2009-03-03
International artists take part in forum on
Buddhism and the Arts at the V&A
As part of
The Many Faces of Buddhism, a season of arts and cultural events presented in London by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, artists from around the world will take part in an international forum at the V&A on
Saturday 25 April 2009.
The forum will bring together four distinguished international artists: Lin Hwai Min, choreographer and founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in Taiwan; Meredith Monk, internationally acclaimed composer, singer and choreographer of new opera; Sanford Biggers, multi-media African-American artist who fuses aspects of Buddhism with global pop culture; and Kimsooja, South Korean artist who addresses issues of the displaced self through performance, video and installation.
Each of the four panellists will explore the role of Buddhism in contemporary art, and discuss how the teachings of the Buddha have been a resource of inspiration for them in their own work. They will address questions of how spirituality and creativity inspire and inform one another as well as the potential of applying Buddhist theories to the teaching and presentation of art.
Independent scholar and Director Emeritus of the University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Jacquelynn Baas will lead an audience response and discussion session to conclude the forum.
The platform will provide a space for artists who have thought deeply about Buddhism and the art experience to express and share their views. It will also help stimulate new debate on the influences of Asian and Buddhist worldviews within the art of the modern era.
The Many Faces of Buddhism season running from 25 April to 17 May includes visual arts, dance, film, talks and coincides with the opening of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Gallery at the V&A, the first gallery for Buddhist sculpture in the UK. The new day-lit gallery will display highlights from the V&A’s world-class collection of Buddhist sculpture ranging from monumental Chinese temple sculptures to small portable gilded Buddhas and will include rare pieces which will go on display in the Museum for the first time. Around 50 sculptures created by master craftsmen between AD 200 and 1850 will go on shown in the new gallery to explore how the Buddha has been represented in Asian art. The Gallery will tell the story of the life of the Buddha and the spread of Buddhism from India to the other regions of Asia.
International Forum on Buddhism and the Arts Today
Presented by The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation
Hochhauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre
V&A Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Saturday 25 April 2009
14:00 – 17:00, following a 13:00 preview of the Gallery
Book online
www.vam.ac.uk
Press Enquiries:
Jane Quinn/Stephanie Poon, Bolton & Quinn 020 7221 5000
jq@boltonquinn.com or
stephanie@boltonquinn.com
Notes to Editors
Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation
The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation is a Hong Kong based private philanthropic organization. The Foundation has a mission to foster and support Chinese arts and culture, in particular cross-cultural understanding between China and the world. It has taken an active role in supporting arts programmes internationally since its inauguration in 2005. Among the Foundation’s recent activities have been the endowment and naming of the Centre for Buddhist Studies at Stanford University in October 2008;
The Dragon’s Gift – The Sacred Arts of Bhutan, a conservation project which includes a major touring exhibition of some of Bhutan’s most sacred Buddhist objects; and support of major exhibitions such as
Cai Guo Qiang: I Want to Believeem> at the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum New York in 2008; and
Britain Meets the World: 1714–1830 at the Palace Museum in Beijing in 2007.
www.rhfamilyfoundation.org
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