21 - Matthieu RICARD (Born in 1946)

Matthieu RICARD (Born in 1946) Monk carrying a woodblock on his head, Dergué printing workshop, Eastern Tibet, July 2005 Art print, UltraChrome HDX pigment inks, Epson Premium Glossy paper, mounted on 2mm Dibond 60 x 90 cm Label on the back of the mounting. This exhibition print may show slight marks or imperfections. Proceeds from the sale of this print will benefit the Karuna Shechen Association and its relief programs for victims of the August 26, 2026, floods in Nepal. In Dergue, in eastern Tibet, lies the largest manual printing house in human history. It houses 270,000 engraved wooden blocks (woodblocks) in Tibetan script, containing Buddhist teachings and texts on Tibetan history, traditional medicine, and more. This monk places one of the woodblocks on his head as a sign of respect. The printing house was founded in 1729 by the 12th King of Dergue, Tenpa Tsering. It miraculously escaped the destruction that wiped out more than 6,000 monasteries in Tibet during the Cultural Revolution. For the past twenty years or so, it has been active again, and about a hundred people work there. When printing the Buddhist Canon (the 103 volumes of the Kangyur, which contain the Buddha’s sermons), they use red ink. For all other texts, black ink is used. The largest manual printing works in history is located in Derge, in eastern Tibet. It houses 270,000 engraved wooden blocks containing Buddhist teachings and texts on the history of Tibet, medicine, and other traditional sciences. This monk has placed a block on his head as a sign of respect. The printing works was founded in 1729 and miraculously escaped the destruction caused by the Cultural Revolution, which reduced 6,000 Tibetan monasteries to dust. The printing works has been active again for the past twenty-odd years and employs about one hundred people. Red is used for the Buddhist canon (the 103 volumes of the Kangyur containing the teachings of the Buddha) and black for all other texts.