Artists
Wang Lama
Sacred Refuge reflects on the disappearing relationship between sacred cultural heritage and the natural world in the Himalayan highlands. Once, Buddhist caves and stupas were vibrant places where people gathered to pray, celebrate, and strengthen their spiritual connection to the land. Their walls, adorned with sacred murals, carried stories of faith, compassion, and harmony between humans and all living beings.
For generations, these sacred sites were more than places of prayer. They also became sanctuaries for wildlife. Snow leopards, birds, and other wild animals found shelter around these caves because local communities, guided by faith and reverence for guardian deities, believed that harming living beings near sacred places would disturb the spiritual balance. In this way, religious belief helped protect both cultural heritage and biodiversity.
Today, this relationship is under increasing pressure. Globalization, climate change, and the migration of local communities have left many caves and stupas abandoned or damaged. Their architecture is deteriorating, and the Buddhist murals that once carried centuries of spiritual and artistic knowledge are gradually fading. At the same time, wildlife is losing both its natural habitat and the cultural traditions that once offered its protection.
The snow leopard resting before a weathered cave mural symbolizes the shared vulnerability of nature and culture. It represents two disappearing legacies: the fading legacy of sacred art and the uncertain future of Himalayan wildlife. Through this work, I explore the parallel disappearance of sacred art, spiritual memory, and biodiversity. Sacred Refuge is both a reflection on what may be lost if these intertwined histories are not preserved and a call to recognize their profound interconnectedness. It invites viewers to consider that the survival of cultural heritage and the survival of nature are deeply connected, and that protecting one may also help protect the other.
Selected Works
Lost : Uncontrolled Urbanization
