Fascinating and Beautiful Buddhist Imagery on Show at VR Museum

BANGKOK POST

THAILAND - All Buddhists - whether devout or not - must at some time feel fascinated with the various styles of Buddha images we come across at temples. They seem to be quite different from each other, yet they all share a hidden, soothing charm that always invites our eyes. Inaugurated just last month, the VR Museum showcases a collection of 41 Buddha images in various styles and postures from a wide array of regions and historical periods. Held under the theme "Journey of the Buddha", this contemporary exhibition reflects the beauty and artistic creation of Buddha images in different eras, ranging from the earliest known images to the ones created in the different kingdoms and regions of Thailand, as well as neighbouring kingdoms. [link]

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Kansas Art Gallery's Exhibit Inspired by Judaica Collection

KANSAS CITY JEWISH CHRONICLE
By Barbara Bayer

Photo by Kevin Blayney: Michael Klein (left) discusses the upcoming ‘Between Thee & Me’ exhibit at Epsten Gallery with the gallery’s curator, Marcus Cain. Klein is holding a 1950s Bible with beautiful sterling silver bookbinding.

KANSAS - Michael Klein began collecting Judaica quite by accident. Now his Judaica is the inspiration for a new exhibit, Between Thee & Me — Artists Respond to the Judaica Collection of Michael Klein and the Van Ackeren Collection of Religious Art at Rockhurst University. This project features two independent, invitational group exhibitions, the first of which will be presented at the Epsten Gallery at Village Shalom July 24 through Sept. 4. It opens with a reception at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 24, with an artists’ discussion at 3 p.m. A second group exhibition will be presented at The Greenlease Gallery at Rockhurst University Aug. 26 through Oct. 1. [link]

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Long-Delayed Show of Buddhist Art From Pakistan Is to Open in NYC

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By JANE PERLEZ

A piece in Asia Society's show of Gandhara art

NEW YORK - A long-planned exhibition of nearly 70 pieces of Buddhist art from Pakistan will finally open at Asia Society on Aug. 9, after political intrigue in Pakistan and a breakdown in American-Pakistani relations delayed it for six months. Anti-Americanism, which soared in the aftermath of the killing of Osama bin Laden, helped put the show in jeopardy, said Melissa Chiu, the director of Asia Society Museum. The death of a major advocate, Richard C. Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s senior diplomat for Pakistan and a former chairman of Asia Society, also complicated matters, she said, as did problems with getting American visas for the Pakistanis chosen to accompany the objects to New York. "The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara" runs from August 9 thru October 30. [link]

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Review: Buddhist Art Inspired Illusions at NYC's Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery

NEW YORK OBSERVER
By Will Hienrich

Desktop (Cave Paintings) by Allyson Vieira.

NEW YORK - The title of this small but powerful exhibition, Discursive Arrangements, or Stubbornly Persistent Illusions, is either an ironic feint or it’s begging the question. Centered discreetly but unmistakably around what a Buddhist art critic might call the “emptiness” of images, the show forcefully makes the point that it can’t be quite right, in light of their persistence, to call images illusions. [link]

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Crucifix with a Penis: Art Exhibit Riles Catholics in Philippines

ABS-CBN NEWS
By David Dizon

PHILIPPINES - A crucifix with a wooden penis and a Christ the King figurine with rabbit ears. These and other art pieces exhibited at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) have earned the ire of various lay Catholic groups who are now considering the filing of charges against those behind the "sacrilegious and blasphemous" art exhibit. A CBCP News report said the groups have demanded CCP and the artists, all from the University of Santo Tomas, to stop the exhibit in 48 hours or face the legal consequences. The CCP exhibit which opened last June 17 and will run until August 21, has received flak from various groups, including the Catholic Church, for the unconventional use of religious figures in the art pieces. [link]

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Catholic Artists Say Art Must Reflect Liturgical Renewal

DFW CATHOLIC
By George Vogt

NEW HAMPSHIRE - At a recent symposium on the campus of the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, leading Catholic artists agreed that liturgical piety is at the foundation of a culture of beauty. When art and architecture—and the culture as a whole—is deeply rooted in the liturgy it serves, liturgical piety is reinforced. Father Thomas Kocik, contributor to the New Liturgical Movement web site and former editor of Antiphon, chaired the discussion. He began the evening by emphasizing this link between the liturgy and culture. “The word ‘culture’ derives from the Latin cultus, meaning what we cherish or worship” said Kocik. [link]

