ONB 122 : Once upon a time: Buddhist narrative reliefs and murals
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- Vidya Dehejia
- Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian and South Asian Art at Columbia University;
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- Visiting Professor at the Mario Miranda Chair in Fine Art/Painting/Illustrative Cartooning, etc., Goa University
Course title: ONB 122 -Once upon a time: Buddhist narrative reliefs and murals
Duration: from 4th August to 13th August, 2014
Who can register: Course is open to students, researchers and general public
Number of Credits: One (15 Hours)
Course Instructor: Vidya Dehejia, Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian and South Asian Art at Columbia University; and Visiting Professor at the Mario Miranda Chair in Fine Art/Painting/Illustrative Cartooning, etc., Goa University
Overview: This course focuses on the rich tradition of story-telling in India, and proposes the existence of distinct modes of visual narration used by India’s artists to present stories visually, both in the medium of relief sculpture, and that of water colours on plastered walls. The course is devoted to the rich corpus of Buddhist narrative reliefs.
Click here for online registration
Full Description and Rationale: Stories revolve around actions that occur in space and unfold in time. In portraying their actors, artists have to make decisions on how to represent the space or spaces in which the story occurs, and how to shape the time during which the story unfolds. India’s artists adopted different ways to narrate the very same story, which varied according to the manner in which they chose to treat space and time. The resulting modes of storytelling create different effects. This course examines this rich artistic tradition, probing into the reasons for the choices made. To what extent did the patron determine such choices? What was the exact role of the artist in such decisions? Did the monastics play a major role in the Buddhist tradition of narrative? How were the narratives to be experienced, especially in view of the fact that several were located too high up for easy viewing while others were within dark caves? Were all narratives intended to be “read,” or were some there to complete the potency of a structure? Were manuscripts intended for viewing during oral narration? Why did India’s artists emphasize topographical space over chronological time? These and other questions will be raised while examining the rich tradition of India’s visual narratives.
Course Co-ordinator : Parag Parobo, Assistant Professor, Department of History, GoaUniversity ([email protected])
Please note that we will host the reading material on our Learning Management System Moodle (link and joining procedure will be forwarded to you via email once registered) and text books will be made available in university library.
Sr. No
Date and time of session
Theme and Readings
1
Monday, August 4 3 p.m to 5 p.m
An Introduction to Visual Narrative & Modes of Visual Narration
Readings:
Vidya Dehejia, Discourse in Early Buddhist Art: Visual Narratives of India, 1997 (chapters 1,2)
2.
Wednesday, August 6
3 p.m to 5 p.mThe Stupa at Bharhut: 2nd/1st c. BCE &The Stupa at Kanaganahalli, Karnataka
Readings:
Vidya Dehejia, Discourse in Early Buddhist Art (cited above): chapters 4, 5
Vidya Dehejia, “On circumambulating the Bharhut stupa: The viewer’s experience,” in Jyotindra Jain ed. Picture Showmen: Insights into the Narrative Tradition in Indian Art, Marg Publictions, 1998.
Vidya Dehejia, “Aniconism and the Multivalence of Emblems,” Ars Orientalis, 1991
Susan L. Huntington, “Aniconism and the Multivalence of Emblems: Another Look,” Ars Orientalis, 1993
3
Friday, August 8
3 p.m to 5 p.mNarrative achieves assurance: The main stupa at Sanchi: 1st c. BCE
Readings:
K. P. Poonacha, Kanaganahalli, 2011
4
Saturday, August 9
10.00 a.m to 1.00 p.mNarrative Cycles in Hellenistic Gandhara: 1st-5th c. CE
Readings:
Vidya Dehejia, Discourse in Early Buddhist Art (cited above): chapter 6
Vidya Dehejia ed. Unseen Presence: The Buddha and Sanchi, 1996
*Joanna Williams, “On Viewing Sanci,” Archives of Asian Art (1997-98)
*Vidya Dehejia, “The Collective and Popular Basis of Early Buddhist Patronage: Sacred Monuments 100 BC to 250 AD” in Barbara Stoler Miller ed. The Powers of Art, New York, 1992
5
Monday, August 11
3 p.m to 5 p.mThe Maturity of Narrative at Amaravati & Nagarjunakonda: 1st to 4th CE
Readings:
Vidya Dehejia, Discourse in Early Buddhist Art (cited above): chapter 8
Primarily for Photographs
Robert Knox, Amaravati. Buddhist Sculptures from the Great Stupa, 1992
Elizabeth Rosen Stone, TheBuddhist Art of Nagarjunakonda, 1994
6
Wednesday, August 13
3 p.m to 5 p.mPainted Murals in the Caves at Ajanta: 5th c. CE
Readings:
Walter Spink, Ajanta. A Brief History and Guide, Bombay, nd.
*Walter Spink, “The Splendours of Indra’s Crown: A Study of Mahayana Developments at Ajanta,” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, 1974
*Walter Spink, Ajanta: History and Development, Vol. 2 Arguments about Ajanta, Leiden, 2006. Chs. 1,4,5
Vidya Dehejia, Discourse in Early Buddhist Art (cited above): chapter 10
Dehejia, “Narrative Modes in Ajanta cave 17: A Preliminary Study,” South Asian Studies, 1991
7
Saturday, August 16
10.00 a.m–12.00 noon
EXAMINATION