- Vishal Tondon
To present the lectures were invited Dr Heinrich Poell of Universitat Graz und Wien, Austria and Prof Dr Monica Zin of Freie Universitat, Berlin.
Dr Poell gave a series of extensive lectures over five days on the depiction of Buddha’s life in India and a few other Asian and South-East Asian countries. His project is a tour de force of the development of iconography and anthropomorphism in Buddhist art, and how this visual material reflects on the socio-economic and cultural conditions specific to their times in India and abroad. On day one of the lectures, he gave an overview of the visual material and proposed his thesis – which he would support with specific material over the next four days – on the choice of subject matter at each site of Buddhist activity. On day two, Dr Poell dealt with Bharut, Sanchi and Gandhara Buddhist art in detail. On day three, he elaborated on Amaravati, Kushan and Gupta Buddhist art. On day four, he gave us a tour of materials from later Buddhist periods from Pala in Eastern India, Indonesian and Burmese Buddhist art. Finally, on day five, he dealt with Nepal, Ladakh and Tibet, after which he summed up his thesis.
The lecture sessions by Dr Heinrich Poell were chaired by Prof Dr Andrea Loseries, Director, CBS, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.
On the 25th of February, Prof Zin gave a very interesting and comprehensive presentation, ‘The Paintings of Ajanta – A New Interpretation.’ She opened up the subject of interpreting and reading the immensely sophisticated and complex art of Ajanta and demonstrated that an objective and intertextual approach would go a long way in expanding this highly specialized area of study. She encouraged more field work; her exhaustive material and her layouts of the Ajanta paintings are testimony to her own labors in this direction.
The session of Prof Zin was chaired by Prof R Siva Kumar of the Department of History of Art, Kala Bhavana.
The very instructive ‘CBS – Special Lecture Series 2011-2012’ ended on the 27th of February with a vote of thanks by Prof Loseries.
The Center for Buddhist Studies (CBS), in collaboration with the Department of History of Art, Kala Bhavan, Visva-Bharati University conducted a Special Lecture Series on Buddhist Art and Architecture between the 23rd and 27th of February 2012. The emphasis was on an interdisciplinary approach that looked at the material at the interface of culture, art history and Buddhist texts.
The sessions were held at Havell Hall in Kala Bhavan. The choice of this venue is significant as the walls of Havell Hall are home to some of the best copies of Ajanta and Bagh paintings. The murals in Havell Hall were painted under the guidance and expertise of none other than the great master Nandalal Bose.
To present the lectures were invited Dr Heinrich Poell of Universitat Graz und Wien, Austria and Prof Dr Monica Zin of Freie Universitat, Berlin.
Dr Poell gave a series of extensive lectures over five days on the depiction of Buddha’s life in India and a few other Asian and South-East Asian countries. His project is a tour de force of the development of iconography and anthropomorphism in Buddhist art, and how this visual material reflects on the socio-economic and cultural conditions specific to their times in India and abroad. On day one of the lectures, he gave an overview of the visual material and proposed his thesis – which he would support with specific material over the next four days – on the choice of subject matter at each site of Buddhist activity. On day two, Dr Poell dealt with Bharut, Sanchi and Gandhara Buddhist art in detail. On day three, he elaborated on Amaravati, Kushan and Gupta Buddhist art. On day four, he gave us a tour of materials from later Buddhist periods from Pala in Eastern India, Indonesian and Burmese Buddhist art. Finally, on day five, he dealt with Nepal, Ladakh and Tibet, after which he summed up his thesis.
The lecture sessions by Dr Heinrich Poell were chaired by Prof Dr Andrea Loseries, Director, CBS, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan.
On the 25th of February, Prof Zin gave a very interesting and comprehensive presentation, ‘The Paintings of Ajanta – A New Interpretation.’ She opened up the subject of interpreting and reading the immensely sophisticated and complex art of Ajanta and demonstrated that an objective and intertextual approach would go a long way in expanding this highly specialized area of study. She encouraged more field work; her exhaustive material and her layouts of the Ajanta paintings are testimony to her own labors in this direction.
The session of Prof Zin was chaired by Prof R Siva Kumar of the Department of History of Art, Kala Bhavana.
The very instructive ‘CBS – Special Lecture Series 2011-2012’ ended on the 27th of February with a vote of thanks by Prof Loseries.
A lecture by Dr Heinrich Poll
Lecture by Prof Dr Monika Zin
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