Aerial view of Asia Society Hong Kong, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

BLOUIN ART, INTERNATIONAL EDITION
January 25, 2012

by Janelle Zara
New York-based Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects are slated to open a project next month that’s spent ten years in the pipeline: The Asia Society Hong Kong, the first American museum satellite ever to open in China.

“It’s a major new building initiative that allows us to extend our reach into Asia with a physical complex,” Asia Society director Melissa Chiu told ARTINFO. “We all know that Asia is growing in political and economic importance, and so by opening a building in Hong Kong it’s a major architectural statement about Hong Kong’s past and future. We’re also able to make a statement about the growing connections between the U.S. and Asia.”

The architecture firm’s designs for the first official home of the Asia Society Hong Kong, founded in 1990 by local community leaders, transformed a campus of four heritage buildings dating back to Hong Kong’s English period. Built by the British army in the mid-19th century, the buildings were used as explosives magazines to process and package gunpowder. After being turned over to the Navy and subsequently to the British government for storage use, they were left vacant in the 1980s. As some of the few remaining traces of England’s presence in the city, they hold an importance place in its cultural history.

In this $49.5 million project, the architects restored and re-adapted the four buildings and added a fifth, taking into consideration its surroundings. Contrary to the Hong Kong’s numerous, tightly-packed skyscrapers, the complex sets itself apart by emphasizing its horizontal space, at its highest rising only two and a half stories. Resonating with the Society’s goal of bridging together the old and the new, and East and the West, the architects also built a double-decker footbridge connecting the new building with the heritage building. The magazines have been converted into an exhibition space, a theater, lecture halls, and a gallery, and the new building features a store, café, rooftop garden, and permanent exhibition illustrating the facility’s transformation.

Following the vision of John D. Rockefeller, who found the Asia Society in 1956 to promote the understanding of Asian culture, the 11th (and first overseas) location’s will feature inaugural exhibition, “Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art” showcases 6th-century relics from Rockefeller’s collection of Asian art together with work by contemporary Asian and Asian American artists like Michael Joo, Mariko Mori, and Zhang Huan. This will be the first time most of the works will be shown in Hong Kong.

“Transforming Minds: Buddhism in Art” will run from February 10 to May 20 at the Asia Society Hong Kong.

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“Kusa – Paba” a movie based on a buddhist theme is on show from today (26) onwards at EAP cinemas.

The movie unfolds a story of one of Prince Siddhartha’s previous births, one in which he was born with a disfigured face and had to woo the most beautiful princess in the land. Renowned art personality Prof. Sunil Ariyaratne brings the story to the wide screen. The script which is penned by Dr. Tissa Abeysekara is believed to be the last film script he had worked on before passing away.
The Kusa Jathaka is the 523th Jathaka story in the 550 Jathaka book. Indian folktales came to Sri Lankan with Arahant Mahinda Thera’s visit.

Versatile artiste Jackson Anthony will be portraying King Kusa’s role.Pooja Umarshanker plays the role of Paba in the movie. The locations are in Ranminithanna Tele Cinema Village. Kusa Paba is the first Sri Lankan film made in Ranminithanna.

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Wednesday, February 01, 7:30 pm, Reception Hall
Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University 

Sara McClintock, Assistant Professor of Religion at Emory University, gives a lecture titled Transforming the Five Root Afflictions into the Five Wisdom Buddhas: The Mandala of the Five Buddha Families in Tibetan Buddhism.

Tibetan Buddhism aims at a radical transformation of persons through the transmutation of afflicted bodies and minds into enlightened ones. The five root afflictions that affect all beings in various proportions are ignorance, hatred, craving, greed, and envy. When the energy of these afflictions is purified, the result is a particular kind of embodied enlightened wisdom. This talk explains the symbolism of the five wisdom Buddhas, and asks us to reflect on our own root afflictions with a view toward their eventual transformation.

Horse sculpture by Deborah Butterfield.

Helen Independent Record
Thursday, January 19, 2012 12:00 am | (0) Comments

Valerie Hellermann’s “Invite Your Demons to Tea” will be on exhibit Jan. 20-Feb. 26 in the Holter’s Nicholson Artworks Gallery.

