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Dear Friends and Colleagues,
For those who have not already heard the sad news, it is with profound regret that I announce the death, on 21 January, of Andre Alexander.
Accompanying this message is a notice by Per Sørensen, with an addendum by Janet Gyatso. More extensive obituaries will be published in due course.
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday 9 February at:
Friedhof Mehringdamm 21, in the chapel opposite Finanzamt, Berlin. For directions see: http://goo.gl/Kc7hb
Andre's contribution to the documentation and conservation of traditional Tibetan architecture is inestimable.
You can also view the obituaries online at http://bit.ly/zz9ERT
Charles Ramble
≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ ≈ Dr Andre Alexander
17 January 1965 – 21 January 2012
We are all workmen: prentice, journeyman, or master, building you – you towering nave.
And sometimes there will come to us a grave wayfarer, who like a radiance thrills
the souls of all our hundred artisans, trembling as he shows us a new skill.
Rainer-Maria Rilke
Andre – A True Heritage Hero
It is with profound regret and in deepest sorrow that we announce the death of Dr Andre Alexander at the age of 47 in Berlin.
Andre had just turned 47 this very week, and was full of enthusiasm and commitment. Over 10 years ago, he co-founded the successful, widely acclaimed and much respected Tibet Heritage Fund (THF) committed to the preservation and documentation of the unique Tibetan architectural monuments and heritage. The organization has launched a large number of rehabilitation projects throughout Central Asia intended to benefit and assist the local residents.
His organization has been involved in assisting local communities in the wake of natural disasters, earthquakes (Yushu) and flashfloods (Ladakh and Sikkim), and initiated countless conservation and restoration projects of sanctuaries and monasteries in India, Tibet, China and Mongolia.This year he was also embarking on a project in Bhutan.
His enthusiasm ensured that the THF won a steadily larger number of supporters who all shared Andre's quest and vision of preserving the wonderful Tibetan architectural heritage.
A number of still unpublished books now await publication. A large study on vernacular housing and architecture in Lhasa (originally submitted as doctoral thesis in Berlin), the second volume of the Tibet Heritage Fund's conservation inventory is due to appear in 2012 with Serindia Publications and another large study on Tibetan imperial architecture was under way. We hope that this work too will soon be completed.
Andre was a passionate and colourful person, totally committed to his vision of documenting and preserving, against all odds, the unique Tibetan architecture.
He and his most dedicated friends at THF received numerous awards for their commitment: they twice received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards and the Global Vision Award for a number of their cultural heritage projects, and they were featured on BBC's series on Heritage Heroes 2011.
Andre – You will be sorely missed. RIP.
Per Sørensen
Andre Alexander also led the Tibet Heritage Fund in heroic and inspired efforts to protect and restore the massively important old quarter in the Tibetan capital at Lhasa, especially around the Barkor. During his years working in Lhasa he was able to secure permission and mobilize the resources to tear up (and then replace) the main circumambulatory street in the Barkor and lay down sewage and plumbing pipes, in order to improve the sanitation and living conditions for the people who are still occupying many of the old houses in this quarter. He also led efforts to restore many historically significant buildings in the area using a combination of traditional materials and techniques with modern ecologically-sound methods. This included extended initiatives to work with traditional Tibetan builders, painters and carpenters whom Alexander identified and brought to Lhasa to work with him, many of them in their 70s and 80s. Among the temples and old governmental buildings from the Ganden Phodrang period that he worked on with his team and restored is the magnificent Meru Nyingpa temple behind the Jokhang.
Janet Gyatso
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