptor.
Life and career
Early life
Sonam Dolma was born in Kongpo, Tibet (today Kongpo, Gongbo'gyamda County, Nyingchi Prefecture, Tibetan Autonomous Region, Chi ...
, with whom he had two children, actress and writer Yangzom Brauen
Yangzom Brauen (born 18 April 1980) is a Swiss actress, director, activist and writer.
Life and work
Brauen, the daughter of Swiss ethnologist Martin Brauen and Tibetan artist Sonam Dolma Brauen, started her acting career with small roles in ...
and Tashi Brauen, artist.
The great-grandfather of Martin Brauen, Élie Ducommun
Élie Ducommun (19 February 1833, Geneva – 7 December 1906, Bern) was a Swiss peace activist. He was a Nobel laureate, awarded the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with Charles Albert Gobat.
Born in Geneva, he worked as a tutor, langua ...
[Roger Durand, Elie Ducommun 1833–1906; Association "Genève: un lieu pour la paix", 11212 Grand-Lancy
] who received the Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
in 1902, was a notable pacifist
Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...
.
Publications
* 2014: ''Bill Viola: Passions'' (with Kathleen Bühler), Kunstmuseum Bern/Cathedral of Berne
* 2014: ''Kosmos – Weltentwürfe im Vergleich'' (with Albert Lutz ''et al.''), Museum Rietberg Zürich/Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess AG, Zürich,
*2011: ''Quentin Roosevelt's China – Ancestral Realms of the Naxi'' (with Christine Mathieu and Cindy Ho), Rubin Museum of Art, New York / Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart
* 2010: ''Grain of Emptiness – Buddhism-inspired contemporary art'' (with Mary Jane Jacob Mary Jane Jacob is an American curator, writer, and educator from Chicago, Illinois. She is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is the former Executive Director of Exhibitions and Exhibition Studies. She has held posts as ...
) Rubin Museum of Art, New York,
* 2009: ''Mandala – Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism'' (with Helen Abbott) Arnoldsche /Rubin Museum of Art, Stuttgart/New York,
* 2005: ''The Virtual Mandala – The Tibetan Book of the Dead''/ Das tibetische Totenbuch (with Claudio Dal Pra), Art Adventures, Zürich, (part 1), (part 2)
* 2005: ''Die Dalai Lamas – Tibets Reinkarnationen des Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara'', Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart,
* 2005: ''The Dalai Lamas – A Visual History'', Serindia, Publications, Chicago,
* 2005: ''Les Dalaï-Lamas – Les 14 réincarnations du bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara'', Favre, Lausanne,
* 2004: ''Mandala – Cercle sacré du bouddhisme tibétain'', Favre, Lausanne,
* 2004: ''Dreamworld Tibet – Western Illusions'', Weatherhill, Trumbull,
* 2003: ''Bambus im alten Japan'' / Bamboo in Old Japan, Arnoldsche Art Publishers, Stuttgart, (with Patrizia Jirka-Schmitz)
* 2002: ''Peter Aufschnaiter's Eight Years in Tibet'', Orchid Press, Bangkok,
* 2000: ''Traumwelt Tibet – Westliche Trugbilder'', Haupt, Bern-Stuttgart-Wien,
* 2000: ''Deities of Tibetan Buddhism – The Zürich Paintings of the Icons Worthwhile to See'' (with Martin Willson), Wisdom Publications, Boston,
* 1999: ''Mandala – Il cercio sacro del buddhismo tibetano'', Sovera editore,
* 1998: ''Mandala – Posvatny kruh tibetského buddhismu'', Volvox Globator, Praha,
* 1998: ''De Mandala – De heilige cirkel van het Tibetaans boeddhisme'', Asoka,
* 1997: ''The Mandala – Sacred Circle in Tibetan Buddhism'', Shambhala, Boston,
* 1994: ''Irgendwo in Bhutan – Wo Frauen (fast immer) das Sagen haben'', Verlag im Waldgut, Frauenfeld,
* 1992: ''Das Mandala: Der Heilige Kreis im tantrischen Buddhismus'', DuMont, Köln,
* 1993: ''Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalaya'' (with Charles Ramble), Ethnologische Schriften Zürich, ESZ 12, Ethnological Museum of the University of Zurich,
* 1984: Nepal – Leben und Überleben, Ethnologische Schriften Zürich, ESZ 2, Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich
* 1983: Peter Aufschnaiter – Sein Leben in Tibet, Steiger Verlag, Innsbruck,
* 1982: Junge Tibeter in der Schweiz – Studien zum Prozess kultureller Identifikation (with Detlef Kantowsky), Verlag Rüegger, Diessenhofen,
* 1982: Fremden-Bilder, Ethnologische Schriften Zürich, ESZ 1, Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich
* 1980: Feste in Ladakh, Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz,
* 1978: Tibetan Studies, presented at the International Seminar of Young Tibetologists (with Per Kværne Per Kværne (born 1 April 1945) is a Norwegian tibetologist and historian of religion.
Biography
Per Kværne was born in Oslo, Norway. In 1970 he received the mag.art. degree in Sanskrit at the University of Oslo. From 1970 to 1975 he worked as ...
), Völkerkundemuseum der Universität Zürich
* 1974: ''Heinrich Harrer's Impressionen aus Tibet'', Pinguin Verlag, Innsbruck
* 1969: Tibetische Kunst, Tibeta 69, Bern
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brauen, Martin
1948 births
Swiss anthropologists
Living people