- Risk Management, Historic Preservation, Risk Analysis, Risk assessment, Preventive conservation, Heritage Conservation, and 45 moreCultural Heritage Conservation, Tibetan Art, Collections Management, Buddhist art and architecture, Art Conservation, Conservation, Buddhism, Tibetan Studies, Conservation- restoration mural and canvas painting, Buddhist Studies, Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalayas, Conservation and Restoration, Tibetan Buddhism, Painting Conservation, Vajrayana Buddhism In Tibet, Science for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Buddhist Art, Thangkas, South Asian Art, Risk and Vulnerability, Curating, Tibetan and Himalayan societies, Risk Assessment & Risk Management, Chinese Art, Museology, Nepal, Indian Buddhism, Museum Studies, Himalayan Art, Analysis of Pigments on Ancient Artifacts, Himalayan Civilization-Nepal, Indian Art, Bhutan, Art Conservation & Restoration, Himalayan culture, Art and Architecture In India, Pigments (Chemistry), Art History, History of Art, Arts and Design Technology, Tantra, Tantric Studies, Art and technology, Indian folk art and folklore, and Textilesedit
Conservation of Buddhist cultural heritage treasures with consideration of Impermanence as fundamental Buddhist understanding. Article based on 50 years of preservation work in monasteries and museums.
Research Interests:
Conference on Protection of Cultural Property in Asia – Interpol The loss of art and antiquities through destruction, theft, looting, and illegal export and sale has long been associated with dramatic and catastrophic changes in societies... more
Conference on Protection of Cultural Property in Asia – Interpol
The loss of art and antiquities through destruction, theft, looting, and illegal export and sale has long been associated with dramatic and catastrophic changes in societies such as war, civil unrest, and natural or man-made disasters. However, even relatively peaceful and progressive changes such as the opening of countries for increased travel and tourism or the development of free markets and economies also may stimulate the illegal trade in cultural and religious heritage items.
For traditional Buddhist monasteries and nunneries where valuable religious objects and relics are readily available to the religious community for daily contemplation and worship, there is a special challenge in protecting objects from damage and theft without restricting access.
By
Shaftel, Koestler, DePriest and Beaubien
The loss of art and antiquities through destruction, theft, looting, and illegal export and sale has long been associated with dramatic and catastrophic changes in societies such as war, civil unrest, and natural or man-made disasters. However, even relatively peaceful and progressive changes such as the opening of countries for increased travel and tourism or the development of free markets and economies also may stimulate the illegal trade in cultural and religious heritage items.
For traditional Buddhist monasteries and nunneries where valuable religious objects and relics are readily available to the religious community for daily contemplation and worship, there is a special challenge in protecting objects from damage and theft without restricting access.
By
Shaftel, Koestler, DePriest and Beaubien
Research Interests: Buddhism, Tourism Studies, Art History, Buddhist Studies, Art Conservation, and 18 moreTibetan Buddhism, Bhutan (Anthropology), Buddhist art and architecture, Tibetan Art, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Bhutan, Art Theft, Art Crime, Art Related Crime, Thangkas, Nepalese Art, Buddhist monastery, INTERPOL, Stolen art, anti-money laundering, fraud, Art Conservation Science, Chogyam Trunpga Rinpoche, Artwork Thefts, The Smithsonian Institution, Vajrayana Buddhism In Tibet, and Art and Cultural Theft
ABSTRACT: This project investigates the materials and techniques used by Tibetan artists. Six Tibetan thangkas were analyzed by infrared reflectography, energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy,... more
ABSTRACT: This project investigates the materials and techniques used by Tibetan artists. Six Tibetan thangkas were analyzed by infrared reflectography, energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy, and high-performance liquid chroma-tography. The analysis has suggested that three thangkas of the eighteenth - nineteenth century have a traditional palette, which includes azurite, vermilion, orpiment, bronchantite, red lead, dolomite, magnesite, organic red with calcite or magnesite substrate, and alumino-silicate clay minerals. Another late nineteenth or early twentieth century thangka shows the use of Western pigments such as emerald green, ultramarine, calcite, gypsum, chrome yellow, gold color from brass powder, and red and yellow dyes with barium sulfate substrates. Two twentieth century thangkas made for the tourist trade revealed a twentieth century palette such as titanium dioxide, phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine green, and other pigments such as red lead, chrome yellow, barium sulfate, and gypsum.
