Himalayas: An Aesthetic Adventure exhibition will be held April 5-August 17, 2003 at Regenstein Hall, Art Institute of Chicago. It is the first major exhibition to include works of art from the entire Himalayan region, comprised of objects from India, Kashmir, Nepal, Pakistan, Tibet, and Bhutan to explore the particular beauty and artistic achievement that developed from a spiritual tradition unique to the Himalayas. The exhibition will include 187 works of mostly religious art created between the sixth and nineteenth centuries from private and public collections in North America, Europe, and Asia. Most of these objects have never before been publicly exhibited.
The exhibition features temple sculptures of stone and wood, works in terracotta, and exquisitely cast bronzes that have been embellished with inlaid gemstones, gilding, and paint; vividly colored paintings--from reverential portraits to awe-provoking deities--on cloth, palm leaf, paper, and wood; and ritual objects of various media. These works emerged within the framework of the theological needs of the two great Asian religions--Hinduism and Buddhism--that prevail to this day in the Himalayas. Although the objects originally functioned as instruments of religious rituals and devotion, they also express the aesthetic impulses of countless generations of artists, among whom were many creative geniuses. Each object in the exhibition has been carefully selected principally for its aesthetic excellence.