Christian Luczanits: "Mustang, the Gateway to Tibet"

Abstract:

Mustang, called Lo in Tibetan, is a discrete geographical region to the north of central Nepal mostly inhabited by people who are culturally Tibetan. The Mustang valley is defined by the Kali Gandaki River, which flows straight from north to south. Tracks paralleling the river once served as a major trade route between Tibet and India and provided the surplus that enabled the building of monasteries of substantial size and the creation of stunning artworks, in particular from the late 14th to the 17th centuries.  Besides presenting major monuments and art objects from the region, the seminar also introduces Mustang's colorful history and landscape.

Bio:

Christian Luczanits, The Rubin Museum, New York

Christian Luczanits received his Ph.D from the Institute of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna.  His research focuses on the Buddhist art of India and Tibet, based on extensive field research and documentation done on site.  He is the author of Buddhist Sculpture in Clay: Early Western Himalayan Art, late 10th to early 13th centuries.  More recent research has concentrated on Buddhist art immediately before and during Kushana rule.  In this connection he co-curated the exhibition "Gandhāra—the Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan, Legends, Monasteries and Paradise" at the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Bonn. Christian Luczanits was a Freeman Visiting Professor at University of California, Berkeley in 2004–05, Visiting Professor at Frei University in Berlin 2006–08 and held visiting professorships at Stanford and University of California, Berkeley in the first half of 2010.