Celebrities from local indie music circles Monday joined the "T for Tibet" campaign to show their support for freeing Tibet, making Taiwan the first Asian country to take part in the international movement."T for Tibet" is a campaign organized by Free Tibet which features well-known people making a "T" shape with their hands to show their support for Tibet. Celebrities from western countries including Jeremy Irons, Joanna Lumley, Tsultrim Machu and others, have all posed for Clive Arrowsmith, the well-known fashion photographer for the campaign, since the campaign was launched last year.
"Our support for 'T for Tibet' is not just about showing support for the Tibetan people. We are firm believers in universal values such as freedom and human rights, and that's why we joined the campaign," said Freddy Lim, vocalist for the black metal band Chthonic.
The band has been building momentum internationally for more than a decade. Lim said at Monday's press conference that as more and more young people across the globe are showing their support for Free Tibet, and using diverse, creative approaches to make their voices heard, the Tibet and Tibetan issues and images are becoming more vibrantly colored.
The civic group "Guts United, Taiwan" invited Arrowsmith to come to Taiwan on May 1 for three days to shoot Taiwan's participants for the campaign. Music groups including Chthonic, folk singer Panai, rocker LTK commune, Fire Extinguisher, Aphasia, singer-actress Enno Cheng, director Cheng Wen-tang, Wu Mi-sen, writer Wu Yin-ning, and editor-in-chief of SET News Chen Ya-ling all flashed the "T" in front of Arrowsmith's camera in Taipei.
"Guts United, Taiwan" will rent a large signboard in Taipei's Xinyi District to flash Taiwan's "T for Tibet" images for a month starting in June. There will also be a music concert dedicated to Free Tibet on July 11 in Taipei to raise awareness of human rights and the issue of the Tibetan people's freedom.