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Events

Living Sanctuaries: The Monasteries of Zanskar (2025)

Fri, Oct 3 6:30pm

Film Screening

Location

Wood Auditorium

Columbia campus is open to active affiliate Columbia University ID (CUID) holders and approved guests only. To attend this event, please register through the link below at least two business days in advance of the event to request campus access and bring your ID.

Learn more about the current Columbia campus access.

Please register here if you are a non-CU affiliate and would like to attend this event, using a unique email address (one email address per registrant) by October 1st at 4pm.

Contact Information

Julie Kwan jk4371@columbia.edu

Faculty Links

Sonal Beri

High in the Western Himalaya, the Zanskar Valley is home to a remarkable architectural tradition shaped by centuries of Buddhist practice, extreme climate, and geographic isolation. At elevations nearing 13,000 feet, its monasteries and nunneries are not only places of worship but living records of Tibetan and Himalayan craftsmanship—built from earth and stone, adorned with vibrant murals and intricately carved woodwork.

Living Sanctuaries follows Studio Nyandak—an architecture and engineering firm based in New York City and Dharamshala—as they undertake a research expedition to document these structures and engage with the people who sustain them. Working in partnership with scholars and local community members, the team conducts architectural surveys, oral history interviews, and site assessments to better understand both the resilience and the vulnerability of Zanskar’s built heritage.

Weaving together fieldwork, reflection, and local voices, Living Sanctuaries illuminates the complexities of preservation in a landscape where history, devotion, and architecture remain deeply intertwined.

The film will be followed by a discussion and Q&A with:

Tenzin Nyandak, Founding Principal, Studio Nyandak

Sonal Sahni Beri, Adjunct Associate Professor, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation (GSAPP)

Gray Tuttle, Leila Hadley Luce Professor of Modern Tibetan Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures

Living Sanctuaries was produced and directed by Tenzin Tsetan Choklay at Drung, a nonprofit film collective based in Dharamsala, with support from Folkstreams and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Living Sanctuaries_Trailer.mp4

The full running time: 43 mins and 19 seconds; Aspect Ratio: 1.9:1 Shooting format: Blackmagic RAW (BRAW)

This event is co-hosted by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute (WEAI), together with its Modern Tibetan Studies Program (MTSP), the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), and the Center for Buddhist Studies (CBS).