“The funding … is important because the US is among the countries known to have received looted Khmer antiquities in recent years,” reports The Art Newspaper (HT: ARTINFO).
The Republican running on an “anti-Sharia” platform tells FrontPage:
Our education system is bankrupt at all levels. Our universities do not prepare our young minds to see anything bad about Islam. Here in Nashville at Vanderbilt University you can get a degree in Islamic Studies and never read the life of Mohammed—and never read the entire Koran. You study Sufi poetry, Islamic art and Islamic history viewed as a glorious triumph. No kafirs suffer in this program and there is no history of Jew, Christian, Hindu or Buddhist suffering under Islamic rule for the past 1,400 years. A graduate from this program then goes out into the world professionally trained to be an apologist for Islam, a dhimmi. And this program is standard at all schools, not just Vanderbilt.
K. R. H. Dharmodipuro secretly sold six ninth-century Hindu statues and replaced them with fakes.
The National Palace Museum’s (Taipei, Taiwan) dilemma, along with not being able to afford Hindu art.
My column “Gods and Idols,” a review of “Idol Anxiety” at the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art through November 2, appears in the National Catholic Reporter (online here).
Here’s a selection:
Idolatry is a dirty word in academic and artistic circles, where it is viewed as a term imposed on objects that cannot resist the pigeonholing. One person’s idol is by definition another’s god. The Smart Museum’s show “Idol Anxiety” at the University of Chicago explores this complicated relationship between worshiped objects, the artisans who create them and the audiences who experience them.
Sree posts on SAJAforum about TIME’s White House Photo of the Day of the contents of Obama’s pockets and “the things he carries around for good luck,” like “a bracelet belonging to a soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler’s lucky chit, a tiny monkey god and a tiny Madonna and child.” Writes Sree:
That “tiny monkey god,” of course, appears to be a statue of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman. I wish the photographer and editors had bothered to be as specific with the Hindu reference as they were with the Christian one. John McCain, as you will see below, doesn’t have as many lucky charms.
A witty commenter added, “he walks around with all that crap in his pocket? rather telling …. obviously there’s no room for ‘change.’”
Rev. Ken Yamada is a minister at Berkeley Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple in Berkeley, Calif. He began with the following caveat: “As a Buddhist minister, I’m not an expert on art, but I do have a personal interest in Buddhist art and I sometimes refer to art as a means to teach Buddhism, which is the whole point of ‘Buddhist art.’ So that is my humble perspective in trying to provide feedback to your questions.”
MW: To what extent, if at all, is creating art a religious experience in Buddhism, as opposed to simply an act of creating works that then take on religious significance?
RKY: Both approaches represent two sides of the same coin. Artists create work meant to take on religious meaning. And the creation of art is also meant to be a religious experience.
For example, an artist skilled in his craft, may carve a statute or paint a picture meant to depict a Buddha or a scene of a story in a sutra, which are then seen by others for their religious meaning.
For those people who see the art only in terms of a beautiful object (such as viewers at a museum), the artwork is not really “Buddhist” in my opinion.
The creation process ideally also is a religious experience. When a carver works on a statue, one form of practice is to perform a simple chant, such as “Nam Am Da Bu” while carving, over and over. This practice cultivates a calm, clear mind of appreciation. Consequently from this mind, a peaceful-looking Buddha emerges from the block of wood. The mind of the carver is just as important as skill in creating a statue of the Buddha.
MW: Is there a such thing as Buddhist art per se? If so, what does it entail? Are there any subjects that are off limits to Buddhist artists?
RKY: Traditionally, Buddhist art are representations of the symbols and images found in the sutras, which are the scriptures based on the historic Buddha’s sermons. For example, they will be different Buddhas, specific symbols such as lotus blossoms (which represents “wisdom”), or devil-like images (which represent anger and ignorance).
However, Buddhism is very liberal in the sense that anything can be a teaching (Dharma) to us. Therefore, nothing is really off limits in terms of what subject or image form the basis of the art, as long as it expresses Truth as taught by the Buddha, such as “interdependence” or “nirvana” or “impermanence,” etc. Sometimes these teachings are deeply buried in the symbolism expressed by the art, so artwork must be studied, analyzed and meditated upon before these truths are realized by the viewer. This process too, of using art to move a person to think about life in a deep and profound way, is another means by which art serves its religious purpose. Mandalas are an obvious example of this process, as they are meant to be stared at and reflected upon continuously.
Continue reading ‘Interview: Rev. Ken Yamada’
Image: “Photo: Savi Sawarkar painting– Ambedkarite Monk.” From Vidya Bhushan Rawat’s article.
Continue reading ‘Gardner Museum, Nidhi Tulli, Archie Rand, Qatar’
Continue reading ‘Afghani Remnants, 2 Kitaj Shows, Aesthetic Peace Plan for the Middle East’
(Right) “Japanese monks and nuns held a fashion show - with rap music and a catwalk - at a major Tokyo temple Saturday to promote Buddhism.” The “Tokyo Bouz (monk) Collection” of about 40 monks and nuns from eight major Buddhist sects “aimed at winning back believers.” CNN, photo: AP.
Here are some pictures I took at the Baha’i Temple in Chicago a few weeks ago. I was particularly interested in how the Baha’i principle of “the oneness of humankind” (based upon teachings of Baha’u'llah) play out in Baha’i art. Note in the column below how the Jewish star, the cross, the Hindu swastika, and the Muslim crescent all coexist.
The temple (the only one in North America) has nine sides attached to the dome. It was designed by Baha’i architect Jean-Baptiste Louis Bourgeois (1856-1930), not to be confused with Louise Bourgeois.
I wonder how, if at all, the Baha’i faith conceives of idolatry. One might think Judaism and Islam wouldn’t consider the Baha’i idolatrous, since the Baha’i view God as unknowable. Idolatry necessitates a God with a visible, physical form.
Yet, the Baha’i, who find aspects of truth in all religions and recognize a diverse bunch of prophets — including Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad — must then find truth even in polytheistic religions. Can one remain a monotheist and still find truth in polytheism? It sounds theoretically plausible, but one wonders how that could play out practically.
These are of course simplistic questions that require further study. If this is an area in which you are knowledgeable, please leave comments and/or recommendations of informative texts.
Continue reading ‘Cincinnati Art Museum Cancels Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic Exhibit’
Numerous government sites warn that Israeli passport holders and travelers whose passports bear Israeli stamps will be denied entry visas to the Emirates. Thus, the Guggenheim — founded by a Jewish family, an institution with Jewish curators and scores of works by Jewish artists, designed by the Jewish Gehry — isn’t really welcome either … As of July 2006, it was reported that no nudes were to be shown, nor anything deemed “controversial.”
Continue reading ‘Arts Roundup: A Sexual Jesus and Bubbe the Muse’