Hellermann’s work is inspired by Tibetan Buddhist monk Patrul Rinpoche who once said “from time to time invite your demons to tea.” The idea of a safe and comfortable space to meet and disempower your demons intrigues the Helena artist. Hellermann’s porcelain sculptures are inspired by the sacred Cham dances of Tibet performed by Buddhist monks.

She explains that “in my studio, I drink tea, listen to Buddhist teachings, and invite demons to take form through clay. My hope is they will bring strength and courage to the viewer.”

For Hellermann, making art has been a lifelong passion. She took her first ceramic class at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts after moving from Westchester County, N.Y. According to her, “from day one the feel of clay in my hands and the instinctive shaping of mud into form was a new found passion.”

At the Bray she had the opportunity to attend workshops taught by many clay legends. In 2002 she undertook a 15-week residency in China at the Sanbao International Clay Institute in Jingdezhen, where she learned about the techniques of porcelain while immersed in this ancient culture.

Her artwork reflects her world travel experiences, Buddhism, and her work on issues of peace and social justice. She works as the project manager for the Tibetan Children’s Education Foundation. This work is her passion and inspiration.

Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Sunday noon to 4 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. Visit www.holtermuseum.org or call 442-6400.

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Bangalore: A 30-ft Buddhist stupa made of 400,000 flowers, including 150,000 roses, to convey the message of peace will be the star attraction at the Bangalore flower show beginning on Friday as part of Republic Day celebrations. In front of the floral 34-ft radius stupa built at the Glass House in the famed Lalbagh will stand a statue of Buddha decorated with 75,000 roses and other flowers.

For the first time, a group of florists from the Netherlands will showcase arrangement of flowers from their country at the Glass House, according to P. Hemalatha, director of horticulture department that manages the Lalbagh.

A team from Udhagamandalam (formerly Ooty) in neighbouring Tamil Nadu has created a floral replica of a waterfall where thousands of flowers appear to fall from a height of 10 ft.

Other attractions at the show will be floral arrangements with Dances of India as the theme displaying Yakshagana, Dandiya, Bharatanatya, Kathakali, Kuchipudi and many folk dance forms.

The annual show is held for 10 days, starting six days ahead of the R-Day on Jan 26, at the Lalbagh Botanical Garden spread over 240 acres in the city centre. Over 10 million are expected to visit the show that ends Jan 29, Hemalatha told reporters on Wednesday.

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As members of the Tricycle Community we are well aware of the many benefits of being a Buddhist practitioner in the Internet age: online retreats, downloadable Buddhist art, and discussions about life’s important questions, to name a few. However, as Tricycle contributing editor Pico Iyer notes in a recent opinion piece for The New York Times, sometimes our devices leave us “feeling empty and too full all at once.” Being in the World, the current film at the Tricycle Film Club, raises the question of whether we have forgotten what it means to be truly human in today’s technological age. By looking at the lives of three remarkable individuals—a poet and flamenco dancer, a chef, and carpenter—this film, by Tao Ruspoli, celebrates the ability of human beings to find meaning in the world through the mastery of physical, intellectual, and creative skills.

As always, Tricycle Supporting and Sustaining Members can watch the film here and discuss it with the director.

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I am very sad indeed to hear of the sudden and unexpected death of André Alexander. I had only recently finished working with him on an article based on one of his many conservation projects. Working with André was interesting, educational, and a lot of fun. Like many, many others, I will miss him. If you don’t know his work, please go on to read about his Tibet Heritage Fund here, and have a look at the introduction to his Temples of Lhasa here. Below I reproduce some words by Per Sørensen on André’s many achievements.

* * *

Dr Andre Alexander

17 January 1965 – 21 January 2012

It is with profound regret and in deepest sorrow that we announce the death of Dr Andre Alexander at the age of 47.

Andre had just turned 47 this very week, and was full of enthusiasm and commitment. Over 10 years ago, he co-founded the successful, widely acclaimed and much respected Tibet Heritage Fund (THF) committed to the preservation and documentation of the unique Tibetan architectural monuments and heritage. The organization has launched a large number of rehabilitation projects throughout Central Asia intended to benefit and assist the local residents.

His organization has been involved in assisting local communities in the wake of natural disasters, earthquakes (Yushu) and flashfloods (Ladakh and Sikkim), and initiated countless conservation and restoration projects of sanctuaries and monasteries in India, Tibet, China and Mongolia.

