By: Professor David Park
The spread of Buddhism from India throughout Asia has left a legacy of truly great art. This sumptuous new film by award-winning filmmakers Mark Stewart Productions tells the story of that fragile inheritance through the treasures of Bhutan and Ladakh in the Himalayas and the Dunhuang Grottoes on the Silk Road in China. Efforts to save valuable wall paintings in these regions are contrasted with imminent threats of fire, flood, tourists, and devotional practice. The film focuses on the conservation work undertaken by the Courtauld Institute of Art (University of London) in collaboration with the Dunhuang Academy, Getty Conservation Institute and Bhutan’s Department of Culture. It also highlights the Courtauld’s efforts to promote awareness and understanding of the issues involved in conserving Buddhist art, through teaching and through the Buddhist Art Forum, a major conference sponsored by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation.
Professor David Park is Director of The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation at The Courtauld, including its MA program and related public events such as the Buddhist Art Forum of 2012 (published in 2013 as Art of Merit: Studies in Buddhist Art and Conservation). He is also Director of the Conservation of Wall Painting Department at The Courtauld, which is responsible for teaching MA and PhD students from around the world, and for conservation and research projects in Bhutan, India and elsewhere. His art-historical publications focus mainly on western medieval art, the most recent co-authored book – Wall Paintings of Eton – being awarded the 2013 William M. B. Berger Prize for British Art History.
Credit for the image:
Trongsa (Bhutan): detail of 17th-century wall painting
Photo © Courtauld Institute of Art/Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs of Bhutan
