In 2024 the Rubin and Smarthistory—the award-winning digital platform of public art history for students, professors, and learners—partnered to create Himalayan Art Up Close, an educational video series that provides an accessible introduction to the art and material culture of the Tibetan, Himalayan, and Inner Asian regions. Using objects from the Museum’s collection of Himalayan art, videos explore the living traditions and art-making practices of the greater Himalayan region from the past to today. The series features Rubin curators Karl Debreczeny and Elena Pakhoutova in dialogue with Smarthistory’s art historians Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.

Smarthistory and Rubin ParticipantsSmarthistory and Rubin Participants

Beth Harris

Dr. Beth Harris is cofounder and executive director of Smarthistory. Previously, she was dean of art and history at Khan Academy and director of digital learning at The Museum of Modern Art. Before joining MoMA, Beth was Associate Professor of art history and director of distance learning at the Fashion Institute of Technology where she taught both online and in the classroom. She has co-authored, with Dr. Steven Zucker, numerous articles on the future of education and the future of museums, and is the editor of Famine and Fashion: Needlewomen in the Nineteenth Century (2005). She received her Master’s degree from the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and her doctorate in Art History from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Steven Zucker

Dr. Steven Zucker is co-founder and executive director of Smarthistory. Previously, Steven was dean of art and history at Khan Academy. He was chair of history of art and design at Pratt Institute where he strengthened enrollment and lead renewal of curriculum across the Institute. Previously, he was dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY and chair of art history. He has taught at The School of Visual Arts, Hunter College, and at The Museum of Modern Art. Dr. Zucker is a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has co-authored, with Dr. Beth Harris, numerous articles on the future of education and the future of museums. Dr. Zucker received his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Karl Debreczeny

Karl Debreczeny is senior curator of collections and research at the Rubin Museum. His research focuses on artistic, religious, and political exchanges between the Tibetan and Chinese traditions. His publications include The Black Hat Eccentric: Artistic Visions of the Tenth Karmapa (2012) and the coedited The Tenth Karmapa and Tibet’s Turbulent Seventeenth Century (2016).

Elena Pakhoutova

Elena Pakhoutova is senior curator of Himalayan art at the Rubin Museum and holds a PhD in Asian art history from the University of Virginia. She has curated several exhibitions at the Rubin, including Death Is Not the End (2023), The Power of Intention: Reinventing the (Prayer) Wheel (2019), and The Second Buddha: Master of Time (2018).

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Himalayan Art Up Close

Watch the Himalayan Art Up Close video series.

Person looking at a computer screen and watching a Himalayan Art Up Close video about the Wheel of Life
April 10, 2024 The Rubin and Smarthistory Create Himalayan Art Up Close Video Series

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