Museum of Tibetan Culture marks 10th anniversary of charity campaign

An exhibition celebrating the 10th anniversary of a charity campaign called "Ink and Brush Bringing Light" was recently launched at the Museum of Tibetan Culture, located in the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing.

The exhibition displays more than 100 painting or calligraphy works by renowned artists including Su Shishu, Chairman of the Chinese calligraphers 'Association, as well as 300 pictures recording that program's history over the past decade.

The exhibition, which will last through Dec 28, is sponsored by the China Tibetan Culture Protection and Development Association, the China Tibetology Research Center, and Tibet Development Fund, and undertaken by a number of organizations including the Tibetan Culture Museum.

A symposium on the 10th anniversary of the charitable program was held after the opening ceremony.

The campaign is a public welfare activity jointly launched in 2009 under the initiative of the 11th Panchen Lama by the Tibet Development Fund, Ma Sanxi, who is director of Jintang Academy of Calligraphy and Painting, and Zhao Changqing, former Party secretary of the Chinese Calligrapher's Association, aiming to provide long-term free medical assistance to people in the Tibetan areas.

Over the past years, more than a hundred calligraphers and painters who are enthusiastic about public welfare have participated in the program. The program raised more than 3 million yuan ($43,5000) for surgery expenses of more than 3,000 Tibetan cataract patients.

The program has grown substantially in the past years, from originally a dozen participating calligraphers and painters to several hundred.

With the continuous extension of the program, a number of charitable projects have been added, such as prevention and treatment of hydatid disease and donation of Tibetan cotton-padded robes for primary and secondary school students in Tibet.