His enthusiasm ensured that the THF won a steadily larger number of supporters who all shared Andre’s quest and vision of preserving the wonderful Tibetan architectural heritage.

A number of still unpublished books now await publication. A large study on vernacular housing and architecture in Lhasa (originally submitted as doctoral thesis in Berlin), the second volume of the Tibet Heritage Fund’s conservation inventory is due to appear in 2012 with Serindia Publications and another large study on Tibetan imperial architecture was under way. We hope that this work too will soon be completed.

Andre was a passionate and colourful person, totally committed to his vision of documenting and preserving, against all odds, the unique Tibetan architecture.

He and his most dedicated friends at THF received numerous awards for their commitment: they twice received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards and the Global Vision Award for a number of their cultural heritage projects, and they were featured on BBC’s series on Heritage Heroes 2011.

Andre – You will be sorely missed. RIP.

Per Sørensen

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VISAKHAPATNAM: The All India Lay-Buddhist Organisation (AILBO) and the Forum for Better Visakha (FBV) have decided to move the court against the government order transferring around three acres of Thotlakonda Buddhist site to the Indian Navy to construct a 60 feet road making a passage to its own site of around 100 acres beyond Thotlakonda.

The controversial GO No. 37, issued on January 18, kicked up a row in Visakhapatnam. The Thotlakonda Buddhist site is a protected monument on the Bheemili beach road, about 15 km from Visakhapatnam. The monument is located on the top of a hill.

The site spreads over an area of around 600 acres and has been declared a protected monument by the Department of Archaeology and Museums, Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Incidentally, it is the Indian Navy which discovered the Thotlakonda Buddhist site during the aerial survey conducted for setting up the Naval base in Visakhapatnam.

The archaeology department carried out major excavations at the site between 1988 and 1993.

The excavations uncovered three kinds of structural remains–religious, secular and civil.

The structures include a mahastupa, 16 votive stupas, a stone pillared congregation hall, 11 rock-cut cisterns, well-paved stone pathways, an apsidal chaitya-griha, three circular grihas, two votive platforms, 10 viharas, a kitchen complex with three halls and a refectory (dining hall).

Apart from the structures, the Buddhist treasures unearthed include nine Satavahana and five Roman silver coins, terracotta tiles, stucco decorative pieces, sculptured panels, miniature stupa models in stone, Buddha padas with asthamangal symbols and early historic pottery.

The GO permitting transfer of land to the Navy said there was no other way for the Navy to reach its site, which is beyond Thotlakonda There is no other direct passage to the Navy site, it said.

The Indian Navy proposed that the 60 feet road to be constructed can be used commonly by both the Navy and the Department of Archaeology.

Archaeology department’s assistant director in-charger, IDV Prasad Babu, said the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is said to have plans to set up a coastal surveillance radar system at the Naval site to detect, identify and track maritime vessels.

The land will be given to the Navy only temporarily, he added.

Coming down heavily on the archaeology department, the all India governing body member of AILBO, K Venkata Ramana Rao, said once the Navy builds the road at Thotlakonda, they will occupy the entire Buddhist site saying its a prohibited area.

He said the Navy should create a passage to its site via Kapulaupadda, sparing the Buddhist site.FBV convener EAS Sarma said the archaeology department failed to safeguard the centuries old Buddhist site.

If the road is built, the structures at the site will get damaged because of heavy vehicular traffic, he said and urged the Navy to lay their road via Jeeyar Ashram and protect the Buddhist site.

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An small Buddha used on the grounds at the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado in Westminster, CO, (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)

By Monte Whaley
The Denver Post, 01/17/2012

WESTMINSTER — There is more of a sense of urgency now among the Laotian community to rebuild the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado, which was destroyed by fire in December.

Flames almost claimed the life of Ounkham Vuennasack, the head monk who lived there. He suffered smoke inhalation, mild burns and frostbite.

Vuennasack recovered, but two weeks after the fire, he complained of being dizzy, and doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in the right side of his brain, said Maly Khanthaphixay, whose father was among the key founders of the temple, near West 108th Avenue and Dover Street.

Vuennasack is undergoing chemotherapy and hopes to see the temple rise again, Khanthaphixay said.

