RAS Art Focus

(REPEAT Session)

Night at the Museum

Understanding Buddhist Iconography

Friday, 7 March 2025

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

This is a repeat session of the 28th February Art Focus Session to accommodate the overflow of subscribed registrants.

We continue our insightful 2024-2025 series China's Arts and Aesthetics of the Past by delving into the material culture of the recent and distant history to assess how objects ranging from imperial patronage to utilitarian handicrafts have shaped China's aesthetics through the ages.

In this repeat session of night-at-the-museum, please join Art Historian and Art Focus Convener Julie Chun as we explore the emergence of ancient sculptures in China. We will discuss and examine the fragmentary evidences of abstract and figurative signifiers that were originally constructed as religious and funerary markers, reliquaries, steles, and monuments but eventually became ensconced as "art." How did these site-specific objects from sacred caves, religious temples and even personal tombs find their way into museums and private collections? More importantly, what do these artifacts reveal about the context in which they were created, utilized and even venerated? And how did some of these objects articulate hierarchies of power beyond their purpose as spiritual objects of guidance? These aspects can be embodied in Buddhist imageries, many of which were constructed with iconographical standards set by devout monks, some who even wielded great influence at court. As a foreign doctrine to China, Buddhism is derived from the lives and teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who lived during the 5th or 6th century BCE. His doctrine spread from South Asia to many regions in Asia, and beyond, to influence societies and civilizations throughout history with the compelling aid of visual imagery. Come join us as we study how Buddhist iconographies incorporated diverse ranges of foreign and local elements to assist devotees to elucidate an abstract concept as a visible and personal belief system.