Painters of ancient Tibetan art Thangka striking rich: Report

Ancient Tibetan art of Thangka paintings is fetching millions of dollars for artists in four villages in China's Tibet region as buyers flock to them offering heavy prices, official media here reported.
Four villages- Senggeshong, Nyanthok, Gomargar and Karsari -- are the birthplace of the Regong branch of thangka art, one of the most popular.
Thangka is a traditional style of Tibetan Buddhist scroll painting.
Luxury cars are common on the street of Tongren, which is administered by Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
Brand new houses and abundant luxury vehicles are the purchases of choice for the nouveau-riche in the once quiet Tibetan villages, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"The four villages have some of the country's finest thangka artists, with some paintings fetching extremely high prices. A single large painting by a thangka master can go for 30 million yuan (USD 4.6 million) at auction," said Ruan Yuancheng, an official with Regong culture environment protection area, which manages the preservation of thangka art and culture said.

The four villages are home to about 20,000 people, 98 per cent of them are involved in thangka art one way or the other.
Production value hit 210 million yuan (USD 35 million) last year.
Thangka is seen as a solution to poverty in many impoverished communities, Tenzin, a prefecture official said.

Now many families earn 10,000 yuan (USD 1,650) annual, and Thangka art firms can make 2 million yuan profit every year.
Ma Rui, 28, has spent the last five years learning thangka and one scroll, which takes her three months to complete, can sell for 20,000 yuan.
"Most of apprentices, like me, come from poor families, and thangkas give us a career," Ma Rui said.
Thangka, which has a history of about 1,300 years, was once passed down only in the male lineage of the Buddhists, but over the years, such restrictions were relaxed.
According to Huangnan prefecture commerce statistics, thangka art industry employees have grown by 14 per cent every year in the last three years, and output has increased by 20 per cent every year.

Listed as a national heritage in 2006, Regong thangka art has received state funding and support ever since.
In 2008, Huangnan Prefecture, which administers Tongren, was included in a cultural environment protection programme, bringing further funds.
In the four villages, farmers and herdsmen are given free thangka art instruction, and thangka masters get subsidies for organising training, the report said.