Transforming the Transmitted: Art of the Trans-Himalayas

Adapting the rich visual language of major South Asian religions—particularly Buddhism and Hinduism—into the environment of the Himalayan Mountains and Tibetan Plateau reveals both subtle and obvious distinctions. What parts of the visual and religious vocabulary remain relatively unchanged? What parts differ? Newark Museum’s Curator of the Arts of Asia, Katherine Anne Paul, brings to light specific constants related to the importance of jewelry, costume, hairstyles, postures, gestures, and sacred settings throughout time and space. She will also point out specific substitutions for elements that necessarily differed from region to region, as some things that are available in one area are unavailable in others.
This richly illustrated keytalk is part of Exporting Enlightenment, a ten-part series over the summer that traces the spread of Buddhism and Hinduism along these cultural and trade trajectories. For the full series that accompanies the exhibition From India East see www.rmanyc.org/exportingenlightenment

About the Speaker

Katherine Anne Paul is the Curator of the Arts of Asia at the Newark Museum in New Jersey, where she recently reinstalled the renowned Tibetan collections and Tibetan Altar. She was formerly the Associate Curator of Indian and Himalayan Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where she collaborated on the conservation and reconstruction of a newly acquired Tibetan domestic altar.