The production of the visual images of Tibet : a semiotic and contextual study

Abstract

Tibet, in many people's minds, is perceived as mysterious, owing to the lack of previous research on the region and its remoteness. However, rapid social economic development has made it possible for increasing numbers of people to discover the mystery of Tibet. The rich natural and cultural resources of Tibet provide innate advantages for the development of Tibet's tourism industry. Thus, tourism has become a pillar industry in Tibet. The cultural industry, which is closely related to tourism, has also been developed. Under the policy support and guidance of the Chinese government, tourism and cultural industry bases of various types and sizes have been established successively in Tibet, which, in turn, promote the spread of Tibetan culture through exhibitions and mass media at home and abroad. Behind the prosperity of the tourism and cultural industries are two important issues. The first is the visual image of Tibet in the communication of tourism culture. After absorbing certain information about Tibet, anyone will form a perceived image of Tibet. This perceived image is especially important for tourism and cultural industries because it determines the development of this industry. Second, to support the development of the tourism and cultural industry in Tibet, a large number of professional visual culture creatives are needed. However, for historical and geographical reasons, the shortage of local professionals has been a great challenge to Tibet. In meeting this challenge, more and more visual cultural creatives are trying to solve the problem through cross-cultural cooperation. Therefore, it is necessary to study how creatives from non-Tibetan cultural backgrounds break through cultural barriers and quickly understand the visual culture of Tibet. Through the analysis of nearly ten thousand pictures on Tibetan tourism websites and the ethnographic investigation of a group of professional Tibetan visual culture creatives, this study found the symbolic signs, process of visual representation practice, and visuality of Tibetan visual culture. The author applied the discovered Tibetan visuality content to a design-driven Tibetan cultural innovation project to verify whether it can help non-Tibetan designers quickly master Tibetan visual culture grammar and design Tibetan cultural products that simultaneously meet market demand. This study shows that online Tibet travel pictures contain a rich denotative sign system. The symbolic signs in this system have profound Tibetan cultural connotations. In the fourth chapter of this study, the cultural connotations of the symbolic signs are explained in detail. The visual cultural image of Tibet that they embody presents the traditional and natural style of the region. The symbolic signs of Tibet culture are used by the professional cultural creatives of Tibet, who are tourism website managers, website designers, photojournalists, art editors, artists, and traditional art inheritors. They have lived in a Tibetan cultural background and are familiar with its visual cultural symbol system. By observing their practices of Tibetan visual representation, the author finds that although their creative processes and tools are different to some extent, they use regular visual grammar when involved in Tibetan cultural content. The most obvious feature is that they are open-minded when dealing with Tibetan natural subjects, agreeing to and practicing innovation in different ways. However, Tibetan religious subjects have conservative attitudes. For example, in representing the image of Buddhas and bodhisattva, they would follow the traditional measurement, shape, and colour scheme. The use and creation of religious patterns must be carried out according to Buddhist principles. Such Tibetan visual culture grammar is closely related to the birth and development of religion in Tibet. In a practical case-the Survey of National Technology Innovation Centre for Digitalization of Tibetan Culture (hereinafter referred to as the Centre)- Tibetan visual culture plays a guiding role in the selection of design subjects, innovative applications, and market positioning of design products, which reflect the professionalism of design. The advancement of design is also reflected in the connection and coordination of multi-stakeholders in the practice of cultural innovation. This practical project shows that design-driven scientific and technological innovation projects can play a positive role in the sustainable development of Tibetan culture to a certain extent. The significance of this thesis is that, from literature review to field investigation, it uses the methods of semiotics, ethnography, critical analysis, and practical research to form a systematic theoretical and practical framework of cultural innovation, which enlightens the investigation and practice of culture in other ethnic minority areas in China.