Achala

Forum Expanded Exhibition 2023

Courtesy of the artist and Microscope Gallery, New York

In a series of sculptural works, videos displayed on screens within small brass and jade containers contain scenes of everyday life as shared on the social media app WeChat between the artist’s relatives in Tibet and those in the US, allowing for mediated access to the autonomous region. The series was prompted by the 2020 ban on WeChat in the US, which effectively prevented the artist and his family from communicating with their relatives during that time and until the app’s reinstatement in August 2021.
Achala contains a personal message between the artist’s mother and her sister in Tibet. They discuss keeping in touch through pictures, which represents a safe form of exchange for their monitored communications.

by Tenzin Phuntsog
with Achala USA 2022 Tibetan 1’ Colour International premiere

With

Achala

Crew

Director	Tenzin Phuntsog
Editing	Tenzin Phuntsog
Producers	Tenzin Phuntsog, Andrea Monti

Produced by

Plateaux Films

Microscope Gallery

Tenzin Phuntsog

Tenzin Phuntsog is a Tibetan-American artist and filmmaker who works across moving image, film, and installation. His personal practice touches into themes of presence and belonging as well as landscape and language. He studied Media Arts at the University of California and holds an MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University. His works have been exhibited and screened at renowned galleries, museums, and festivals including Videobrasil, São Paulo; IFFR Rotterdam; Anthology Film Archives, New York; Microscope Gallery, New York; and The Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam.

Filmography

2010 Four Rivers; 67 min. 2014 A Singing Blade; 15 min. 2018 Rituals of Resistance; 63 min. 2019 The Day the Sun Died; 17 min. 2022 Dreams · Pala Amala (Father Mother) · Achala · Dancing Boy · Summer Grass 2023 Mother Tongue · Next Life

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023