The Dragon Whisperer

At the beginning of February, the blue hare in our shop window gave way to a golden-yellow dragon. A fire-breathing, cloud-swirled Himalayan thunder druk with jewel-clutching claws. It was drawn by Jamyang. During his lunch break. On a napkin.

For a few years now, we have been decorating the shop window on Kirchgasse with traditional Tibetan motifs. In 2022 it was the four harmonious friends. In 2023 came the zodiac sign of the year, a blue water hare. And we had known for a long time that 2024 would be the year of the Wood Dragon, and therefore a job for Jamyang.

Jamyang is a good friend of the family. He grew up in Tibet, where from the age of twelve a lama introduced him to traditional thangka painting in a monastery. These Tibetan scroll paintings are made according to strict ritual rules, following the complex requirements of centuries-old Buddhist iconography and iconometry. Every detail is prescribed. Often several artists work on a single piece. They remain anonymous: the aim is not worldly fame but good karma, which according to Buddhist teaching can be positively influenced by successful depictions of the Buddha nature.

By profession, Jamyang is a sushi chef in a Zurich restaurant. Since he has been living in Switzerland, art has become more of a hobby and thangka painting a sideline. He likes to experiment with different genres and for some time has also been creating great tattoos.

For various reasons, Jamyang received the dragon commission at rather short notice. A sketch was made and approved, but when the deadline for the printer came, things had to move quickly.

In the end, Jamyang drew the dragon at lunchtime in the restaurant, from memory, with a ballpoint pen on a napkin. A small thing for him. We, on the other hand, marvelled at the flawless perfection and wealth of detail of this casually sketched work, which will now accompany us on the window through the Tibetan year 2151.

By the way, we will be raffling off the original napkin among our newsletter subscribers in the coming weeks.