Bringing down the house for Tibet
By Rafer Guzmán
STAFF WRITER
Don’t look for David Bowie to make any pointed political statements at tonight’s benefit concert to support the besieged people of Tibet.
The closest he’ll come is an obscure number called “Loving the Alien,” from 1984’s “Tonight” album. At the time, few noticed that the song addressed Middle East unrest: “Thinking of a different time/Palestine a modern problem,” goes one verse. “Bounty and your wealth in land/Terror in a best-laid plan.”
“It has a kind of relevance, I suppose,” Bowie says on the phone from his Manhattan office. He declines, however, to explain the elliptical lyrics.
Tonight’s 15th annual concert for Tibet House, the New York institution dedicated to preserving Tibetan culture in the face of possible eradication by China, comes at a time when the music industry is treading gingerly through political territory. Despite their long tradition of embracing pacifist and humanitarian causes, musical artists are staying relatively silent on America’s seemingly inevitable war with Iraq. Some expected to hear an anti-war drumbeat during last Sunday’s Grammy awards show, but barely a handful of musicians broached the subject.
While tonight’s benefit may seem like an opportune venue for soapboxing, it will likely remain a politics-free zone, says Tibet House president Robert Thurman.
“In a way, it’s not really their business. It’s their business to promote music,” Thurman says of the musicians. Even when it comes to issues about China’s domination of Tibet, “We try to mute the direct criticism,” he says. “We’re just presenting the beauty of Tibet and trying to keep it on that level.”
As always, the concert boasts an eclectic array of performers: avant-garde composers Laurie Anderson and Philip Glass, world music favorites Angelique Kidjo and Ziggy Marley, veteran rockers Lou Reed and Ray Davies, plus singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The show also features Tsering Wangmo, a San Francisco-based Tibetan singer, and the Drepung Gomang monks.
Tibet House, founded in 1987 at the Dalai Lama’s request, has turned Tibet into a pet cause among the entertainment industry. It was co-founded by Glass and actor Richard Gere. Thurman, also a co-founder, is no stranger to show business: His daughter is Uma. (She’s slated to appear as one of the festival’s honorary chairs, along with her husband, Ethan Hawke, and the financier Alex von Furstenberg.)
Bowie’s ties to Tibetan culture go back to his youth: As a teenager, he spent time studying with exiled monks at London’s Tibet Society. “There was one brief period where I saw myself as becoming a Buddhist,” Bowie says. “There was something about their humanity and their spiritual awareness and their peaceful outlook – something which is sorely lacking at the moment.”
Thurman says the Tibetans have drawn sympathy for their nonviolent resistance to Chinese conquest. Their leader, the Dalai Lama, “doesn’t call for counter-violence, but instead calls for dialogue and reconciliation,” Thurman says. “That is the symbol of something hopeful in this endless cycle of fear and violence that everyone is caught in right now.”
WHERE&WHEN 15th annual Tibet House Concert, tonight at 7:30 at Carnegie Hall, 154 W. 57th St., Manhattan. Tickets are $58. Call 212-247-7800.
