Seta Manoukian (born 1945) is a Lebanese painter of Armenian descent. Seta Manoukian was born into a family of Armenian origin in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in 1945. Although she is not part of the generation that experienced the genocide, she belongs to the Armenian diaspora. At seventeen, she won first prize in a art show, consisting of a three month scholarship to Perugia courtesy of the Italian Embassy in Beirut. Later on, she graduated from the accademia Di Belle Arti in Rome. Upon her return, she became a rising figure on the burgeoning Beirut scene. For two decades she created some of the most singular and striking paintings ever seen in Lebanon. In 1975, the civil war broke out in Lebanon just as Seta began teaching at the

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU; ) is the only state-funded public university in Lebanon. It was established in 1951. The university's main campus was originally located in Beirut, but a few satellite campuses were opened due to travel restriction ...

in Beirut. She started to teach painting to children in deprived neighborhoods in Beirut; ''Lebanese Children And The War'' was published by Dar Al Farabi publishers, and ''Tache Rouge et Blue'' by the League for Lebanese Women's Rights. In 1985, she moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, where she continued her work as an artist. In 2000, she joined a Buddhist Theravada Temple in Los Angeles, and in 2005 was ordained as a Buddhist nun in Sri Lanka. The name Mother Sela was given to her by her teacher Pemasiri Hamdruo. She stayed in Sri Lanka in a retreat center for 10 month, and in 2006 lived in south India near Bangalore for a year and half. In 2007, she met Lama Chodak Gyatso Nubpa Rimpoche from the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism in Los Angeles. Rimpoche as her root Lama gave her the name Ani Pema Tsultrim Drolma. The retreat center Pema Dawa is in Tehachapi, California, where she still often goes for retreats. In 2016, Seta Manoukian as Ani Pema Drolma was ready to paint again, after ten years of full devotion to Buddhist teachings and practice.

Work

Seta Manoukian's work consists of paintings, installations and performance. Her art has been shown in numerous exhibitions and group shows in Museums around the world.

Videos

*2010: ''Mother Sela'' – feature documentary, about the life and work of Seta Manoukian. Los Angeles, California, produced by Svetlana Darsalia ans Sylvette Artinian. *2008: ''Sela Manyo'' ''Mother Sela'', shown at the Arpa international film festival in Los Angeles. *1996: ''East of Here...'', YYZ artist outlet Toronto, Canada. *1985: ''My Father on the Tree'', color VHS, UC Berkeley, CA .

Collections

Sursock Museum The Sursock Museum (), officially known as the Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock Museum, is a modern and contemporary art museum in Beirut, Lebanon. History In 1912, the Lebanese aristocrat Nicolas Ibrahim Sursock built the private villa that now house ...

, Beirut, Lebanon * Saradar Group, Beirut, Lebanon * Cilicia Museum, Antelias, Lebanon * Kuwait Petroleum Corporation * National Museum, Yerevan, Armenia * St Lazare Museum, Venice, Italy * Museum of Mekhitarist Convent, Vienna, Austria

Bibliography

* 2019: Seta Manoukian, Kaph books * 1999: ''Dictionnaire de La Peinture Au Liban'' by Michel Fani, Edition de L'Escalier. ** Colette Chattopadhya Seta Manoukian at Sherry Frumkin Gallery, Art Week Magazine. * 1991: "By Way of Beirut", Lisbet Nilson, ''Los Angeles Times'', March 31 ** "Seta Manoukian and Missak Terzian", Jodi Garnet, Art Week, March 28. ** ''Balancing Imbalances'' Exhibition catalogue, interview by Neery Melkonian, Gallery Casa Sin Nombre, Santa Fe, NM. ** ''The Artists View: Two Hundred Years of Lebanese Paintings'', Quartet Books Ltd, The British Lebanese association, Beirut, Lebanon. * 1986: "The Woman Artists in Lebanon"Helen El Khal, Institute of Woman's Studies in the Arabe World, Beirut, Lebanon. French edition, Institut Du Monde Arabe. Paris, France. * 1984: "Lebanese Armenian Painting", Seta Dadoyan, Cilicia-Armenian Catholicos, Beirut, Lebanon. ** ''Vision and Reality'': exhibition catalogue, Elissar, Beirut, Lebanon. * 1982: "Cent Ans d'Art Plastic Au Liban", Part 1 and 2, Shane Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon. * "About the Lebanese Painting", Salah Stetted Funoon, ''Arabia Magazine'', Beirut, Lebanon. * "Le Portrait A Travers La Peinture Libanaise", Jean Prosper G.Para, Grenier Des Artist, Beirut, Lebanon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manoukian, Seta 1945 births Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma alumni Academic staff of Lebanese University 20th-century Buddhists 20th-century painters 21st-century Buddhist nuns 21st-century Buddhists Armenian artists Armenian Buddhists Artists from Beirut Converts to Buddhism from Armenian Apostolic Church Lebanese artists Lebanese Buddhists Lebanese people of Armenian descent Lebanese women artists Living people