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Book Review: Religious Culture in South India

THE HINDU
By Y. Subbarayalu

INDIA -This book, comprising 19 select essays by R. Champakalaksmi, presents a detailed and sober historical account of the evolution of religious culture in South India, from antiquity to the colonial times. It is the culmination of the author's five decades of diligent studies in the religious and art history of peninsular India. While she provides a panoramic picture of the Indian religious traditions as a whole, the emphasis is on the traditions in South India and their contribution to the pan-Indian structure. RELIGION, TRADITION, AND IDEOLOGY — Pre-colonial South India: R. Champakalakshmi; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 1450. [link]

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Philly Museum Present's Rembrandt's Faces of Jesus

THE INQUIRER
By Stephan Salisbury

The Supper at Emmaus (1648) by Rembrandt on loan from Louvre

PENNSYLVANIA - On an otherwise unremarkable day about a decade ago, Lloyd DeWitt found himself poking around in the storage vaults of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Among the paintings packed away in the darkness was a small head of Christ painted on wood and attributed by a stream of scholars to Rembrandt's workshop, but not to the great 17th-century master himself. The panel is now one of seven similar heads of Christ, drawn from collections worldwide, that are the core of Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus, which opens at the Art Museum on Wednesday for a run through Oct. 30. The show - 22 paintings, 17 drawings, and nine prints - is the first in Philadelphia to feature Rembrandt paintings, and the first Rembrandt exhibition of any kind here since 1932, when the Art Museum hosted a show of prints. Also in this exhibition: the Louvre's newly cleaned The Supper at Emmaus (1648) and The Hundred Guilder Print (c. 1649), so called because of its immense value. [link]

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Christians Outraged Over Art with Jesus & Penis Symbols

RUETERS
By Michaela Cabrera

PHILIPPINES - An art installation that mixes Christ with kitschy symbols of pop culture and includes a crucifix with a movable penis has set off an uproar in the Philippines among conservative Catholics, who say the installations are a mockery of their faith. Mideo Cruz, the artist responsible for the installation -- intended to be a commentary on icon worship -- has been branded a "demon" and bombarded with death threats and hate mail since his work featured in an exhibit in Manila that began June 17. Cruz, a 37-year-old visual and performance artist who has exhibited in such international art centres as New York, Paris and Tokyo, said he had wanted to provoke a reaction but was surprised by the violence of the response. "You can't force people. But I just hope that when we look at something, the process doesn't stop at the surface," he said. Cruz said his installation, "Poleteismo" or "Polytheism," is about the worship of relics and how idolatry evolves through history and modern culture. Cruz's work is part of the group exhibition, KULO runs through August 21.  [link]

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NYC Mayor Defends Atheist Attack on 9/11 Cross

GOTHAMIST
By Christopher Robbins

NEW YORK - Mayor Bloomberg defended the group of atheists that are suing to prevent the September 11 Cross from being installed in the 9/11 memorial and museum at World Trade Center site. The lawsuit, filed by the American Atheists, drew jeers because it alleged that the cross injured atheists by giving them "dyspepsia, symptoms of depression, headaches, anxiety, and mental pain and anguish." [link]

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What is Ramadan to a Christian in America?

AOA NEWS
By Ernest Britton

INDIANA - Many Christians in the USA, and around the world this week are asking, "What is this Ramadan" and "How do I respond to it" with respect? Similar to Easter's relationship to Christianity, Ramadan is the greatest religious observance in the Islamic faith. It is an annual month of fasting (Christians have Lent) and it began on August 1 around the world and will finish on or around August 29, 2011. All Muslims who are physically able are required to fast each day of the entire month, from sunrise to sunset. The evenings are spent enjoying family and community meals, engaging in prayer and spiritual reflection, and reading from the Qu'ran. The official greeting for Ramadan, for non-Muslims and non-Arabic speakers is "Happy Ramadan."

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