Gateway to Himalayan Art

Gateway to Himalayan Art is a special exhibition that introduces the main forms, concepts, meanings, and living traditions of Himalayan art. The exhibition features sublime religious art created from the 13th through the 21st centuries in Tibet, Nepal, China, and Mongolia, drawn from the permanent collection of the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, which organized the exhibition. 

At the start of the exhibition, a multimedia map orients visitors to the greater Himalayan region, which encompasses Indian, Nepalese, Bhutanese, and Tibetan cultures as well as interrelated Mongolian and Chinese traditions. Gateway to Himalayan Art invites exploration of these diverse cultural spheres through exemplary objects presented in three thematic sections: Symbols and Meanings, Materials and Technologies, and Living Practices. Traditional scroll paintings (thangkas), sculptures in various media, and ritual items comprise the diverse range of objects on view. 

This traveling exhibition is organized and provided by the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art and curated by Senior Curator of Himalayan Art Elena Pakhoutova. Gateway to Himalayan Art is an integral component of the Rubin Museum’s Project Himalayan Art, a three-part initiative that also includes the publication Himalayan Art in 108 Objectsand a digital platform Together they provide introductory resources for learning about and teaching Himalayan art.

In addition to introducing an astonishing array of beautiful and meaningful works of art, Gateway to Himalayan Art includes informative videos explaining a variety of religious, cultural, and artistic practices, audio recordings from Himalayan communities that highlight living traditions, and opportunities to dive deeper into the rich contextual material available on the Rubin’s integrated digital platform.

In conjunction with the JSMA’s presentation of Gateway to Himalayan Art, the Rubin is generously lending two additional global contemporary works by Shraddha Shrestha and Tsherin Sherpa that include elements from traditional Himalayan Buddhist art to welcome visitors in the museum lobby.

Gateway to Himalayan Art has already been shown at the Lehigh University Art Galleries in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College in 2023; the Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida in Gainesville and the Frank Museum of Art at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, in 2024; and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and the Flaten Art Museum at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, in 2025. After it closes at the JSMA, the exhibition will travel to the USC Pacific Asia Museum at the University of Southern California in Pasadena.

The Rubin recently transitioned to being a “museum without walls,” sharing its collection and expertise through traveling exhibitions, object loans, grant opportunities, and partnerships with the goal of encouraging understanding and appreciation of Himalayan art worldwide.