Across painting, photography, sculpture, and video installation, Rigdol traces what it means to be Tibetan in the 21st century -- the resilience of a culture, the weight of occupation, and the voices that continue to demand justice, freedom, and the preservation of cultural heritage. The exhibition challenges narratives that often overlook Tibet and amplifies a people whose identity has been steadily eroded under Chinese rule. As the title suggests, it is also a work of insistence: that visibility itself is an act of resistance.

Born in Kathmandu in 1982 and now based in New York, Rigdol is one of the most internationally recognized contemporary Tibetan artists working today. His pieces are held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Colorado in 2022.

He first drew global attention in 2011 with Our Land, Our People, a quiet act of defiance in which he secretly transported 20,000 kilograms of Tibetan soil into exile in Dharamshala, so that displaced Tibetans could once again stand on the earth of their homeland. That same logic runs through his practice: preserving cultural memory while advocating for political transformation.

Art in Protest and the Oslo Freedom Forum

The exhibition is part of Art in Protest, the Human Rights Foundation's program supporting dissident artists working under authoritarian rule or in exile. Through mentorship, residencies, and global exhibition platforms, the program brings the work of artists whose creativity is tied to the struggle for democracy to international audiences.

Each year, that work culminates in Oslo with the Oslo Freedom Forum, HRF's flagship gathering for human rights defenders, dissidents, technologists, and thinkers from around the world. The 2026 edition — the 18th — takes place June 1–3 at Konserthuset, just a short walk from Via Vika.

A second year of partnership

This is the second consecutive year that Atelie hosts HRF's Art in Protest exhibition during the Forum. Last year's group show, The Guilty Will Kneel, brought together seven dissident artists from across the Asia-Pacific, including Burma, China, Hong Kong, and Tibet, with Rigdol among them. This year's solo presentation deepens that relationship and turns the full attention of the space toward a single, sustained body of work.

For us at Atelie, partnerships like this are at the heart of what Via Vika is meant to be: a space where contemporary art meets the ideas, movements, and conversations shaping the world beyond the gallery walls.

Let There Be Light Tenzing Rigdol On view through June 3, 2026 Atelie, vis-a-vis Ruseløkkveien 26 (Via Vika), Oslo Weekdays 12:00–16:00. Free entry