Flaten Art Museum Opening Reception for Fall Exhibitions

All are invited to a ceremonial blessing followed by an opening reception for  Gateway to Himalayan Art and Tashi Delek, Minnesota!  At 5 p.m., Minneapolis Tibetan dance group Gyashae Rukag will lead a procession into the Center for Art and Dance and monks from the Gyuto Wheel of Dharma Monastery in Minneapolis will offer ritual blessings. The opening reception begins at 5:30 p.m. with brief remarks followed by light refreshments. This event is free and open to the public. Free parking is available for visitors outside Buntrock Commons.

Flaten Art Museum (FAM) at St. Olaf College will host Gateway to Himalayan Art in the fall of 2025. Organized by the Rubin Museum, this exhibition offers an introduction to the forms, concepts, meanings, and traditions of present-day Bhutan, China, India, Mongolia, Nepal and Tibet. Objects include thangka paintings, mandala, a sacred shrine cabinet, and numerous statues and ritual objects such as a Tibetan prayer wheel, vajra, and bell. Thematic links include Tibetan medical practice, the feminine divine as personified within the esoteric Buddhist tradition, Tibetan Buddhist book traditions (including woodblocks for printing sacred texts), the processes and materials involved in painting a Buddhist thangka, and casting a sacred sculpture. Our exhibition will be grounded in the living practices of the thriving Tibetan community in Minnesota.