“We truly, truly want him to see the temple before it is too late,” she said. “We want to build it for him.”

The estimated cost of rebuilding could reach $600,000. Donations have been pouring in, including from Home Depot, which gave building materials, she said.

The Westminster Fire Department also gave $1,000 from its Fire Victims Relief Fund to help rebuild the structure.

Maly Khanthaphixay stands near statues used in New Year's ceremonies on the grounds of the Lao Buddhist Temple of Colorado, which was destroyed by fire. "It's not an exaggeration to say that the temple is our community's heart and soul," she said. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post)

Investigators determined that bad wiring in the building, built in 1989, most likely caused the fire, Khanthaphixay said.

Many in the congregation want to build a larger temple to make a bigger gathering place for the Laotian community in Denver, which is estimated to be about 3,000 strong.

Members say the temple served as a community center for cultural preservation through dance, music, storytelling, cooking and sports. It also hosted youth programs, gang-intervention programs and community services.

The temple has served as lodging for visiting monks, as well as homeless and visiting Laotians.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say that the temple is our community’s heart and soul,” Khanthaphixay said.

“I personally want to see us stay here and grow,” added Si Khanthaphixay, Maly’s husband.

The temple housed priceless artifacts, including a 7-ton statue of Buddha and sacred writings at least 1,000 years old. The temple is Theravadin, ascribing to the oldest surviving school of Buddhism, which is practiced by most Laotian Buddhists.

The giant Buddha statue was a gift from a Buddhist temple in Thailand and paid for by a general in the Thai army. It was melted by the fire and then almost stolen by thieves who most likely coveted it for its metals, Maly Khanthaphixay said.

It and other Buddha statues that survived the flames have been taken to an undisclosed location until a new facility can be built.

“We hope to stay for a long time,” Khanthaphixay said. “This is home for us and many others who have come here for years.”

Want to help with the restoration?

For more information about the Lao Buddhist Temple and its rebuilding efforts, call Sy Pong at 720-210-7555 or Maly Khanthaphixay at 720-217-6142, or go to laotempleco.org.

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Hongdi monastery in Sikkim, built in the early 17th century.Suraj GurungHongdi monastery in Sikkim, built in the early 17th century.

The New York Times, January 23, 2012, 1:53 am
By CHETAN RAJ SHRESTHA

For a week after the Sept. 18 earthquake, many towns in Sikkim were cut off from the outside world. The roads slowly became passable and as they did, photographs and video clips began to circulate. Rumors traveled too, especially that the major monasteries – Pemayangtse, Dubdi, Tashiding and Ringhim – were barely standing and that some of the smaller monasteries in Khechiperi and Hongdi had been obliterated.

The truth has proven more reassuring. There was damage, but not outright destruction. However, it is clear that the monasteries, chief items in Sikkim’s meager architectural heritage, were the hardest hit buildings in the quake.

After the earthquake, the Cultural Affairs and Heritage Department undertook a survey in Sikkim’s four districts. I visited some monasteries alone, some with local officials, and was given information on others. I also assisted with a report summarizing these assessments that covered 121 religious and cultural properties.

Some trends were apparent. Recent concrete and brick monasteries fared well unless poorly constructed. The older stone and mud monasteries, some of which date back to the early 1700s, were badly affected. Walls had collapsed completely, roofs detached from walls and internal murals were scarred by cracks. A gradual analysis identified four main reasons for the damages: local intensity of the quake, soil subsidence, shoddy construction and age.

A mural which suffered cracks, at the Chungthang Monastery, Sikkim.Chetan Raj ShresthaA mural which suffered cracks, at the Chungthang Monastery, Sikkim.

Much of the damage was done by two forces – intensity and subsidence. The quake’s magnitude was 6.8, but distributed unequally in Sikkim. In the north, where it was most severe, reinforced concrete monasteries in Chungthang and Lachung were rattled enough to be declared unstable. Subsidence has the greatest potential for long-term danger. The earthquake could be seen as a 35-second repositioning of the mountains and even now reports are coming in of monasteries, such as Ralang in South Sikkim, where cracks are still widening.

What will happen during the monsoon season, when rainwater pours into a loosened mountainside, should but has not caused apprehension among the authorities and the monks.

