11/21/2025
Tashi Delek!
As you may have noticed, Yakpo Collective has been on hiatus since 2023. This time has been an opportunity for us to reflect on why we started this collective, our visions for the future, and our responsibilities as Tibetan artists.
When we started Yakpo, we felt the need for greater representation of Tibetan contemporary art. We wanted people to know that Tibetans and Tibetan art aren’t relics of the past - that we are in your communities, producing beauty and innovation despite impossible conditions.
Now, as more contemporary Tibetan art collectives emerge across diaspora, we’re glad to see more forums for contemporary art and know that these changes call us to move differently.
As a collective started by q***r/ trans Tibetans in New York City, we recognize our responsibilities as artists to better the world around us. Our ancestors were profoundly creative, engaged in daily practices of survival, faith, and joy that ensured our futures when everything was uncertain. They are the artists that we learn from.
As artists and architects of a new world, a just world, we imagine futures where everyone is safe, fed, and belongs. We see building this world as the ultimate creative practice. We need more than representation; we need liberation.
As our goals have shifted, Yakpo Collective will soon transform into a different organization that serves new visions. We look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks.
Thank you all for your continued support as we lovingly turn towards new paths. We are who we are because of our ancestors, community, homelands, and beloved jewel. We will continue to work in service of all who made our lives possible.
Goodbye for now but please stick around for what’s coming next 🌺
ག་ལེར་བཞུགས་ 🤲🏽
