Experience the Rubin Museum Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room at the Brooklyn Museum

Called the “heart of the Rubin” by many, the Rubin Museum Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, was a long-standing installation at the Rubin Museum’s former galleries in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. On June 11, the beloved space opened once again within the Brooklyn Museum’s Arts of Asia galleries on the second floor, where it will be on loan for six years as part of a dynamic partnership between the two institutions. 

Featuring flickering butter lamps, recordings of Tibetan monks and nuns chanting prayers, and the subtle scent of unlit incense, the Shrine Room recreates what would be an elaborate private household shrine with more than 100 works of art and rituals objects, mainly from the Rubin Museum’s collection, arranged according to their use in Tibetan Buddhist practices. The immersive installation offers visitors a chance to experience the display with all of their senses and to learn about Tibetan religious art in its cultural context. 

The Shrine Room opening day also marked Saga Dawa Düchen, the holiest day of the year for Tibetan Buddhists, which commemorates the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing into parinirvana. 

The Rubin Museum Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room is accessible with pay-what-you-can general admission tickets to the Brooklyn Museum, available at their admissions desk. 

Learn more in the press release