TIBETAN SAND PAINTING, OPERA & DANCE COMPLEMENT WHEN SILK WAS GOLD

Three Tibetan Buddhist monks will create a sacred sand mandala, an intricate spiritual design made from colorful grains of sandat the Cleveland Museum of Art from October 18 through November 30, 1997. The ancient Tibetan art form--along with an exotic folk opera and dance performance--tops the museum's complementary programming for the exhibition, When Silk Was Gold: Central Asian and Chinese Textiles in The Cleveland and Metropolitan Museums of Art.

The three Tibetan monks, who are from the Dalai Lama's personal monastery in Ithaca, New York, will meticulously craft a circular, seven-foot sand painting for six weeks inside the museum's Armor Court. The particular work of art is known as the Kalachakra Sand Mandala, the most sacred of the mandalas, named after the Kalachakra deity. Working from the center outward, the monks will use special narrow funnels to apply the Himalayan sands almost grain-by-grain. The six-week display of Tibetan art in the making is free to the public. Spectators are invited to ask questions of the monks during their creation of the mandala and are welcomed to join them during their daily meditations.

A traditional opening ceremony to honor the sand mandala will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 18, with ritual chanting and preliminary drawings by the monks. Once the sand mandala is completed, the monks will hold a dismantling ceremony from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, November 30. During this ceremony, the monks will carefully place the sand into a vase and lead a procession out to the Wade Oval Lagoon, where they will pour the sand into the water.

For more than a 1,000 years Tibetan monks have created sand mandalas portraying the spiritual path each Buddhist must travel before he or she can reach enlightenment. The instructions for reaching enlightenment are shown in three different areas radiating from the center of the Kalachakra sand painting. These focus on the teachings of cosmology, the nature and function of the human body and the meditative path toward enlightenment.

Mandalas occur throughout Tibetan art, as well as Sino-Tibetan art. Examples of Sino-Tibetan art include one of the most significant works in the When Silk Was Gold exhibitionThe Metropolitan Museum of Art's 8-foot high Yamantaka Mandala with Imperial Portraits. The ancient imposing textile was woven with threads of silk and gold tapestry in an imperial workshop.

Tibetan sand mandalas will be the topic of special lectures given by Dr. Robert Thurman, the Jay Tosongkhapa Chair in Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Department of Religion, Columbia University, New York, and by Dr. Paul Nietupski, Professor of Asian Religions at John Carroll University in Cleveland.

Dr. Thurman's lectureMandala: Theory and Practice is Sunday, November 16 at 3 p.m. Dr. Nietupski will give three lectures on The Kalachakra Mandala: Constructing a Celestial Mansion ; Sunday, October 26 at 3 p.m.; Friday, November 7 at 6 p.m.; and Friday, November 21 at 6 pm.

While Tibet's culture is heavily influenced by the Buddhist religion, its history is also rich in the performing arts. Representing the secular aspects of Tibet's cultural spectrum, the museum is proud to announce two performing arts events: a Tibetan Opera: Sukyi Nima on Friday, October 31 at 8 p.m. and an Evening of Tibetan Dance and Music on Saturday, November 1 at 8 p.m. Both performances are in the museum's Gartner Auditorium. Tickets for Sukyi Nima are $12 ($10 for CMA members). Admission for an Evening of Tibetan Dance and Music are $10 ($8 for CMA members).

The Tibetan opera of Sukyi Nima is a traditional piece of folk theater that has been performed in Tibetan monasteries, villages, and in the Dalai Lama's Court since the 14th century. The opera will feature seven performers in 44 different roles. Costumed in vibrantly rich brocades, the performers wear two types of masks: flat images for human characters and full head masks for animals.

The story of Sukyi Nima is about a beautiful young girl, who is destined to become the king's newest wife, but her arrival in the king's palace evokes the wrath of the evil queen. As a result, Sukyi Nima is wrongly accused of murdering her own baby and is banished from the king's court. Her experiences in exile eventually lead her back to the king's court where her good name is restored, and her conspirators are punished.

The folk tale of Sukyi Nima is poignant for Tibetans who have fled their country and are in exile as a result of China's invasion from 1949 to 1951. Many Tibetans have come to the United States, where they have attracted the support of several human rights groups and supporters. These groups are sympathetic to the political upheaval the Tibetan people have faced.

The sand mandala and the Tibetan opera, song and dance performances are among an array of events for all ages complementing When Silk Was Gold, which will be on view from October 26 through January 4 before traveling to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Additional events include weekend family textile art fair (December 6 and 7), a lecture series, and gallery talks. See programs for a complete listing of events complementing the exhibition.

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