ASIA 260 - Buddhist Art and Visual Culture

Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)

(Same as ART 260) This course explores the birth, evolution, and transmission of Buddhist images across Asia from the 3rd century BCE to the 19th century. We delve into the rich visual and material cultures of Buddhist communities in the Indian subcontinent, China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Siberia, and Southeast Asia. With a strong emphasis on cross-cultural exchange, the course examines Buddhist art in the context of other religions and against the backdrop of war, trade, and migration. We learn to read Buddhist images and decipher their meaning and function across various media and modes of making, including murals, monasteries, cave complexes, dance rituals, gardens, and personal adornment. How do we account for the rise of Greco-Buddhist art in India? When and how did Buddhist art and patronage take root in China? What was the role of Zen architecture in the Japanese shogunate? Why do we find Buddhist architecture in imperial Russia? How did the female image in Buddhism change over time and across different cultural spheres? These are just some of the questions we pursue as we analyze the role of Buddhist art in the formation of trans-Asia networks of exchange. Petya Andreeva.

Prerequisite(s): ART 105-ART 106 or a 100-level Asian Studies course, or permission of the instructor.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS