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A Dangerous Smile
2 July, 2019 - 13 July, 2019
Rowan Chanen
A Dangerous Smile
2 – 13 July 2019
hours:
Tuesday – Friday 11am to 5pm,
Saturday 11am to 3pm
admission: Free
Years of unrest were still reverberating across Tibet, yet the minutiae of daily life continued unabated.
In 1998, an air of trepidation hung over the Jokhang Monastery. Years of unrest were still reverberating across Tibet, yet the minutiae of daily life continued unabated. Since 647, this holiest of temples has been at the religious, social and political epicentre of Tibetan life. Devotion, meditation and prayer have always constituted the very core of every single monk, pilgrim and worshiper.
A Dangerous Smile not only documents a life that has been lived for centuries, but also reflects upon the very modern point at which the pursuit of inner peace intersects with the pursuit of politics. Tibetans have always managed to combine a healthy mix of genuine happiness and resolute pragmatism in the face of adversity. One can only guess at the plots, schemes, hopes and dreams carefully and deliberately hidden within.
A long career in global advertising has afforded Rowan Chanen a unique opportunity to explore and document some of the most intriguing corners of the world. His primary photographic interest is in exploring the duality that surrounds us.
Unseen forces often compete and conspire to obscure truth and conceal reality. Sometimes those forces hide in plain sight; sometimes they lie deeper within. By seeking to reveal them, the camera compels us to find new meaning and understanding in what we might otherwise take for granted.
Having lived and worked around the world, Australian-born Rowan is currently residing in Singapore.