Williamstown, MA—Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) will present a live online broadcast of its exhibition Sacred Art of Tibet: Making a Mandala. Two Tibetan monks will perform the sacred ritual of creating a sand mandala in the museum's rotunda. Visitors to WCMA's website (http://www.wcma.org/) will be able to view live images of the monks as they lay millions of grains of colored sand into place to form the mandala. This online broadcast will take place during the monks' entire three-week residency, April 15-May 3, 2003.

"The live feed offers a great enhancement to the overall impact of the mandala," says Associate Director John Stomberg. "It will never take the place of experiencing the mandala in person, but will allow our visitors the opportunity to keep up with the monks' daily progress."

Exhibitions of Tibetan Culture

Sacred Art of Tibet: Making a Mandala is one of the highlights of WCMA's current schedule. Visitors will be able to see the monks as they work on the mandala during museum hours. When the museum is closed, online visitors will be able to view an archive of still images from the monks' previous efforts.

The two Tibetan monks are from the Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca, NY, which is well known for its creation of sand mandalas. Formed from traditional iconography, a mandala symbolizes the Buddhist ideals of universal wisdom and compassion. Soon after the creation of the mandala, the monks will perform a traditional sand dispersal ceremony on Saturday, May 3 at 2 p.m. During this ceremony, the sand will be swept up from the mandala and deposited in the Green River in Williamstown. Online visitors will be able to view part of this ceremony as well.

The museum also is also presenting Tibet: Mountains and Valleys, Castles and Tents through August 3, 2003. This exhibition contains selections of Tibetan art and artifacts, including official regalia, noble jewelry, castle furnishings, horse gear, and weapons. These objects, from the Newark Museum's collection, are shown in conjunction with photographs taken by some of the earliest Western visitors to Tibet, documenting the country's terrain and traditional lifestyles.

Publicity Photographs Available

Publicity images for this exhibition and others 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