The Dragon’s Gift
via flickr.com
For our Bhutan exhibition — which, btw, is chockful of stunning eyecandy — we have two visiting monks from Bhutan (super sweet fellows) who protect the sacred art by praying for it, twice daily. There’s also a colorful altar to which they contribute offerings (photo shown). All the art in the show is religious and still in active use in temples and monasteries. It took years working with the Bhutanese government to allow these precious artworks to go abroad. They’ve never left the country, let alone their homes. So yeah, it’s a big deal.
Here’s a snapshot of one of the offerings made by the monks. Traditionally made from flour and (yak) butter, these are created from sculpey.
I really really love the one on the right because it’s so Woodring! Am I right? It feels so familiar.
A word on Himalayan Buddhist art in general — not only is it beautiful, meticulous, and painstakingly detailed, it appeals to my morbid sensibilities because of the sometimes gory motifs: severed heads, human skins, flames of wrath, evisceration, etc — all for enlightenment purposes.
Try to see this show if you can. And if you do, take the time to check out the facial expressions on the sculptures. I love them.
March 7th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Cool! I definitely want to check it out. How nice it must be to be surrounded by such beauty every day. Must do wonders for the psyche. I envy you!
March 9th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
@mich aw thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! you know how addicted i am to them. you should check it out, i should send you some passes? i totally take it foregranted that i am surrounded by beautiful art. i rarely take advantage of it and everytime i do it’s like, whoa, this is nice!