Wheel of Time Sand Mandala (Exhibition)

Exist Dates

1988 July 9 - 1988 August 22

Biographical or Historical Note

abstract

Exhibition. Opened July 9, 1988 and closed August 22, 1988. Located in the Frederick H. Leonhardt People Center at the American Museum of Natural History. The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala was created while on public view over a six-week period by the Venerable Lobsang Samten, a Buddhist monk from the Namgyal Monastery.

Summary

The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala was created while on public view over a six-week period by the Venerable Lobsang Samten, a Buddhist monk from the Namgyal Monastery, and one of four personal attendants to the Dalai Lama. According to a Museum press release, it marked the first time a sand mandala had been constructed in public view in the United States. The Kalachakra or "Wheel of Time" mandala is a symbolic representation of the Buddha's teachings about time and space and more than 700 Tibetan Buddhists deities are represented in it (1, p. 1).

The process of creating a sand mandala involves "painting" with different colored dry sands. It is first drawn on a hard surface, then the brightly colored sands - the principal colors blue, black, yellow, red, and white representing the center and four cardinal directions - are applied through the end of a metal funnel. A thin rod, rasped against the funnel, releases the sand, sometimes only a few grains at a time. The artist begins at the center and works outward. The sand mandala follows a formal geometric design, including a foundation, four entrances, walls, and other architectural elements. Monks commence each day of work on the mandala with the chanting of prayers invoking the deities into the mandala. Lobsang Samten developed many of the designs free-hand within the mandala (1, p. 1; 2).

The Kalachakra mandala at the Museum was housed in a thekpo, a pagoda-like ritual structure decorated with ornate brocade drapery. A television monitor was installed to show close-up views of Lobsang Samten working (1, p. 2).

The dismantling ceremony involved four monks praying to Kalachakra, then the 722 deities were swept from the surface of the mandala and placed in a ceremonial urn. Two diagonal cuts, from east to west and north to south, were made through the center with a vajra, a ritual instrument. Although according to the exhibition brochure, the mandala was to be preserved, a Grapevine article stated that the remaining sand was placed in an urn and that the monks led a procession of 150 people to the 79th Street Boat Basin where the sand was ceremonially poured into the Hudson River (2; 3).

The exhibition was sponsored by the Museum's Department of Education, the Samaya Foundation under the direction of Barry Bryant, and supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts and the Newark Museum (1 p. 2).

This is a condensed summary of the exhibition. For additional information, see Sources and/or Related Resources.

Sources

(1) American Museum of Natural History. Press Release. "'From the Land of Dragons,' an Exhibition of Fossils Reptiles and Mammals from China, Opens at the Museum in July." April 21, 1988. Departmental Records, DR 101. American Museum of Natural History Library.

(2) "Tibetan Buddhist Sand Mandala is Swept Away." Grapevine (September/October 1988).

(3) American Museum of Natural History. "American Museum of Natural History, Namgyal Monastery, and Samaya Foundation presents The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala Exhibition and Demonstration." Vertical Files, American Museum of Natural History Library.

For more information on this exhibition see:

Larson, Kay. "Sands of Time." New York Magazine (August 29, 1988).

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Related Corporate, Personal, and Family Names

American Museum of Natural History. Department of Education.
Related department; sponsored exhibition (1, p. 2)

American Museum of Natural History. Frederick H. Leonhardt People Center.
Location of exhibition and demonstration 1988 July 9 – 1988 August 22 (1, p. 1)

Bryant, Barry, 1940-
Artistic director of the Samaya Foundation (1; 3)

Lobsang Samten
Tibetan Buddhist monk from the Namgyal Monastery who worked on the Kalachakra (1, p. 1)

Namgyal Monastery
Institutional partner (1, p. 1)

New York State Council on the Arts
Funder (1, p. 2)

Newark Museum
Funder (1, p. 2)

Samaya Foundation
Sponsor (1, p. 2)

Related Resources

American Museum of Natural History. Annual Report. New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1988-1989: [0], 4, 56.

American Museum of Natural History photographic drawers
Repository: AMNH Special Collections [Black and white contact sheets of monks on boat and at pier]

American Museum of Natural History press releases, 1933-1990s.
"'From the Land of Dragons,' an Exhibition of Fossils Reptiles and Mammals from China, Opens at the Museum in July." April 21, 1988; "Media Advisory/Photo Opportunity: Completed Tibetan Sand Mandala to be Completely Destroyed." August 16, 1988; "Museum Programs & Exhibitions, July-December 1988." May 26, 1988; "Museum Programs & Exhibitions, July-August 1988." June 23, 1988

American Museum of Natural History vertical files
Repository: AMNH Special Collections [Copy of Grapevine age, Tibet House brochure, exhibition brochure, news article]

Grapevine
"Tibetan Buddhist Sand Mandala is Swept Away" (September/October 1988)

subjectOf

The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala exhibition and demonstration photographic slides, 1988. American Museum of Natural History Library Special Collections.

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