A symposium of international scholars and performances of traditional music by ethomusicology faculty are among a series of upcoming UCLA events tied in with “Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China’s Silk Road,” an exhibition that runs through Sept. 4 at the Getty Museum.
The exhibition features stunning artifacts and documents discovered in hundreds of cave temples carved in a cliff wall on the western edge of the Gobi Desert, near the ancient oasis town of Dunhuang, China. Decorated with Buddhist wall paintings and sculptures, the caves are known as the Mogao Grottoes. From the 4th to the 14th century, Dunhuang bore witness to intense religious, commercial and cultural exchange along the trade routes linking the East and West, known collectively as the Silk Road.
UCLA programming includes:
May 20, 7:30 p.m. — “East and West of Dunhuang: Music Carried on the Wind”
Free concert at the Getty Center featuring musicians from the L.A. area and UCLA, including A.J. Racy, professor of ethnomusicology and renowned Middle Eastern musician, playing the nay and buzuq (Middle Eastern reed flute and plucked lute) in two pieces he composed for the concert; and Abhiman Kaushal, ethnomusicology lecturer and former accompanist for sitar master Ravi Shankdar, playing tabla (drums). The event was organized by Helen Rees, ethnomusicology professor with the UCLA World Music Center, and Susan Pertel Jain, executive director of the UCLA Confucius Institute. The concert is "sold out," but the Getty is expected to release rush tickets the night of the event.
May 20-21 — “Cave Temples of Dunhuang: History, Art, and Materiality”
Two-day symposium — Friday at the Getty and Saturday at UCLA — with more than 20 international scholars making presentations on the Mogao Grottoes, including historical perspectives, spiritual content, artistic practice and innovative approaches to conservation. Free, but separate reservations for each day are required.
Aug. 10, 7:30 p.m. — “Dunhuang Cave Art: Hidden Illumination in Dark Times and the Secret Ambrosia of Great Compassion”
A conversation at the Getty with UCLA professor and theater and opera director Peter Sellars and Robert Thurman, the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies in the Department of Religion at Colombia University. They will discuss Dunhuang and the Vimalakirti Sutra, a first-century allegorical text of Buddhist teachings, as sources of inspiration for artists. The event is free, but advance tickets are required.
Aug. 7-31: The Hammer Museum will present several programs, including traditional Chinese chamber music and poetry in “Performing the Silk Road with Chuen-Fung Wong” and a screening of the once-lost, newly preserved “The Cave of the Silken Web,” accompanied with live-mix by DJ Arshia Haq.