Proportionately speaking, amateur construction appears to have contributed little to the general damage. But in terms of what it indicates and presages, it is the most worrying. In recent decades, nearly all the monasteries have been constructed or repaired by the monks themselves. “Contract lamas,’’ as they are called, are common in Sikkim. They propose projects, are paid and execute the work in between their religious duties, or sometimes at their expense. The government, anxious to please a powerful constituency, does not interfere.

Some contract lamas are perhaps thinking, with some wistfulness, of the central government’s pledge to “reconstruct’’ Sikkim with a special focus on its monasteries. This relief package is by now mythically generous. Its largesse fluctuates between 2.5 billion rupees (about $49 million) and 10 billion rupees (about $199 million) . But nothing has arrived until now; four months after the quake.

The monks will determine whether the older monasteries, so crucial to an understanding of Sikkim’s architectural history, will be restored or torn down and rebuilt. They will have to choose between demolition and conservation, with persuasions from both sides. Chawang and Hee Gyathang in North Sikkim are two monasteries whose committees have chosen to restore the masonry buildings which were damaged on September 18.

Stone masonry monasteries were the hardest hit, suffering all the effects of a crippling accident in old age. Loose stones, weak mortar and decaying wood members contributed to an overall frailty. But physical evidence and oral records testify that they were regularly rebuilt after disasters like the January 1934 Great Bihar earthquake and the June 1897 Great Assam earthquake, both of which affected Sikkim.

When rebuilding happens now, though, convenience is often the deciding factor. The obvious inflictions on the stone facades of the older monasteries – broken walls, collapsed altars – are contrasted with the relative health of the concrete monasteries and presented as proof of the older monasteries’ weakness. That some of them have stood for a few centuries means little.

A century is an eon in Sikkim. Indians sometimes seem to shrug while treating their relics with cheerful disregard; they contend there is a surfeit of history in India. But Sikkim lacks that dubious luxury. Here, mythical history is abundant, recorded history is recent and tangible heritage is scarce.

Sikkim was annexed into the Indian union in 1975, an act commonly called the “merger.’’ It brought Sikkim statehood and with it, regular and substantial funds from the central government. Most of the newer monasteries date from after 1975, either constructed on new land or to replace older structures.

The Buddhist scriptures do not provide guidelines for concrete constructions, and it is uncertain where the contract lamas acquired their knowledge. Inspections after the quake revealed absurdly bad building practices – beams larger than their supporting columns, improperly cured concrete, inadequate reinforcement. The older masonry monasteries were almost always built by the monks and laity, but they used materials – timber, stone, thatch – that they were familiar with. It is their unfamiliarity with concrete that opens the way for amateur construction and material corruption.

The monks’ fondness for concrete led them to dismantle much of their own heritage over the past two decades. The new monasteries are often built on the site of the previous structures for the opposing reasons of sanctity – the footprint of the existing monastery is itself considered holy – and convenience – the debris is often cannibalized to abet new construction.

This insensitivity is not limited to Sikkim. Tawang, a 400-year-old monastery in Arunachal Pradesh state and the largest one in India, has only one original building. The Dalai Lama reportedly admonished the monks of the ancient Dhankar Monastery, in Himachal Pradesh state, asking them to conserve rather than rebuild, a directive they heeded. His Holiness ought to turn his disapproving gaze eastwards.

Part of the present ugliness in monastic construction may have a bitter root. Sikkim has historically looked up to Tibet for political and religious guidance. After the closure of the Tibet border in 1962 following the Indo-China war, the artery between Sikkim and its cultural heart was severed, and it was isolated from discourses in monastery conservation. There is a nascent admiration for Bhutan, which shares Sikkim’s paucity of heritage items but which has shrewdly managed a sensitive conservation of its monastic heritage.

Competition is common among monasteries in Sikkim. In an attempt to upstage each other, some institutions have replaced stone with bricks, mud with cement, timber with marble. Where marble cannot be obtained, they prefer bathroom tiles, the more luridly colored the better.

If desire is the cause of suffering, as Buddhism holds, how much sadness must there be in the smaller monasteries in Sikkim, which aspire to the opulence achieved by the larger ones? It shows the monks as distressingly human, tormented by the same impulses that beset the laity.

Chetan Raj Shrestha is an architect currently practicing in Sikkim. He specializes in conservation architecture and writes in his spare time.

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