Research Interests: Buddhism, Materials Science, Art History, Tibetan Studies, Chinese Art, and 21 moreArt Conservation, Tibetan Buddhism, Pigments (Chemistry), Buddhist art and architecture, Himalayan Art, Tibetan Art, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Pigments & Dyes in Middle Ages, History of Pigments, Tibetan and Himalayan Art 15th-17th hCenturies; Contemporary Asian Art; Buddhism and Diaspora, Central Asian and Western Himalayan Art, Synthesis of dyes and pigments, Thangkas, Art Technological Research, Conservation-restoration, cleaning paintings, research on the tribal art and culture of Central india, Art Conservation & Restoration, Art Conservation Science, Analysis of Pigments on Ancient Artifacts, Plant Dyes and Pigments, Science of Conservation and Restauration of Contemporary Art, and Conservation of cultural artefacts (Thangkas
ABSTRACT: Thangkas are a sacred art form still in active use. All conservation efforts must be wide-awake to both the evolving form, and the continuous sacred nature of thangkas. This paper uses examples from decades of work with thangkas... more
ABSTRACT: Thangkas are a sacred art form still in active use. All conservation efforts must be wide-awake to both the evolving form, and the continuous sacred nature of thangkas. This paper uses examples from decades of work with thangkas in the Himalayan region and in Western museums and private collections. 2008
Research Interests: Buddhism, Art History, Tibetan Philosophy, Buddhist Studies, Painting, and 19 moreBuddhist Art, Art Conservation, Tibeto-Mongolian Buddhism, Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan and Himalayan societies, Painting Conservation, Buddhist art and architecture, Tibetan Art, Conservation- restoration mural and canvas painting, Technical Art History, Conservation, Art Theft, Art Crime, Art Related Crime, Conservation of Composite Artefacts, Thangkas, Art Conservation & Restoration, Art and Restoration and conservation, Stolen art, anti-money laundering, fraud, Indian Painting, and Vajrayana Buddhism In Tibet
The concept of Original Artistic Intent is difficult to apply to Tibetan thangkas. Thangkas are composite objects produced by painters and tailors with differing intents, skills and training. Iconographic specifications, regional and... more
The concept of Original Artistic Intent is difficult to apply to Tibetan thangkas. Thangkas are composite objects produced by painters and tailors with differing intents, skills and training. Iconographic specifications, regional and doctrinal differences in style, changes in form from harsh treatment and altered mountings all complicate the issue. 2008
Research Interests: Buddhism, Art History, Buddhist Philosophy, Art Theory, Tibetan Studies, and 23 moreBuddhist Studies, Himalayan culture, Philosophy of Art, Art Conservation, History of Art, Himalayan Civilization-Nepal, Anthropology of Tibet and the Himalayas, Tibetan Buddhism, Indian Buddhism, Art and technology, Art Theory and Ethics, Tibetan and Himalayan societies, Buddhist art and architecture, Himalayan Art, Tibetan Art, Conservation- restoration mural and canvas painting, Indian folk art and folklore, Religion and Art, Sanskrit Studies, Sanskrit Aesthetics, Indian Philosophy, Indian Music, Dance and Arts, Tibetan and Himalayan Art 15th-17th hCenturies; Contemporary Asian Art; Buddhism and Diaspora, Art Conservation & Restoration, Himalayan studies, Art and Architecture In India, and Arts and Design Technology
ABSTRACT—The purpose of this discussion is to present the general characteristics of Tibetan thangka paintings and the forms of damage to which they are susceptible.