Pacific Asia Museum and Occidental College to Host Tibetan Furniture Symposium

Furniture World Magazine

Pacific Asia Museum has partnered with Occidental College to present a day-long symposium on November 13, 2004 at the Interfaith Center on the Occidental campus. The symposium will be an interdisciplinary exploration of Tibetan furniture as a new subject for art history, religious studies, anthropology, Tibetan studies, and related fields. Interest in Tibetan furniture is growing and this symposium will provide the attention it has so long deserved. The nine speakers and four discussants represent a variety of impressive backgrounds and renowned institutions, and include scholars from area universities, practitioners, and collectors, along with Pacific Asia Museum staff. The speakers are Luca Corona, Dale Gluckman, Jonathan Bell, Dr. Rob Linrothe, Geshe Lobzang Tsetan, Dr. Louise Yuhas, Dr. Robert Brown, Tony Anninos, Dr. Ruth Hayward, Dr. Pam Logan and Dr. David Germano. As a follow-up to the symposium, an on-line version will be posted to the museum’s website. This virtual seminar will feature selected symposium papers, links to Asian studies and related websites, a virtual tour of the exhibition, and an on-line discussion area through which students and others can ask questions and make comments about the exhibition and symposium. The agenda for the November 13 symposium is as follows: Morning Session 9:00-12:00 Introduction and Welcome Remarks David Kamansky, Senior Curator and Director Emeritus, Pacific Asia Museum Moderator - David Kamansky, Senior Curator and Director Emeritus, Pacific Asia Museum Presenters: 1. Luca Corona, Independent Scholar, Kathmandu and Milan Tibetan Furniture, Its Construction and Use in Tibetan Society 2. Dale Gluckman, Curator of Costume and Textile, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Some Comments on the Use of Textile Designs in Decorations on Tibetan Furniture 3. Jonathan Bell, Associate Project Specialist, Getty Conservation Institute Tibetan Furniture Painting as Compared with Some Other Painting Traditions 4. Dr. Rob Linrothe, , Curator of Himalayan Art, Rubin Museum of Art, and Associate Professor, Skidmore College Tibetan Tables in Thangkas in The Rubin Museum Collection: Some Observations 5. Geshe Lobzang Tsetan, Monk from Ladakh, part time Lecturer at Smith College Use of Tibetan Furniture in Some Buddhist Rituals Discussants 1. Dr. Louise Yuhas, Professor and Chair, Department of Art History and Visual Arts,Occidental College 2. Dr. Robert Brown,. Professor, Department of Art History, University of California at Los Angeles Lunch Break 12:30 – 2:00 Afternoon Session 2:00 – 5:30 Moderator – Dr. Stephen Markel, Curator and Department Head of South and Southeast Asian Art, LACMA Presenters 1. Tony Anninos, Independent Scholar The table as an Important Object in Tibetan Furniture Tradition 2. Dr. Ruth Hayward, Independent Scholar A Collector’s Experience 3. Dr. Pam Logan, , President, KhamAid, and FeiFei Li, Doctoral Candidate, California Institute of Technology Furniture in Modern Tibetan Homes: Semi-Nomadic and Kham examples 1. Dr. David Germano, Associate Professor, University of Virginia Tibetan Furniture Making Since 1959, and the THDL Project Discussants 1. Dr. John Listopad, The Patrick J. Maveety Curator of Asian Art, The Cantor Center for the Visual Arts at Stanford University, where he is Lecturer in Himalayan Arts 2. Dr. Sonja Quintanilla, Research Associate, Department of Art History, University of California at Irvine Closing Remarks 5:30 – 6:00 David Kamansky, Senior Curator and Director Emeritus, Pacific Asia Museum Pacific Asia Museum, located at 46 N. Los Robles Ave. in Pasadena, is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 8 p.m. on Fridays. Admission is $7 for adults, $5 for students and seniors, and free for Museum members. Children are admitted free. Free parking is available next to the Museum. For more information, visit www.pacificasiamuseum.org or phone (626) 449-2742.