Infinite Compassion: Avalokiteshvara in Asian Art

Infinite Compassion: Avalokiteshvara in Asian Art, a collaboration with the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, introduced visitors to Buddhist art, culture, and belief across Asia.

After the Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, is the most ubiquitous deity in Mahayana Buddhism. This revered Bodhisattva promotes compassion. A Bodhisattva is an individual who, upon achieving enlightenment, renounces his/her own Nirvana (extinction) in order to help others achieve enlightenment. The exhibit interpreted this aspect of Buddhist art with 46 sculptures, ritual objects, paintings (thangkas) and photographs from India, Tibet, China, Nepal and Japan, as well as contemporary Asian art.

Guest Curator and scholar Patricia Karetzky, (O. Munsterberg Chair of Asian Art, Bard College), developed the exhibition content in collaboration with the two museums. Additional works will be on loan from the Rubin Museum of Art; the Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College and private collectors.