Personal Experience Project.
Art Museum Reflection.
Has it not been for this class, I would have never even known that this museum exists. Built in the 18th century and located in the heart of Moscow, this gorgeous building has been home to the State Museum of Oriental Art since 1918.
It hosts six permanent and over 10 temporary exhibitions. The permanent exhibits feature the Art of India, Art of China, Tibetan Art, Art of Japan, Art of Korea and Art of Central Asia. The modern temporary exhibits change from every 2 months up to a season. Some can be viewed online – the opportunity which you, I am sure, would appreciate.
This is the link to the virtual tour of Chinese New Year Art http://www.orientmuseum.ru/virtual-tours/china-picture/virtualtour.html .
And this beautiful and dreadful collection is called “the Mortal Beauty” as it features weapons from Chinese daggers to Indian elephants literally “dressed to kill” http://www.orientmuseum.ru/mortaltour/virtualtour.html .
This one is related to a tender topic of the first official “pleasure district” of Japan seen by the eyes of various artists. http://www.orientmuseum.ru/virtual-tours/kvartal-pleasure/virtualtour.html .
Speaking of my personal experience, I visited the halls devoted to the art of India and Tibet. Since the beginning of the course, I have broaden my horizons tremendously. I have already heard about many religions and concepts we have covered in class but they were just words to me. Visiting the museum was a great final touch to a wonderful course. Although your links and travel journals have prepared me for the practical side of the philosophies and teachings we have discussed I was still impressed and intimidated by the scope of the expositions.
All the halls dedicated to a certain topic are equipped with a “sound spot” – a place where you can stand and listen to the explanations and narration on the displayed objects. It is designed in such a way that no one but you can hear the sound. The tour starts with the history of the land and its people and gradually go onto describing the art tendencies and cultural aspects. Even though the exhibit features different things discovered during the archeological expeditions – like jewelry and everyday objects (combs, jars) - most of the objects on display are religion-related.
While roaming the halls of the museum it dawned on me that religion seems to have been the major driving force for development of art. It was like an “a-ha moment” for me. It might be obvious for you but I have never thought of it this way. I have always separated the paintings and sculptures from the religious artefacts. I mean, I am familiar with Pieta and various artworks featuring stories from scriptures, but I have never thought of the religion itself being art. Somehow, I was really stunned by this sudden revelation.
It was interesting to notice that the China art exhibit contained many paintings and drawing while India was really heavy on sculptures and figurines of various deities. I also noticed difference in the use of colors and patterns: lots of blue, red and gold in Indian objects; more metal materials in Tibetan displays; incredible delicacy and fine details in Chinese artworks.
As I was walking from one exhibit to another, it was very clear that all the cultures influenced by one another. When you see Shiva and Buddha sitting across the room the resemblance or at least some similar features are hard to miss. Same goes for weapons, mandalas, and various religious symbols.
It was certainly great to see those characters I was already familiar with. It was funny that once I saw Ravana and Hanuman I felt joy as if they were my old friends.
Another great touch was the music. Carefully selected and unique to each featured region it really set the mood and helped to dissolve in the culture. Somehow, it helped me better understand what I was looking at. And, of course, all the works have little plates with explanations attached to them. This makes it easy to understand and to navigate among the objects.
My favorite artwork is the 13th century figure of Green Tara from Tibet. She is considered the “mother of liberation” in both Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. In Mahayana, she is viewed as Bodhisattva and in Vajrayana – as a female Buddha. Green Tara is considered a goddess of compassion, success and achievement. However, as with most things in Buddhism, she is the metaphor for duality of love and life. There is also White Tara – the symbol of motherly love - who is usually drawn with a fully open lotus flower. On the contrary, the Green Tara is always portrayed as an eternally young girl (with a half-open lotus). The choice of color is not accidental. In Buddhism, green is the color that includes all other colors. So, Green Tara is the savior - "She who carries us across the waters". Water is yet another metaphor for the wheel of Samsara.
At the end of my paper, I’d like to share with you two links – a video tour of all major exhibits (http://www.orientmuseum.ru/about/video/index.aspx) and a virtual tour of the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow, Russia http://www.orientmuseum.ru/tour/virtualtour.html .
Even though it is not the same as seeing it in person, I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Art Museum Reflection.
