Tamu Shamans' Books: The Challenges of Textualising the Pye-ta Lhu-ta

Abstract

In this presentation, I discuss my ongoing work with the Tamu-mai, an ethnolinguistic community of central Nepal with whom I have been working collaboratively for two decades. I begin by reviewing a number of Tamu cultural preservation projects in which I have played a part, including the curation of sensitive material culture collections within museums in Europe and Nepal, an extensive video documentation project and studio recordings of traditional Tamu ritual chants and songs. Through these and other examples, I address the challenges of textualisation and the problems that are raised when delicate cultural materials are recorded, archived and disseminated to a wider audience.