Conference on Amaravati

Conference

"Amaravati: the art of an early Buddhist monument in context"
Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre
The Courtauld Institute of Art
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R 0RN
Friday 5 September, 2014
18.00 - 20.45
(with registration from 17.30)

The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Seminar Rooms
British Museum
Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DG
Saturday 6 September, 2014
10.00 - 17.20
(with registration from 09.30)


The Great Stupa at Amaravati was one of the most important Buddhist
monuments in India.  Founded before 200 BCE, it was enlarged and
embellished with innumerable superb sculptures over the following
four centuries.  More than 120 of these sculptures entered the
collection of the British Museum in 1880, forming the most important
single group of Indian sculptures outside the subcontinent.

This conference celebrates the reopening of the Asahi Shimbun
Gallery, where the sculptures have been displayed since 1992, but
which was temporarily closed during construction of the Museum's
World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre.  Organised by The British
Museum and The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist
Art and Conservation at The Courtauld, the conference brings
together leading specialists from around the world to address many
aspects of Amaravati and its sculptures, from the rediscovery of the
stupa at the end of the 18th century to its recreation in the 21st
century.  Amaravati's art will also be considered in the context of
other surviving sculpture from the Andhra region of south-eastern
India, which, despite its importance and quality, has been
relatively neglected in the study of Indian art.

The conference opens on Friday evening with a keynote lecture by
Professor Akira Shimada, author of a major recent study of
Amaravati.  This lecture is hosted by the Research Forum of The
Courtauld and is followed by a reception.  The conference continues
at the British Museum on Saturday with a full day of presentations.

To book a place: UKP20 (UKP12 students and concessions: over 60).
Complimentary places available for British Museum staff and
Courtauld staff/students with advance booking required.

Book online at

    <URL:http://courtauld-institute.digitalmuseum.co.uk>

or send a cheque payable to 'Courtauld Institute of Art' to

    Research Forum Events Co-ordinator
    Research Forum
    The Courtauld Institute of Art
    Somerset House
    Strand
    London WC2R 0RN

stating the event title 'Amaravati conference'.

For further information, email researchforumevents<-a t->courtauld< . >ac< . >uk
or call +44 7834 521471

The Asahi Shimbun Gallery of Amaravati Sculpture will be open
throughout Museum opening hours Friday-Sunday 5-7 September, 2014.

Organised by Dr Michael Willis (The British Museum) and Professor
David Park (The Courtauld Institute of Art)

Programme

Friday 5 September
Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre
The Courtauld Institute of Art

    17:30 - 18:00           Registration

    18:00   Welcome:        Deborah Swallow
                            The Courtauld Institute of Art

    18:05 - 19:00           Akira Shimada
                            State University of New York at New
                            Paltz
                            The Discovery of the Amaravati Stupa:
                            Early Excavations and Interpretations

    19:00 - 20:45           Reception

Saturday 6 September
The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Seminar Rooms
British Museum

    09:30 - 10:00           Registration

    Session 1
    Chair:  Jan Stuart
    The British Museum

        10:00 - 10:30       Peter Skilling
                            French School of Asian Studies (EFEO),
                            Bangkok
                            Amaravati in the Age of Great Caityas

        10:30 - 10:55       Monika Zin
                            Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen
                            and Freie Universitat Berlin
                            Buddhist Narratives and Amaravati

        10:55 - 11:05       Discussion

        11:05 - 11:35       Coffee/Tea break (Coffee/tea provided in
                            Sackler Seminar Rooms)

    Session 2
    Chair:  David Park
    The Courtauld Institute of Art

        11:35 - 12:00       Anna Slaczka
                            Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
                            An Amaravati Pillar Fragment from the
                            Collection of the Rijksmuseum

        12:00 - 12:30       Michael Willis
                            The British Museum
                            A Sculpture from Goli in the British
                            Museum: Protective Goddesses in the
                            Service of Buddhism

        12:30 - 12:45       Discussion

        12:45 - 14:15       Break for lunch (lunch not provided)

    Session 3
    Chair: Michael Willis
    The British Museum

        14:15 - 14:40       Nick Barnard
                            Victoria and Albert Museum
                            A Third-century Nagarjunakonda Relief
                            and Other Sculpture from Andhra Pradesh
                            in the Victoria and Albert Museum

        14:40 - 15:05       Catherine Becker
                            University of Illinois at Chicago
                            Mahinda's Visit to... Amaravati?:
                            Narrative Connections between Buddhist
                            Communities in Andhra and Sri Lanka

        15:05 - 15:15       Discussion

        15:15 - 15:45       Tea/coffee break Tea/coffee provided in
        Sackler Seminar Rooms

    Session 4 Chair
    Sharon Cather
    The Courtauld Institute of Art

        15:45 - 16:10       Roddy Murray
                            An Lanntair Arts Centre, Stornoway, Isle
                            of Lewis
                            Colonel Colin Mackenzie, the Gaelic
                            Surveyor: Amaravati Mapped and Charted,
                            1797-1817

        16:10 - 16:35       Nic Lee
                            The British Museum

                            Tracey Sweek
                            The British Museum
                            and
                            David Park
                            The Courtauld Institute of Art
                            'Elliot Marbles' to Asahi Shimbun
                            Gallery: a Conservation History of the
                            Amaravati Sculptures in the British
                            Museum

        16:35 - 17:00       D. Harsha Vardhan
                            Artist, Delhi
                            Recreating the Living Sculpture of
                            Amaravati at Buddhavanam, India

        17:00 - 17:20       Discussion and concluding Remarks

        17:20               End

Giovanni Verri
Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and
    Conservation
Courtauld Institute of Art
Somerset House
Strand WC2R 0RN
London
+44 20 7848 2164






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                  Conservation DistList Instance 28:9
                 Distributed: Saturday, August 2, 2014
                        Message Id: cdl-28-9-007
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