(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Nationality: (noun) the status of belonging to a particular nation whether by birth or naturalisation.
Nation: (noun) a large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, religion or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.

2009 marks fifty years of peaceful resistance in Tibet to the invasion of Chinese occupation. “The Roof of the World,” a land of unique culture, history and identity has been dramatically violated. Over a million lives have been lost, 6000 Buddhist monasteries, nunneries and temples destroyed and thousands imprisoned and tortured. Tibetans, fast becoming a minority in their own country, are not free to practice their traditional way of life, culture, religion and language as they wish. Yearly thousands flee over the Himalayas into a world of exile as refugees. Many in Nepal and India live in a state of legal limbo: often not recognised as refugees or given any definable legal status as national citizens, they remain stateless.
      My brooch is born out of my experience of meeting Tibetan Refugees in India. I found them gentle and graceful, spiritually rich yet materialistically poor. Desperately trying to conserve a sense of national identity they embodied a sense of dignity in a world that fails to recognise the existence of their nation nor their right under international law to seek a more secure legal status. A situation many, along with myself, pray will change.
      The brooch encompasses original Tibetan coins and banknotes. Symbolic of a lost Tibet they have now been replaced by the Chinese currency Renminbi.
      Turquoise and coral stones are also included. These are valued in Tibetan medicine for their healing properties. Traditionally turquoise, worn as an amulet, is considered by Tibetans to give protection when dreaming and coral is believed to warn off negativity.