Art of Buchen from the Valley of Clouds in Spiti, Western Himalayas

Tuesday 10 December 2019

"For the well-being of men and the flourishing of the doctrine", the art of Buchen from the Valley of Clouds in Spiti, Western Himalayas.

by Pascale Dollfus, Center for Himalayan Studies, CNRS. UPR 299.

In the Valley of the Clouds at Spiti, men who call themselves the disciples (Tib, bu-chen, lit. "great sons") of the Tibetan yogi Thangtong Gyalpo (1361-1485) still perpetuate the art of their master, an atypical religious to whom tradition attributes the invention of suspended iron bridges but also that of the theater. Handling paradoxes, excesses and laughter, they provide a deep but accessible education to all, going from village to village to tell edifying stories. Whether readings, recitations accompanied by painting, or skits belonging more to pantomime than theater, the depictions of the buchen generally conclude with a ritual of spectacular exorcism specific to them, during which the principal officiant breaks with a round and dense stone a long block of schist, placed on the abdomen of a sidekick lying on his back, in order to kill the demon who is locked up there.

LECTURE on Tuesday 10 December 2019, at 6PM in the Grand Salon de la Maison de l'Asie, 22 avenue du Président Wilson, 75016 PARIS.

02/12/2019 13:44

The reconstruction of monuments and communities in Nepal after the earthquake of 2015

Friday 22 November 2019

Workshop The reconstruction of monuments and communities in Nepal after the earthquake of 2015.
With the participation of David Andolfatto, Denis Blamont, Michael Hutt, Blandine Ripert and Brigitte Steinmann.

On 25 April 2015 a massive earthquake struck Nepal, resulting in the loss of almost 9,000 lives as well as catastrophic destruction to homes, temples and other national monuments of inestimable historical and cultural value. The national and international response has been highly varied, both with regard to the measures adopted and the successes achieved. In this workshop, five internationally known scholars of Nepal will talk about their own experiences in engaging with the challenges of reconstructing the country’s buildings and communities. These will include an overview of the different responses to conservation and reconstruction in the Kathmandu Valley (David Andolfatto); a discussion of the measures taken to restore infrastructure and to develop social services in the communities (Denis Blamont, Blandine Ripert and Brigitte Steinmann); and a presentation of the Nepali-language poetry that has emerged in the four years that have elapsed since the earthquake struck (Michael Hutt).

Workshop at 2:30 PM
in the Grand Salon de la Maison de l’Asie, 22 avenue du Président Wilson, 75016 PARIS

04/11/2019 23:56

Archeology of predynastic Nepal: from proto-history to the Kingdom of Lo (15th c.)

Mardi 22 octobre 2019

par Marion Poux, PhD student HTD, EPHE.

The district of Mustang (Nepal), also known as the Kingdom of Lo, now includes an area of ​​3565 m2 which is organized around the valley of Kali Gandaki, rare Himalayan river to flow from North to south. If the written history of the region begins in the eighth century with a mention in the Dunhang texts, the study of archaeological data shows us that the valley has a much older history.

In this paper we shall present the archaeological elements preliminary to the understanding of the history of Mustang. We shall begin by examining the possible presence of a funerary tradition in the south of the valley from the first millennium BC. We shall continue with a brief presentation of the work carried out by the Nepal German Project on High Mountain Archeology in the 90s which will allow us to establish some chronological and cultural bases for the second half of the 1st millennium BC.

Finally, we shall discuss a more recent history, from the 10th century to the 14th century, a period marked by significant architectural development and a more visible religious presence culminating in the establishment of the Lo dynasty in the early 15th century.

LECTURE at 6pm
in the Grand Salon of la Maison de l’Asie, 22 avenue du Président Wilson, 75016 PARIS

01/10/2019 12:55

Poems written by students on medieval Chinese manuscripts from Dunhuang

Jeudi 26 septembre 2019

par Imre Galambos de l’Université de Cambridge.

Among the tens of thousands of Chinese manuscripts recovered from a sealed-off cave in Dunhuang, a group of items carries texts copied by students as part of their schoolwork. These manuscripts invariably come from the period between the second half of the 9th century and the end of the 10th century, the time when the oasis city of Dunhuang operated as a de facto independent state along what is now known as the Silk Road.

