Instinctively, my politics is anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist. However, I also appreciate the complexity inherent in human affairs and recognize that nuance of thought is required even in—perhaps especially for—matters as emotionally charged as the repatriation of cultural and artistic relics. Today my fellow writer and blogger BD Dipananda has published an article looking back on […]
art
Love in the Cave of the Buddhas
The cave roof was high enough to tower Over the trees in the forest that had Grown around these medieval refuges. We were two ghosts – wandering in abandoned Land, apparitions from the future. For we were dying. They, languid and still, The buddhas, gazed down at us, their eyes Gentle, free of judgement, seeing […]
Meaning-crafting: An Emerging Discourse of Contemporary Buddhist Art
There is a fascinating group of people shaping contemporary artistic culture in the Buddhist world. Some of them are regular contributors to this website, including Sarah Beasley, Tilly Campbell-Allen, or Tiffani Gyatso, whilst others have been interviewed about their craft (sometimes by our aforementioned artist writers). These individuals include contemporary creators like painter Andrea Traber, […]
Milarepa’s Exhibition 2017
Bodhgaya is a special place of power, in particular when it fills with the energy generated by practices and blessings. Earlier this year, during the Kalachakra 2017, walking from the hotel to the Kalachakra grounds, a leaflet on a market stall caught my attention. It advertised an exhibition being held at the Mahayana Hotel, on […]
Buddhism is Bhutan’s Key to Working with the Great Buddhist Powers
India and China are right now locked in a dispute over a plateau (known as Doklam in India and Donglang in China) that lies at a junction between China, the northeastern Indian state of Sikkim, and Bhutan. My focus today is not on the technicalities of the border dispute (this analysis by Wangcha Sangey, a […]
Ways of Seeing Life
Grace Ko The esteemed British art critic and author John Berger once said: “Art is one of the noblest achievements of man”. He advocated that the art critic must not only look at art from his personal point of view, but also from that of other artists, the conscious and unconscious mind of the spectator, […]
A Meditation on Mind, Body and Place – Ho Siu Kee
Wilson Chik An ancient Banyan tree: a giant in its own rite, towering. Thousand green leaves shimmering air, each leaf, a moment in life. Nested inside, in the intersection of two gnarly branches, stands Dr. Ho Siu-kee (known as Kee to friends) in all white. Though human, Kee is scaled tiny in this instance, comparatively. […]
The Language of Flowers: Flower Artist Masao Mizukami
Grace Ko “To see a World in a Grain of Sand; and a Heaven in a Wild Flower; hold Infinity in the palm of your hand; and Eternity in an hour,” said English poet William Blake. Japanese flower arranging emphasizes interaction with the natural world to reach enlightenment. Japanese flower artist Masao Mizukami finds this […]
Ju Ming: Finding what has been thrown away
Grace Ko “Hell is in the living world, but the living world also has a paradise. Which way would you go? It’s your choice entirely.” The eminent Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming wrote these thoughts about life at his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong in 2014. His artworks are inspiring and the path in his […]
Art and the Language of Change
Grace Ko What kind of language is art? Every time I read the gatha in Diamond Sutra, “Thus shall you think of this fleeting world: a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream; a flash of lightning in a summer cloud; a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream,” I think of Dutch artist […]