To unfold the multilayered collections of Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Lord Buddha and Cultural Heritage Studies Chair, Dr. B.R Ambedkar University of Social Sciences located at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh and Buddhist Heritage Research Institute, Heritage Society located at Patna, Bihar organized jointly an International Webinar on the theme 'Buddhist Masterpieces: Asian Art Museum of San Francisco'. As we know, Museums are one of the most important landmarks of civilization for all countries of the world. They are of great importance as they contain heritage and historical artifacts of previous civilizations in all fields and from all ages. It gives us a picture of civilizations we have not seen before, whether historical, artistic or cultural.
The webinar was conducted under the Patronship of Prof. Asha Shukla, Vice Chancellor of BRAUSS. Prof. Shukla presented the opening speech and also stressed upon the importance of Art Museums for the study of the past with the help of cultural artifacts and remnants. This was followed by the introductory address delivered by Prof. Neeru Misra, Lord Buddha and Cultural Heritage studies Chair of BRAUSS. Prof. Mishra invited the Speaker for the session and stated the vital role that hands on experience occupies in the area of Art history, Archaeology and Museums and highlighted the contributions made by the Speaker and the Chairperson in their respective fields.
The esteemed Speaker of the webinar was Sri Nandan Shastri, Member, American Alliance of Museums and former Curator, Sardar Patel University Museum, Gujarat. The Speaker started his talk with a presentation on vital displays at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, elucidated and gave a comprehensive explanation about major twenty five Buddhist Masterpieces. Shastri in his presentation touched upon various aspects of Buddhist Art and showcased exceptional and priceless sculptures related to Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism. The magnificent collections of Buddhist masterpieces in Asian Art Museum are exquisite and irreplaceable with regards to the rich history of Buddhism. He talked about Thai manuscripts, on elegant Buddhist paintings with special emphasis on the importance of Thangka paintings and further highlighted about the novel nature of varied Iconographical depictions of sculptures along with the portrayal of Buddhist deities and Lamas.
Dr. Pratapachandran S, Associate Professor, M.S University, Baroda and former Archaeologist, ASI, New Delhi was the Chairperson. Presenting his closing remarks he conveyed his regards to the present panelists and organizers for conducting such a remarkable event and specially thanked Speaker Sri Nandan Shastri for giving an illuminative and engaging talk. He mentioned the Archaeology Department Museum present in Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Gujarat. Dr. Pratapachandran put forward his questions and queries to the esteemed Speaker and finally thanked the coordinators for inviting him to the International Webinar.
Dr. Anantashutosh Dwivedi, Director General, Heritage Society, Patna proposed the Vote of thanks and appreciated the rich and comprehensive collections of south Asian imagery and Buddhist art pieces of the museum and also the inspirational works executed by Nandan Shastri shown through his power point presentation of art objects which allowed participants to pay a digital visit to the museum.
Azad Hind Gulshan Nanda, Director, Buddhist Heritage Research Institute of Heritage Society moderated the session, Dr. Ajay Verma, Registrar, BRAUSS, Mhow was the Administrative Coordinator of the program and a number of participants joined the webinar broadcasts on different social platforms.
Here is your program link: https://www.youtube.com/embed/yTUZsqPBDDA
