News and Events

Upcoming Unveiling & Exhibition of the 3-D Zangdok Palri Model

Great news, the fully scaled and detailed 3-D Model of Guru Rinpoche's Zangdok Palri Mansion is to be unveiled and exhibited by The American Foundation for Tibetan Cultural Preservation (Ari Bhod) in the HAMMER MUSEUM from October 26 to November 7, 2010.
There will be a 2-D Rigzin Dhupa Sand Mandala construction on-site and a Q & A evening with me - Pema Namdol - & Michael Rotundi on Nov 7.
The creation of the model itself took 18 months. The concept and planning of it, including the research, concept, design and construction, has taken about eight years.
The unveiling is the culmination of all this and is very exciting.

April 2010

Tibet House Exhibition

I just spent the weekend in New York taking down my Tibet House show. I am quite pleased with how it went, despite the recession. Thank you to all who were involved in it and to all who came to view it. Here's a pic of me with Robert Thurman at the opening in January.



While I was there I took the opportunity to go to the Rubin Museum of Art to see my Swiss Shi-tro Mandala currently on display in the Bardo Exhibition. It is a truly beautiful Museum and well worth visiting. Here are some pictures of it on display:





Shi-tro Photography by David De Armas

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January 2010

Tibet House Exhibition

I've been working extremely hard preparing for this exhibition and can't believe it's almost here. I am looking forward to it and hope to see you at the reception!

Upcoming Tibet House Exhibition

Modern Buddhist Visions by Pema Namdol Thaye

The modern hand of Tibetan tradition: Buddhist iconography in the mandala, thangka & sculpture works of Pema Thaye.


Opening reception: February 11 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Hosted by:Tibet House US

Where: Tibet House Gallery

When: Thursday, February 11, 2010 at 6:00 pm until Friday, April 16, 2010 at 12:00 pm


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May 2009

Zangdok Palri U.S.A. Project
I have finally completed stage two - the detailed scale model - of the three staged Zangdok Palri U.S.A project for Ari Bhod.Wow, it was a monumental undertaking, but was worth it, as it turned out just as I'd visualized it. Of course there is an almost endless amount of detail one could add if there was time, but I'm still happy with the outcome (I'll post pictures as soon as it’s unveiled to the public, but the drawing on the left is some idea of what it will look like). I'm now free to persue my other projects, which were put on hold, and will settle in the LA area for the foreseeable future.

Concept Line Drawing of the Zangdok Palri Celestial Palace

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January 2009

Pacific Asia Museum Exhibition

The Thangkas of Master Artist PEMA NAMDOL THAYE
January 16 - 18 2009
Pacific Asia Museum
46 North Los Robles Avenue - Pasadena, CA


Me with my uncle, Ven. Lama Gonpo Tenzin, at the PAM Exhibition

I want to thank everyone who came to my exhibition, lecture or art class and hope you all enjoyed it. The museum thought it was a great success and I was very pleased with the attendance and positive comments. I'm always happy to share my work and look forward to further exhibitions. So keep an eye on this page for more in the future!

Thanks also to the following for your greatly appreciated assistance in arranging the exhibition: Amelia from PAM, Kiki from HAC & Linnea from Ari Bhod. And for helping with the setting up: Gaye, Kunzang Wangdi, Veronica & Tyler (& also Ben for serving drinks on the opening night) - I couldn't have done it without you all!


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Zangdok Palri U.S.A. Project

I am currently working on the biggest challenge in my career, the “Zangdok Palri U.S.A. Project" for a wonderful foundation dedicated to preserving Tibetan Culture. It’s called Ari Bhod and is situated in the beautiful snowy Tehachapi Mountains, California.

This project has been in the pipeline since I completed the initial concept drawing in 2001 after Ven. Lama Chödak Gyatso Nubpa first discussed this idea with me and requested a drawing to provide everyone with some idea of its scope. I then completed the first comprehensive blueprint in 2005. I've been working on the project in a physical, full-time capacity for over two years now: researching numerous Tibetan Buddhist texts; calculating the blueprints, and building the required architectural and detailed scale models.

As it is a celestial abode of one of Tibetan Buddhism’s greatest heroes (Guru Rinpoche), I’ve had to figure out how to make something meant as a visualization aid into a functioning, Californian-code-abiding structure! Not an easy task. It has taken all my years of training and experience since I first began my artistic journey over 25 years ago to accomplish this. I am also very happy to be working alongside one of California’s premium architects – Michael Rotundi of Roto Architecture – who is facilitating the code-abiding/engineering processes with great expertise. I’ve almost finished the extremely elaborate scale model, but as yet cannot put up any pictures. Ari Bhod is planning a grand unveiling sometime in 2009 and after that I will post some on my gallery page. You can get some idea of the model in progress on my "About" page and on Ari Bhod's web site. But anyway, stay tuned!


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Tibet House Exhibition

I’m also planning another more comprehensive thangka exhibition with Tibet House in New York sometime in 2009. Having exhibited with them in 2000 I am very happy to be joining with them again for another showing.

Thangkas are extremely labor-intensive, so it takes many years to paint enough of them to make a decent exhibition - especially if one works alone without the traditional assistance of students. Plus I’ve been so busy with the Zangdok Palri project, that this has also slowed my thangka work to a standstill.

Tibetan Art Studies

Distance education course available:
Traditional Buddhist Thangka Painting.

Other courses in development but requiring physical attendance include:
The Architectural Construction of Three Dimensional Mandalas. Basic Traditional Tibetan Sculpting & Carving in Clay and Wood. Advanced Traditional Tibetan Sculpting & Carving in Clay and Wood.

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