Folk And Traditional Arts

This exhibition presents an international survey of Buddhism and Buddhist art, beginning with the religion’s origins in India and following its spread through mainland and island Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, and East Asia. Incorporating 150 masterpieces of pan-Asian Buddhist art, the exhibition introduces key concepts of Buddhist thought and practice viewed through rare and extraordinarily beautiful Buddhist sculptures, paintings, and ritual objects. Drawn from LACMA’s permanent collection, with several significant loans from private collections, the exhibition explores the life of the Buddha, the role of the bodhisattva, Buddhist cosmology, and key concepts such as dharma, karma, nirvana, mantra, mudra, and mandala.

This exhibition presents an international survey of Buddhism and Buddhist art, beginning with the religion’s origins in India and following its spread through mainland and island Southeast Asia, the Himalayas, and East Asia. Incorporating 150 masterpieces of pan-Asian Buddhist art, the exhibition introduces key concepts of Buddhist thought and practice viewed through rare and extraordinarily beautiful Buddhist sculptures, paintings, and ritual objects. Drawn from LACMA’s permanent collection, with several significant loans from private collections, the exhibition explores the life of the Buddha, the role of the bodhisattva, Buddhist cosmology, and key concepts such as dharma, karma, nirvana, mantra, mudra, and mandala.