Popular Swiss Cartoon Globi Visits Tibet in His Latest Adventure “Globi with the Yaks”
Representative Thinlay Chukki praises the book’s publishers and authors during the lunchtime event.
Geneva: The popular Swiss cartoon character Globi visits Tibet in the latest edition of the book titled Globi with the Yaks, which was officially launched on March 9, 2023 at the Reitberg Museum in Zurich.
The opening event was attended by representative Thinlay Chukki from the Geneva Tibet Bureau, President of the Swiss-Tibetan Friendship Society Thomas Buchli, Gisela Klinkenberg from Globi Verlag, authors Dani Frick and Boni Koller.
A popular character in German-speaking Switzerland, Globi was created by Swiss cartoonist Robert Lips for an advertisement in 1932 and later appeared in 1935 in the form of an animated picture book entitled Globi’s World Voyage. Since then, Globi has made various adventurous trips around the world and in the previous editions he met several celebrities including Roger Federer. The Globi, with over 9 million books sold, belongs to Orell Füssli Verlag.
In the latest installment, Globi embarks on an arduous journey through the Himalayas and Tibet in search of a medicinal herb to cure a sick baby yak named “Tashi” whom he met in the Swiss Alps. With a new found Tibetan friend Tenzin and Lhasa Apso Tibi, Globi embarks on this adventurous journey where he meets Snow Lions, Garuda and Yeti. Eventually, at Tenzin’s request, Globi even visits Dharamshala and meets His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The book has beautiful illustrations of snowy mountains of Tibet, monks and monasteries, mandalas and prayer flags.
At the book launch, Thomas Buchli thanked the Globi publishers, authors and members of the Swiss Tibetan Friendship Association for making his dream of bringing Globi to Tibet a reality. He hoped the book would be translated into Tibetan by the Education Department of the Tibetan Central Government.
Representative Thinlay Chukki commended the concerted efforts and dedication of Thomas Buchli and his team of members of the Swiss-Tibetan Friendship Association for over two years and thanked the editors and authors of the book. The representative quoted His Holiness the Dalai Lama that vast amounts of resources are spent in this world to develop the mind while it is more important to develop the heart, noting: “’Globi with the yaks’ represents the meaning of compassion, kindness, peace and love and friendship in these difficult times. We hope that through this book the Swiss children will get to know the Tibetan culture, values and way of life. Hopefully this book will pave the way to reviving and remembering, especially among young people, the beautiful friendship between Swiss and Tibetans that dates back to the 1960s when Switzerland welcomed Tibetan refugees with open arms into their homes and hearts.” Representative assured her full support for the proposal request to translate Globi book into Tibetan language, noting: “When Swiss children learn about Tibetan culture and traditions; Tibetan children also get to know Switzerland and Globi.”
-Report submitted by Tibet Bureau Geneva
