Ten Years of High Peaks Pure Earth Celebrated at Columbia University, New York

Stills from the video messages sent in by Tsering Woeser and Bhuchung D. Sonam. Watch the videos in the post below.

On April 8, 2019, an event was held at Columbia University, New York, to mark the tenth anniversary of this website High Peaks Pure Earth. We’d like to thank all those who attended and have given help, support and encouragement to us over the years.
The event kicked off with an introduction from Eveline Washul from Columbia University’s Modern Tibetan Studies Department followed by a presentation by the editor of High Peaks Pure Earth, Dechen Pemba. The presentation took the audience back to the website’s beginnings in 2008, when it was a small blog founded by Tsering Shakya and Dechen Pemba. Post highlights from over the years were presented as well as challenges to social media monitoring.

Eveline Washul from Columbia University’s Modern Tibetan Studies Department introducing the event

Editor of High Peaks Pure Earth, Dechen Pemba

Roundtable Discussion with Dechen Pemba, Editor of High Peaks Pure Earth and Columbia University PhD students and website contributors Riga Shakya and Palden Gyal

Columbia University PhD Student and Contributor to High Peaks Pure Earth

Playing the video message by Tsering Woeser

Then two video messages were played to those in attendance. Below are the video messages received from writer and poet Tsering Woeser in Beijing and poet and translator Bhuchung D. Sonam in Dharamsala.

The final part of the event saw a roundtable discussion and Q&A take place with Columbia University PhD students and High Peaks Pure Earth contributors Riga Shakya and Palden Gyal.
The event was the perfect opportunity to publicly acknowledge all those who have worked so hard to make this website what it is. From the most translated and read writer Tsering Woeser to regular translators and guest contributors Palden Gyal, Bhuchung D. Sonam, Riga Shakya, Francoise Robin and Lowell Cook, this website is a huge group effort. There are also translators and helpers who wish to remain anonymous but we are very grateful to them.
Finally, to all the readers who read, discuss and share our posts, thank you! We always learn a lot from you from our social channels on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
For those interested in watching the whole event, the livestream video is archived on Facebook here. Below is the presentation that was made by editor of High Peaks Pure Earth, Dechen Pemba.