2008 - MICHIGAN ORIENTAL ART SOCIETY - Our 37th Year
Sunday, October 2008 • 1:30 pm
SITE: St. Johns Hospital – Oakland: Education Center
27351 Dequindre Rd; Madison Heights
North of 11 Mile Rd (across from Target store)
Conveniently located North of I-696 and East of I-75
Meeting Information: Patricia Beer @ 586-558- 9767
The Ritual of Color in Tibetan Art and Architecture
By Shuishan Yu
Assistant Professor of Art History
Oakland University
Tibetan art and architecture are famous for their brilliant colors. Different regions and Lamaist schools had developed unique color schemes characteristic to their local styles and cultural identities. What is the cause of such a diverse colorful world in Tibetan art and architecture? What are the meanings of different colors in Tibetan cultures? Why is color so important to the life and religious practice in Tibet? By analyzing the relationship between ritual and color symbolism in Tibetan Buddhism, this lecture will shed some light on these questions and help to build a framework for a better understanding of the colorful world of Tibetan art and architecture.
Tibetans also like to decorate their front doors. The lintel of the door is usually inscribed with Buddhist mantras and the use of wood and glass makes the frame appear like a shrine and Buddhist statues and other sacred objects are placed within it. The brackets between the column and the lintel are also painted. Some people also place a shrine or a Yak horn on the top of the lintel. In Shigatse objects similar to stupas are often placed on the lintel. There is usually a single vermeil or pitch-black door leaf, decorated with iron or bronze flakes or rings and symbols of the Sun and the Moon or Buddhist swastika. The surrounding walls outside the frame are designed like those of windows mentioned above.
The inside of the houses are even more beautifully decorated. Flowery Tibetan Carpets, paintings and statues are the necessities of a family. All the walls, pillars, desks and cabinets are carefully painted with Buddhist themes or auspicious patterns. The shrine room holds the most value for Tibetans. Usually Buddhist statues are put in the center of the altar, and in front of these offerings, such as Butter Sculptures and pure water are placed. The walls are often hung with Thangkas.
Besides the Stone Towers, there are also single-story houses in Tibet, as well as tents in the pastures of Northern Tibet, which are also elaborately designed and mostly used as shrines now. In the forested eastern region wooden houses are more popular. In the remote Ngari and other regions, caves and earthen houses are built.
