Yoga: The Art of Transformation

YogaThe art of transformation

Feb. 21-May 25 at the Asian Art Museum

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T H E S A N F R A N C I S C O P R I N T M E D I A C O . · W E D N E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 1 2 , 2 0 1 42 A S I A N A R T M U S E U M

W E D N E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 · T H E S A N F R A N C I S C O P R I N T M E D I A C O . 3Y O G A : T H E A R T O F T R A N S F O R M AT I O N

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Getting started

We are delighted to present Yoga: Th e Art of Transformation, a landmark exhibition of more than 130 rare and compelling artworks tracing yoga's historical transfor-mation over the past 2,500 years. From 25 museums and private collections in

India, Europe and the U.S., the exhibition’s artworks show yoga’s rich diversity and rising appeal from its early days to its emergence on the global stage. Th roughout the exhibi-tion, stunning examples of sculpture and painting illuminate yoga's key concepts as well as its obscured histories.

I would like to express my gratitude to the supporters who have enabled the presen-tation of Yoga at the Asian Art Museum. Th e exhibition was organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution with support from the Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne and the Ebrahimi Family Foundation.

Presentation at the Asian Art Museum is made possible with the generous support of Th e Bernard Osher Foundation, Helen and Rajnikant Desai, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Kumar and Vijaya Malavalli, Society for Asian Art and Walter & Elise Haas Fund.

In this special guide, you’ll fi nd information on the Bay Area’s connection to yoga, gallery themes, artworks not to be missed, a list of public programs during the run of the show and much more. We hope you join us in viewing this spectacular exhibi-tion, and we hope you too experience a transformation, following your visit to the Asian Art Museum.

Sincerely,

Jay Xu, PhDDirector and Chief Executive Offi cerAsian Art Museum of San FranciscoChong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture

R OVERVIEWAn enduring practice seen in a new light . . . 6

R EXHIBITION MAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8R GETTING AROUNDFrom ancient origins to today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10R VISITORS GUIDEVisiting the Asian Art Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16R MUSEUM STORETake home the experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17R YOGA BY THE BAYYet another transplanted art takes root . . . . . 18R LEARNING MOREExhibition-related programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20R CURRENT & UPCOMING EXHIBITIONSAlso on view now + Coming soon . . . . . . . . . . . 21

R CREDITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Contents

ON THE COVER: Yogini, 1000–1050.

India; Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh state.

Sandstone. (Courtesy of San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with the

John and Karen McFarlin Fund and Asian Art

Challenge Fund, 90.92.)


Overview

he idea and practice of yoga started thousands of years ago.

Over time, it has developed into a spiritual-

philosophical-exercise force — and a $27 billion commer-cial enterprise in the U.S. alone. Th ere is now a corps of more than 20 million practitioners in the U.S., ranging from beginners/experi-menters to the highest degree of mastery.

Yoga: Th e Art of Transformation, at the Asian Art Museum starting Feb. 21 through May 25, is a fasci-nating, fi rst-of-its-kind exhibition illustrating yoga’s history through objects from about 100 CE through the 1940s.

Th e exhibition delves into a largely untapped resource — visual culture — to illuminate key aspects of yoga practice as well as its hid-den histories. With sculptures, paintings, illustrated manuscripts, prints, photographs, books and fi lms, it is the fi rst art exhibition to explore the centrality of yoga in Indian culture.

Coming from the Smithson-ian Institution’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Yoga off ers more than 130 objects from 25 museums and pri-vate collections in India, Europe and the U.S., spanning a period of two millennia.

Breaking perpetual cyclesTh e spiritual foundations of yoga are historic and enduring. “Yoga teaches us,” said B.K.S. Iyengar, founder of Iyengar Yoga, “to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”

Ancient yogis had developed practices for controlling the body and breath as a means of stilling the mind. Th eir goal was to transcend the suff ering that is inherent in human existence.

Th eir radical insight was that their bodies and minds contained the potential to perceive reality correctly, and upon attaining this percep-tion, they believed they would become enlightened — blissfully released from the cycle of suff ering.

“Yoga does not remove us from the

reality or responsibilities of everyday life but rather places our feet fi rmly and resolutely in the practical ground of experience,” says acclaimed yoga teacher Donna Farhi. “We don’t transcend our

lives; we return to the life we left behind in the hopes of something better.”

Among millions of people practicing yoga all around the world, there are many who regard it as a benefi cial exercise,

without being fully aware of yoga’s origins and essence — central themes of Yoga: Th e Art of Transformation.

As the only West Coast venue for Yoga, the Asian Art Museum, says director Jay Xu, “is proud to present this historic exhibition, one of the most remarkable surveys of Indian art.

“We hope that by illuminating key aspects of yoga and its hidden histories to the Bay Area audience, visitors can take new perspectives to their present and future yoga practices.”

Curated originally for the Smith-sonian by Debra Diamond (also co-author of a lavish catalogue), Yoga in San Francisco is organized by the Asian Art Museum’s Qamar Adamjee, associate curator of South Asian art, and Jeff rey Durham, assistant curator of Himalayan art.

In pursuit of yogic pathsCo-curator Adamjee of the San Francisco exhibition says:

“Yoga is regarded around the world as a path to health and spiri-tual insight. Many people are aware of its origins in India. But what is less well known are the motivations that compelled countless individu-als to pursue yogic paths over the past 2,500 years.”

Yoga and India’s ancient artistic heritage are inextricably inter-twined, as seen in the exhibition’s rich and varied objects.

