A translation of a visual metaphor from the life of the Buddha to the visual language of Western Tibet
Re-encountering the oldest originally preserved Tibetan monastery
of the Indo-Asian Journal
Trip
2023
What are the activities of the Society for Indo-Asian Art Berlin (GIAK) ?
The Society for Indo-Asian Art Berlin was founded on 24 April 1993 as a non-profit organisation.
The Society aims to disseminate, deepen and promote the knowledge and understanding of Indian art, which, according to scholarly opinion, also includes the art of South-East and Central Asia. It is therefore here after referred to as Indo-Asian art.
In particular, the GIAK supports the collection of South, South-East and Central Asian art at the Museum of Asian Art, which was founded on 4 December 2006. The museum combines the former Museum of Indian Art and the Museum of East Asian Art and is one of the Berlin State Museums…
The indo-asian journal
The Indo-Asian Journal (IAZ) is an art historical journal with scholarly contributions in German and English. It is edited by the Society for Indo-Asian Art Berlin. Since 2018 the IAZ is published by
EB-Verlag Berlin, Verlag für Wissenschaft und Praxis On the following pages you will find information on the authors of the journals, the style sheet for authors, the tables of contents of the individual issues of the IAZ and how to order the journal.
Events GIAK 2024
The Jour Fixe is a monthly lecture series for members of the Society for Indo-Asian Art Berlin, which takes place every last Thursday at 6 pm.
If you are interested, please contact us by e-mail: E-mail to GIAK .
Why Kantaka? A translation of a visual metaphor from the life of the Buddha to the visual language of Western Tibet
Meeting point: Museum in Dahlem / Small lecture hall at Takustraße 40 At the beginning of the establishment of Buddhism in Tibet, Buddhist scholars were naturally faced with the task of translating the texts from Sanskrit into a completely foreign language. In the 8th century, Samye, the first monastery in Tibet, became not only a religious centre, but above all a translation workshop where Indian and Tibetan scholars worked together on the meaningful and - where possible - phonetically appropriate translation. This was repeated 200 years later during the second dissemination of the Buddha's teachings in Tholing, western Tibet. Tibetan studies which are primarily centred on philology, have devoted a great deal of attention to this topic. But what about the visual language? Ideally, images work without words and across linguistic boundaries. This lecture is dedicated to the fact that this is not always the case. In this case study a visual metaphor was adopted but obviously didn't work and had to be adapted. Or rather: a new metaphor was created. It is an episode in the narrative picture cycle about the life of the Buddha, preserved in the Kawaling Stupa of Nyoma in Upper Ladakh. The episode shows the drowning of Kanthaka, the Buddha‘s horse. Why Kanthaka's seemingly tragic death was included in the narrative and what this also says about the Buddhists' understanding of space in western Tibet will be the topic of the evening.
Hidden Sensuality in the Buddhist Wall Paintings of Ajanta
Meeting point: Museum in Dahlem / Small lecture hall at Takustraße 40 The Ajanta caves in India are a fascinating testament to Buddhist art, impressing with their rich variety of wall paintings. Particularly noteworthy are the sensual depictions that appear in these artworks, both in narrative scenes and ornamental compositions. These portrayals show women in various everyday moments or in intimate, sensual poses together with male figures as couples. The lecture highlights the specific features of these sensual depictions and explores the question of why such images are found in a Buddhist monastery. Special attention is given to the iconographic and cultural meanings underlying these depictions. Mercedes Tortorici studied art history in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She then completed a Master’s degree in Indology at LMU Munich. Her Master’s thesis focused on the visual language in the Ajanta paintings. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Leipzig under the supervision of Monika Zin on the topic of ``The Image of Women in the Ajanta Paintings of India,`` with a focus on the role of women in ancient India.
TABO - BACK INTO THE LIGHT: Re-encountering the oldest originally preserved Tibetan monastery
Meeting point: Sound Workshop of the Humboldt Forum (Entrance via Schlüterhof), Schloßplatz, 10178 Berlin Founded in 996 CE, the Tabo Buddhist monastery in the barren Himalayan mountain desert of Spiti, formerly western Tibet and now part of India, is the oldest temple complex in the entire Tibetan cultural area that has survived largely unchanged in its original state. Simple mud temples built at ground level were the meeting place for saints and scholars during the so-called ``Second Dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet`` in the eleventh century. The main temple of Tabo, the ``Palace of Excellent Teachings``, dates from this ``golden period``. In its interior it houses an extraordinary masterpiece of Indo-Tibetan art: an arrangement of thirty-three sculptures and hundreds of paintings created by Indian artists in collaboration with Western Tibetan workshops in an unrivalled fine style forms a unique horizontal mandala, which is still understood today as a means of attaining highest enlightenment. In addition, Tabo's seven temples offer the rare opportunity to experience and study the full range of Tibetan art forms and styles – unique masterpieces, especially from the second period of Western Tibetan art (15th/16th century), but also from later periods, have been preserved. For more than 30 years, Frankfurt-based researcher, author, photographer and exhibition curator Peter van Ham has been exploring Tabo, normally off-limits to cameras, by special permission. He recently returned to document the temples in the world's highest digital resolution. The resulting photographic treasures have just been published by the renowned Hirmer Verlag under the title ``TABO. Gods of Light: The Indo-Tibetan Masterpiece –REVISITED`` as a textually and visually revised, expanded and updated new edition of his book published in 2014. In his 75-minute lecture, Peter van Ham introduces the audience to the unique art that the temples of Tabo still preserve today.Become a member
As a member of the Society, you support Indo-Asian art and enjoy a number of privileges.
Lectures by eminent scholars and curators, followed by discussions, are regularly organised. Interdisciplinary events are held in collaboration with universities, museums, institutes, learned societies and associations.
Guided tours of the South, South-East and Central Asian art collections open up new perspectives on works of art in discussions with art historians, archaeologists and conservators.
Contact form
Gesellschaft für indo-asiatische Kunst Berlin e.V
c/o Museum für Asiatische Kunst
Kunstsammlung Süd-, Südost- und Zentralasien
Phone.: +49/ (0)30 8301 375
Fax: +49/ (0)30 8301 502