The students wrote colophons at the end of the texts, stating their names, affiliation and the date of copying the text. In addition, many of the manuscripts contain (sometimes on the verso) the students' poems, often embedded amidst random scribbles and drawings. A portion of them are thematically related to the business of copying manuscripts. As some poems feature in more than one manuscript, at times decades apart, it is likely that they were not written by the students who wrote them down but represent a shared repertoire of such poetry throughout the region.

This talk will examine students' poems in an attempt to understand how they relate to the students who copied the manuscripts and to shed light on their connections beyond the immediate community of Dunhuang students. I will also discuss the circumstances under which the manuscripts were produced and used.

LECTURE on Thursday 26 September 2019 à 6pm, in the Grand Salon de la Maison de l'Asie, 22 avenue du Président Wilson, 75016 PARIS.

28/08/2019 13:32

Program of Lectures for the Second Semester of 2019

The lectures will be held at 6:00 PM at the Maison de l’Asie

22 avenue du Président Wilson, 75016 PARIS Jeudi 26 septembre 2019 :

Poems written by students on medieval Chinese manuscripts from Dunhuang

by Imre Galambos, from Cambridge University. Tuesday 22 October 2019 :

Archeology of predynastic Nepal: from proto-history to the Kingdom of Lo (15th century)

by Marion Poux, PhD student HTD, EPHE. Friday 22 November 2019 at 2:30 PM :

Round table The reconstruction of monuments and communities in Nepal after the earthquake of 2015.

With the participation of David Andolfatto, Denis Blamont, Michael Hutt, Blandine Ripert and Brigitte Steinmann.
The round table will be held at 2:30 PM. Tuesday 10 December 2019 :

"For the well-being of men and the flourishing of the doctrine", the art of Buchen from the Valley of Clouds in Spiti, Western Himalayas

by Pascale Dollfus, Ethnologist.

Subject to modification

17/06/2019 08:29

In the land of Khaś: New archaeological data on the art and history of Western Nepal

by David C. Andolfatto, PhD student Paris-Sorbonne IV, consultant for the UNESCO Kathmandu office.

Le «Pays des Khaś» (khaśadeśa) est l’appellation médiévale employée pour désigner le Népal occidental. Les Khaś en question sont une ethnie des piémonts himalayens résidant principalement entre l’ouest du Népal et l’Uttarkhand indien. Entre le 12e et le 14e siècle l’empire des rois Khaś Malla règne sur une majeure partie de la région. Les arts qui se développent avant, pendant et après cette période indiquent une richesse culturelle indéniable, à la croisée de divers horizons culturelles.

À l’issue de plusieurs séjours de terrain, cette communication présentera les différents styles artistiques en présence ainsi que leurs contextes socio-culturels. La présentation se penchera également sur un corpus de représentations médiévales inédit et mettant en scène des pratiques oraculaires médiumiques.

LECTURE at 6pm
in the Grand Salon of the Maison de l’Asie, 22 avenue du Président Wilson, 75016 PARIS

17/06/2019 08:19

Opening the hidden countries (sbas yul) on the three borders of Kanchenjunga

Tuesday 28 May 2019

Opening the hidden countries (sbas yul) on the three borders of Kanchenjunga. Sikkim, Tibet, Nepal: Iconography, history and politics 18th-21st centuries

by Brigitte Steinmann, Professor, Institute of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Lille and CNRS (Clerse UMR 8019 and C.R.C.A.O. Paris).

Between the 17th and 19th centuries, Nepal, Sikkim and Tibet were three independent Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms that shared geographical boundaries and territories around the Kanchenjunga Massif. This sacred mountain, occupied by the Tibetan warrior gods Dzonga and Yabdud, was the scene of great religious and political events from the 17th century: the north-eastern border regions of Nepal (Walungchung gola) and north of Sikkim (Dzongu, Lachen) were marked religiously by the arrival of great gter ston and Tibetan trantrists and by the installation of royal Buddhist lineages; while the successive political events and colonial wars between Tibet, Nepal and Sikkim, between the 18th and 19th centuries, changed profoundly the political and social life of chieftaincies and local indigenous peoples, helping to chart new frontiers. modern states.In this essay on religious and political history, we rely on historical and iconographic documents, as well as on ethnographic surveys (especially between the 1980s and 2014).

LECTURE at 6pm
in the Grand Salon de la Maison de l’Asie, 22 avenue du Président Wilson, 75016 PARIS

29/04/2019 12:55