Exhibition on the sacred art of Tibet
By A.C. McKay
The majority of the pieces on display were part of the exhibition of the same name
previously shown in San Francisco, New York, and London, to great critical and public
acclaim. The Bonn exhibition includes 106 of the exhibits from the previous exhibitions and
adds 81 new items. The collection brings together outstanding works of Tibetan art from
public and private collections worldwide, including a number from the State Hermitage
Museum in St. Petersburg. All forms of representation are included here, from the
characteristic tangkas, paintings or tapestries on cloth treated with glue, to metal, wood, and
stone sculptures.
Although secular art has emerged from Tibet since the Chinese take-over, Tibetan arty was
traditionally confined to religious themes, and served a religious rather than a purely
decorative function. Iconographic representations of tantric deities were used as aids to the
visualization of the deity during meditational practices, and the commissioning of sacred
representations was considered to bring religious merit, which acted as a stimulus to artistic
patronage.
Tibetan artists generally worked within established conventions, which submerged the
individual personality of the artists in their work; very few works contain clear indications
of the artist who created them. Yet, despite the strict conventions which existed, the best
examples of Tibetan art display a tremendous depth of characterization and colour, and are
unequivocal indicators of the vibrancy and uniqueness of the culture which produced
them.
Tibet was open to cultural influences from its neighbours, as this exhibition demonstrates.
It includes pieces from surrounding countries which drew upon the inspiration of Tibetan
Buddhism, and there are a wide variety of Tibetan works showing Indian, Nepalese, Chinese,
and Central Asian stylistic features. Yet the particularly Tibetan character of each piece
illustrates the extent to which culture and environmental factors filtered these influences into
a clearly identifiable Tibetan style. The millennium represented also allows us to observe the
changing influences and developments both within Tibetan Buddhism itself and in artistic
technique.
The exhibition is arranged so as to present the historical progression of Buddhism. Thus we
have figures representing the historical Buddha, and his disciples, the Arhats,
followed by the Bodhisattvas from the Mahayana tradition, and the mahasiddhas of the
Vajrayana, the 'short path' which saw the unity of wisdom and compassion as the key to
enlightment.
The four main sects of Tibetan Buddhism form the focus of the second part of the exhibition,
in which leading figures from the various sects, such as the Kayupa ideal and the popular
Tibetan folk-hero, Milarepa, and the principal deities of the sects are portrayed. In the final
section we move from the historical progression to representations from beyond time, the
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who make up the vast pantheon of deities in Tibetan
Buddhism.
The exhibition is required viewing for anyone interested in the art of this unique culture, or
in the broader world of Asian art, as well as those interested in Buddhism and Tibetan
culture.
Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 4
53113 Bonn
Germany