The Brooklyn Museum is set to unveil a new gallery dedicated to its ‘Arts of Buddhism’ collection on January 21, 2022. It is the latest space in a series of new galleries for the museum’s ‘Arts of Asia’ and ‘Islamic World’ collections.
Organised by Joan Cummins, senior curator of Asian art, the installation includes nearly 70 objects from 14 countries, dating from the second century C.E. to the early 2000s.
“We are excited to bring out some of Brooklyn’s great treasures in this gallery, and we’re excited to show them in a new way,” Cummins told ARTnews.
“Instead of dividing things up by region or setting them up chronologically, we are juxtaposing Buddhas from India, Thailand, and Japan – and bodhisattvas from Indonesia, Korea, and China – made hundreds of years apart.”
Modernising the museum’s second floor
The gallery will introduce visitors to the beliefs and history of Buddhism, with artworks including sculptures of Buddhas and other figures. Objects on display include ritual tools and ornaments created for use in Buddhist temples.
New objects on view include a rare image of the goddess Tara, a Chinese reliquary dedicated by a Buddhist monk and his mother, and a gilt-bronze seated Buddha from southern China.
The gallery will showcase at least 19 objects that have never been displayed at the Brooklyn Museum. Additionally, a pair of Japanese mandala paintings will be exhibited for the first time in 25 years.
Next year, the museum will unveil galleries for its ‘Arts of the Himalayas’, ‘Arts of the Islamic World’ and ‘Arts of South Asia’ collections. The galleries are part of a project to modernise the second floor of the Brooklyn Museum.
“In some cases the similarities are obvious; in others one has to look carefully to see what the images have in common,” Cummins told the publication.
“And careful looking will reveal some absolutely brilliant artistry because the museum has really deep and important holdings of Buddhist art.”
Image: Brooklyn Museum
