Date/Time
Date(s) – 05/03/2017
6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Location
Shambhala Meditation Center
Category(ies)
Public lecture, free to SMC members, all others $20 (see NYMS invitation at ** below!)
Internationally renowned Conservator of Himalayan / Tibetan art Ann Shaftel will discuss Himalayan art, her work with Himalayan monks, and conservation of their devotional artworks.
Of major interest is Ann Shaftel’s research with an international team of conservation scientists looking into materials and techniques used by 18c – 21c Tibetan artists making thangkas. This project analyzed Tibetan thangkas, coordinating advanced scientific methods in multispectral imaging, vibrational spectroscopy, electron and visible light microscopy, and chromatography. Interpretation of analytical data shows that the 18c and 19c thangkas analyzed were made using a traditional palette which they characterized and Ann will detail. Some late 19c or early 20c thangkas were made using Western pigments as well, as Shaftel will also describe. The team analyzed 20c thangkas made for the tourist trade, and as Shaftel will relate, they found not only 20c pigments, but also more traditional pigments.
** Join the New York Microscopical Society at Shambhala Center on May 3! NYMS welcomes Ann Shaftel to New York City, and invites new and current NYMS members to this May 3 event so exciting for science in the conservation of cultural heritage. NYMS Members or new joining, please arrive by 6 PM: NYMS President John Scott and others will be on hand with NYMS roster to confirm NYMS memberships, enroll new members at $30 per annum, and to pay all these NYMS members’ $20 admissions. $10 net cost for new NYMS annual membership!
Ann Shaftel’s Wednesday May 3 lecture at Manhattan’s Shambhala Meditation Center opens an all-too-short New York City sojourn. Later Shaftel leads private behind the scenes tours of thangka collections in Manhattan: Thursday May 4 at the American Museum of Natural History, and Friday May 5 at the Rubin Museum. On Saturday May 6, Shaftel teaches an all day thangka conservation workshop at TALAS in Brooklyn, and on Saturday May 7 Shaftel closes her NYC teaching with a free lecture and open to the public at the wonderful Jacques Marchais Museum, on Staten island.
Tours and workshop Registration:
Call 902.222.1467 or Email treasurecaretaker@icloud.com