Has it not been for this class, I would have never even known that this museum exists. Built in the 18th century and located in the heart of Moscow, this gorgeous building has been home to the State Museum of Oriental Art since 1918.
It hosts six permanent and over 10 temporary exhibitions. The permanent exhibits feature the Art of India, Art of China, Tibetan Art, Art of Japan, Art of Korea and Art of Central Asia. The modern temporary exhibits change from every 2 months up to a season. Some can be viewed online – the opportunity which you, I am sure, would appreciate.
This is the link to the virtual tour of Chinese New Year Art http://www.orientmuseum.ru/virtual-tours/china-picture/virtualtour.html .
And this beautiful and dreadful collection is called “the Mortal Beauty” as it features weapons from Chinese daggers to Indian elephants literally “dressed to kill” http://www.orientmuseum.ru/mortaltour/virtualtour.html .
This one is related to a tender topic of the first official “pleasure district” of Japan seen by the eyes of various artists. http://www.orientmuseum.ru/virtual-tours/kvartal-pleasure/virtualtour.html .
Speaking of my personal experience, I visited the halls devoted to the art of India and Tibet. Since the beginning of the course, I have broaden my horizons tremendously. I have already heard about many religions and concepts we have covered in class but they were just words to me. Visiting the museum was a great final touch to a wonderful course. Although your links and travel journals have prepared me for the practical side of the philosophies and teachings we have discussed I was still impressed and intimidated by the scope of the expositions.
All the halls dedicated to a certain topic are equipped with a “sound spot” – a place where you can stand and listen to the explanations and narration on the displayed objects. It is designed in such a way that no one but you can hear the sound. The tour starts with the history of the land and its people and gradually go onto describing the art tendencies and cultural aspects. Even though the exhibit features different things discovered during the archeological expeditions – like jewelry and everyday objects (combs, jars) - most of the objects on display are religion-related.
While roaming the halls of the museum it dawned on me that religion seems to have been the major driving force for development of art. It was like an “a-ha moment” for me. It might be obvious for you but I have never thought of it this way. I have always separated the paintings and sculptures from the religious artefacts. I mean, I am familiar with Pieta and various artworks featuring stories from scriptures, but I have never thought of the religion itself being art. Somehow, I was really stunned by this sudden revelation.
It was interesting to notice that the China art exhibit contained many paintings and drawing while India was really heavy on sculptures and figurines of various deities. I also noticed difference in the use of colors and patterns: lots of blue, red and gold in Indian objects; more metal materials in Tibetan displays; incredible delicacy and fine details in Chinese artworks.
As I was walking from one exhibit to another, it was very clear that all the cultures influenced by one another. When you see Shiva and Buddha sitting across the room the resemblance or at least some similar features are hard to miss. Same goes for weapons, mandalas, and various religious symbols.
It was certainly great to see those characters I was already familiar with. It was funny that once I saw Ravana and Hanuman I felt joy as if they were my old friends.
Another great touch was the music. Carefully selected and unique to each featured region it really set the mood and helped to dissolve in the culture. Somehow, it helped me better understand what I was looking at. And, of course, all the works have little plates with explanations attached to them. This makes it easy to understand and to navigate among the objects.
My favorite artwork is the 13th century figure of Green Tara from Tibet. She is considered the “mother of liberation” in both Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. In Mahayana, she is viewed as Bodhisattva and in Vajrayana – as a female Buddha. Green Tara is considered a goddess of compassion, success and achievement. However, as with most things in Buddhism, she is the metaphor for duality of love and life. There is also White Tara – the symbol of motherly love - who is usually drawn with a fully open lotus flower. On the contrary, the Green Tara is always portrayed as an eternally young girl (with a half-open lotus). The choice of color is not accidental. In Buddhism, green is the color that includes all other colors. So, Green Tara is the savior - "She who carries us across the waters". Water is yet another metaphor for the wheel of Samsara.
At the end of my paper, I’d like to share with you two links – a video tour of all major exhibits (http://www.orientmuseum.ru/about/video/index.aspx) and a virtual tour of the Russian State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow, Russia http://www.orientmuseum.ru/tour/virtualtour.html .
Even though it is not the same as seeing it in person, I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I did.