|
 Exhibitions
 The Asia Society Presents "Mandala: The
Architecture of Enlightenment"
In the fall of 1997, the Asia Society presented
"Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment," the
first exhibition ever devoted to the multiple manifestations
of the mandala throughout Asia. A mandala is an
ancient Hindu and Buddhist graphic symbol of the
universe a cosmic diagram that functions as a powerful
aid to meditation and concentration.
On view at the Asia Society from September 24, 1997
through January 4, 1998, this exhibition featured
more than fifty mandalas and related objects, including
sculptures and models of sacred spaces, from Tibet,Nepal,
China, Japan, Bhutan, India and Indonesia. Co-organized
by the Asia Society and Tibet House,"Mandala: The
Architecture of Enlightenment" highlighted the stunning
artistry and diversity of this ancient artform and
explored the artistic genesis and religious role
of the mandala in Buddhism.
 In
honor of the exhibition, a Kalachakra sand mandala
was constructed at the Asia Society by monks from
the Namgyal monastery, H.H. The Dalai Lama's personal
monastery, it remained on view throughout the exhibition.
Also during the run of the exhibition, a series
of public events at the Asia Society explored the
wide appeal of the mandala and its affinities with
representations of sacred space in other religions
and cultures.
The mandala is likened by some to a "floor plan
of the universe." The type most familiar in the
West is an intricately patterned painting on cloth
or paper that often takes the general form of a
circle within a square.
The word "mandala" comes from the Sanskrit verbal
root "mand" (meaning to mark off, decorate, set
off)and the Sanskrit suffix "la" (meaning circle,
essence, sacred center).
 The
mandala's symbolic power can be traced back to millennia-old
roots in Indian temple architecture,which created
sacred spaces linking the worshiper to the larger
cosmos. In these temples, time and space were represented
in a vocabulary of circles and squares. Similarly,
a mandala helps believers visualize the universe
and their place in it, often in relation to a specific
deity found in the center of the image.
The mandalas on display at the Asia Society tracked
the evolution of the symbol throughout Asia under
the influence of various religious and artistic
traditions. Some were exquisitely complex; others
quite simple.
A portable soapstone model of a stone temple found
in tenth-century India is one kind of mandala; another
is the Tibetan assemblage of miniature bronze deities
that resembles a sacred chess set.
 A
15th-century silk scroll from Japan might be mistaken
for an elegant nature-study of a lone deer except
for the cloud-borne gathering of deities just below
the mandala moon.
More contemporary mandalas made from thread and
sand offered proof of the continuing vitality of
the mandala and its role in Buddhist devotions. |
Co-curators
of Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment
are Robert A. F. Thurman, Professor of Religions
at Columbia University, and Denise Patry Leidy,
Associate Curator/Administrator, Department of Asian
Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Mandala:
The Architecture of Enlightenment and related
programs are co-organized by the Asia Society and
Tibet House and funded in part by the National Endowment
for the Arts, The Henry Luce Foundation, Michael
Marsh, Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke
Foundation, The Woodcock Foundation, Ellen Bayard
Weedon Foundation and Frank and Lisina Hoch. Support
for the Asia Society Galleries exhibitions and education
programs has been provided by the Friends of Asian
Arts, The Starr Foundation, The Armand G. Erpf Fund,
and the Arthur Ross Foundation.
A fully-illustrated
catalogue
with essays by the co-curators accompanies the exhibition.
|
|
| Rockefeller Collection |
 |
 |
| Access a database of masterworks from South, Southeast, and
East Asia, dating from 2000 BC to the 19th century |
|
|
|
