A portion of the museum's general operating funds for this fiscal year has been provided through grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Tibetan Art and Culture to Highlight Winter Schedule at the Williams College Museum of Art

Download WCMA's winter calendar

Williamstown, MA—Two exhibitions focusing on the art and culture of Tibet—Tibet: Mountains and Valleys, Castles and Tents from the Newark Museum Collection and Sacred Art of Tibet: Making a Mandala—will highlight the winter schedule at the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA). Tibet: Mountains and Valleys, Castles and Tents will open on March 1. During the exhibition, two Tibetan monks will also be in residency at the museum for three weeks while they create a sand mandala. Other winter highlights include two new photography exhibitions, and a collection of artists’ videos addressing current events.

“We are presenting a rich selection of exhibitions and programs this winter, featuring Tibet and its living culture,” says Director Linda Shearer. “As a college student in the 60s, my fascination with Tibet drew me to study the Tibetan community in Freewood Acres, New Jersey—something I will never forget. In 1994 I was thrilled that WCMA hosted two monks from the Namgyal Monastery, who created a sand mandala. Our attendance hit a record for that month, and I was constantly asked when the monks would return. It is a special pleasure to have these monks back at WCMA. We look forward to welcoming new visitors and old friends to this unique artistic, religious, and cultural experience.”

Tibetan Art, Monks in Residency

Tibet: Mountains and Valleys, Castles and Tents (March 1-August 3, 2003) presents selections from the Newark Museum’s acclaimed collection of Tibetan art, including extraordinary examples of official regalia, noble jewelry, castle furnishings, horse gear, and weapons that reflect the legacy of the country’s proud warrior elite. These objects are shown in conjunction with rare photographs taken by some of the earliest Western visitors to Tibet, documenting the country’s rugged terrain and traditional lifestyles in the early twentieth century.

Two monks from the Namgyal Monastery, in residency during Sacred Art of Tibet: Making a Mandala (April 15-May 3, 2003), will painstakingly lay millions of grains of sand into place on a flat platform over a period of three weeks in WCMA’s rotunda. Formed from traditional icons of geometric shapes and ancient spiritual symbols, the exquisite sand mandala is used as a tool for re-consecrating the earth and its inhabitants.

Two New Photography Exhibitions

WCMA will also present two new exhibitions of photography this winter. Chronicling Faith: Maksim Dmitriev and the Renaissance of Russian Orthodox Monasticism (February 1-June 15, 2003) offers approximately 30 of Russian photographer Maksim Dmitriev’s evocative images of religious life among the Orthodox population of the Volga region during the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. Wait Until Dark: Night Photography from the Collection of Jay Richard DiBiaso (February 8-July 6, 2003) looks at a range of nocturnal photographs from the collection of Jay Richard DiBiaso in which the interplay of light and dark in both color and black-and-white compositions evoke a range of sensations: pending danger, overwhelming curiosity, and profound beauty.

Artists’ Videos Addressing Current Events

Media Field: pol·i·tick (January 18-June 29, 2003) features artists’ videos that address current events, including works by Johan Grimonprez, Paul Chan, Kerry Tribe, Walid Ra’ad, and Omer Fast. These videos examine the cultural, textual, and sexual aspects of domestic and international affairs, along with the media’s role in shaping reality.

Upcoming Events

In addition to the new exhibitions, WCMA will be hosting a number of special events this winter. Professor Georges Dreyfus will give a talk and book signing at 2 p.m. on March 2. Professor Dreyfus is the author of The Sound of Two Hands Clapping: The Education of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk. Also, Professor William G. Wagner, organizer of Chronicling Faith, will speak on Maksim Dmitriev’s work on April 10. His lecture, “Exposing Realism: Maksim Dmitriev and the Photographic Depiction of Female Monastic Life in Late Imperial Russia,” will begin at 4 p.m. at the museum.

High quality publicity images for exhibitions can be found at www.wcma.org/press.

The Williams College Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free and the museum is wheelchair accessible.

Contact: Jonathan Cannon, Public Relations Coordinator
413.597.3178; WCMA@williams.edu