Traveling Exhibitions
Mandala: Sacred Circle of Buddhism
Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta
January 21, 2012—April 15, 2012
All schools of Buddhism use images to teach and inspire, but Tantric Buddhism, the tradition found predominately in the Himalayas, employs the visual with an intensity that far exceeds other branches of the religion. Mandalas are one of the tradition’s most widely used visual tools and serve as a guide for complex meditation practices. These practices are meant to assist Tantric Buddhists in understanding the true nature of reality—to see the pure in what is commonly viewed as impure, realizing buddhas where before they knew only of ordinary beings.
Mandalas—whether painted on walls or cloth or fashioned out of metal, wood, or clay—present images of deities that, once consecrated, are able to stand in for the figures they represent. This allows the practitioner to properly visualize the absolute nature of buddhahood. Although mandalas have been assigned any number of definitions, from magic circles to cosmic diagrams, few of these meanings are either specific or expansive enough. This exhibition seeks to both refine and deepen our understanding of the mandala, decoding the structure, meaning, and related practices of Tantric Buddhism’s perfect circle.
About Traveling Exhibitions
Since its founding in 1999, the Rubin Museum of Art, which houses the most comprehensive museum collection of Himalayan art in the West, has been actively organizing original exhibitions, many of which have traveled throughout the United States. Most exhibitions available for travel, conceived by RMA's curators and comprising works of art drawn from RMA's renowned collection, are first presented in our landmark New York City home. Subsequently, exhibitions are available to qualifying museums for participation in tours that may include several venues.
To browse what exhibitions are readily available for travel, please see our list of Currently Available Exhibitions. For exhibitions available for advance booking, please view our list of Exhibitions Available in the Future. For more information about bringing one of these RMA exhibitions to your museum, please contact Cate Griffin, Exhibitions Coordinator, at 212.620.5000 x 308 or by email at cgriffin@rmanyc.org.
