AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

When two new, commissioned thangka paintings arrived damaged and incomplete, conservators at the Carlos Museum engaged a contemporary artist to accomplish an intervention that combined conservation methods, traditional techniques, and art practices. In 2021 the Carlos Museum commissioned artists at the Norbulingka Institute of Tibetan Culture in Dharamsala, India to paint thangkas depicting the Bhavachakra: Wheel of Becoming and Samatha: Abiding Calm. The images were chosen in consultation with faculty in the Religion Department as well as the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University. Measuring 41 x 41 inches each, the pair of paintings arrived rolled in a wood crate that broke during shipment. Lacking internal rigid support, the rolled paintings partially crushed against the crate wall. Once unrolled, sharp creases and losses were evident throughout the painted surfaces with areas of flaking and cracked paint. Iconographic elements of the meditation for developing a peaceful mind were noted to be missing from the Abiding Calm painting. The much-anticipated new works were due to be celebrated with lectures and programming during the annual Tibet Week 2022, approximately one month after the damaged crate arrived. Conservators faced both the urgent need for intervention and the ethical limitations that prevented them from repainting or completing the images. Calling upon the expertise of Tibetan scholars and artists, conservators at the Carlos and consulting colleagues developed a multiphase intervention that enabled the paintings to be stable and accessible. Over the course of one year the paintings were first relaxed and temporarily mounted for installation in the galleries and use in teaching. They were then flattened before damaged areas were repainted and missing elements were completed by a thangka painter. Finally, the paintings were mounted and framed for long-term storage and rotation on display. Conservators employed established conservation methods for localized and overall humidification and flattening as well as for temporarily and permanently mounting the thangkas. Contemporary Tibetan artist Buchung Nubgya, formerly retained by His Holiness the Dali Lama, came to Emory to repaint damaged areas and add missing iconographic elements. He referenced photographic documentation and condition maps prepared by conservators and worked in dialogue with the original painter, Tenzin Norbu. Both artists are attributed in accession records. While the guidelines of ethical practice limited the steps conservators could make to repair and repaint, the artists themselves could carry out this intervention. The artist’s visit afforded opportunities to document traditional materials and techniques for creating and restoring thangkas. Further materials analysis of his paints was accomplished in the conservation lab. The visiting artist and the Tibetan scholar, a former Buddhist monk, who served as interpreter also guided decisions about how to mount and display the thangkas, without silk backings or coverings. They both returned to the Carlos Museum during Tibet Week 2023 to participate in a public program about this vital exchange.