In Diamond’s defi nition of the subject:

“Yoga is more than a philosophi-cal school, a purely Hindu tradition, a spiritual science or an exercise regimen. By bringing together radi-cally disparate objects, Yoga: Th e Art of Transformation prompts us to look beyond such calcifi ed cat-egories as wonder and resonance, high art and popular culture, indig-enous and exogenous, authentic and exploited, and to consider how yoga unfolded in history.”

Th ose “disparate objects” range from a sculpture from the Hoysala dynasty in Southern India, between the 10th and the 14th centuries, to what Diamond calls “a garish 20th-century postcard that depicts a yogi on a portable bed of nails.”

An enduring practice seen in a new lightIlluminating the foundations, histories and transformation of the ancient spiritual art of yoga. By Janos Gereben

Vishnu Vishvarupa, approx. 1800–1820. India; Rajasthan state, former kingdom of Jaipur. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper. (Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Given by Mrs. Gerald Clark, IS 33–2006.)

Th e sculpture from the Hoysala era points to the way in which Tantric yoga incorporated the teachings of Hinduism; the postcard “was part of a fl ood of mass-produced images that identifi ed yogis (and Hinduism and India) as supersti-tious and backward.”

Diamond concludes: “It is a troubling artifact; however, the aspirations of yogis who posed on spiked beds, and the role of mechanical reproduction in creating dubious stereotypes, cannot be sum-marily ignored. Th ey are part of yoga’s history.”

Th e exhibition illuminates the central-ity of yoga in Indian culture, the role of teachers, and the transformation of yoga into today’s modern practice.

Th e exhibition’s themes include key elements of yogic practice, including meditation and postures (asanas); yogic

conceptions of the body; associations between yoga and power; yoga in popular imagination in Indian and Western cul-ture; and the origins of yoga as a regimen for health, fi tness and spiritual well-being.

Objects and curatorial labels deal with gurus, forms of meditation and the “yogic body.”

Yogis are the subject of works from various periods in the exhibition, includ-ing modern transformations of yoga and its renaissance, as well as medical and scientifi c studies of the practice.

Th e exhibition explains and illustrates components common to some of the major schools of yoga, such as breath control, meditation and contemplation.

“Global marketplace of spirituality”Th ere is a plethora of global intersections between yoga and other spiritual-mind-

body disciplines over history. Diamond writes: “Yoga is perhaps the most suc-cessful Indian export in the global marketplace of spirituality.”

In that “marketplace,” there are well-known, vital connections between yoga and Asian philosophies. Having seen Yoga: Th e Art of Transformation in Washington, D.C., T’ai chi master and Taoist author Chungliang Al Huang has spoken about that vital relationship:

“Indian Yoga and Buddhism were embraced by and integrated into the already spiritually rich Chinese physical culture in Taoist alchemy and meditation through the circulation of Chi/Qi, with the mysteriously potent awareness of the meridians in the body which are ana-tomically invisible.

“Taoist interest in inner-cultivation and immortality and the Tai Ji Quan

practice are especially compatible with yogic practice, bringing the posture-conscious yoga practice up to more fl uid transitions and fl ow with the human body. Th e meditative aspects of yoga have also been embraced and transformed into Ch’an/Zen practice, especially in the sitting meditation as in Zazen. Stories of Eight Taoist immortals (Ba Xian), particularly of Lu Dongbin, also showed the infl uence of Indian yoga and its immediate integration into Taoist practices.”

Visually, Yoga: Th e Art of Transfor-mation focuses on what Diamond calls “India’s wonderfully abundant archive. Created over some two millennia in diverse religious and secular contexts, these works open windows onto yoga’s centrality within Indian culture and reli-gion, its philosophical depth, its multiple political and historical expressions, and its trans-sectarian and transnational adaptations.”

Th e path of yoga from ancient spiritual practice to today’s lifestyle choice (or just exercise) and big business is complex. It is not the main focus of the exhibition, but is dealt with in Chiraag Bhakta’s show in the museum’s Resource Center.

In the exhibition catalogue, Mark Sin-gleton’s “Globalized Modern Yoga” essay points at the 21st-century trend of the number of practitioners remaining stable but spending on classes, yoga vacations, and products nearly doubling:

“Th e 1990s ‘boom’ turned yoga into an important commercial enterprise, with increasing levels of merchandis-ing and commodifi cation. In response, many contemporary teachers have challenged the commercialization of yoga by off ering donation-based classes or encouraging social activism as an antidote to the perceived narcissism of the contemporary yoga marketplace. What yoga will become in the future is unknown, but it will doubtless continue to grow and adapt in tension between its ancient roots and pressing contemporary concerns such as these.”

Th e presentation of Yoga: Th e Art of Transformation at the Asian Art Museum is supported by contributions from Helen and Rajnikant Desai, Th e Bernard Osher Foundation, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Kumar and Vijaya Malavalli, Society for Asian Art and Th e Walter & Elise Haas Fund. �

ABOVE: Yogini, approx. 900–975. India; Kanchipuram or Kaveripakkam, Tamil Nadu state. Possibly dolerite. (Courtesy of Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, L.A. Young Fund, 57.88.)

LEFT: The five-faced Shiva, approx. 1730–1740. India; Himachal Pradesh state, former kingdom of Mandi. Opaque watercolor on paper. (Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Given by Col. T. G. Gayer-Anderson and Maj. R. G. Gayer-Anderson, Pasha, IS 239–1952.)


Exhibition map

CAFE ASIA

MUSEUM STORE

ENTRANCE

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YOGA RENAISSANCE OF THE LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

Key themes in this gallery:• Modern yoga as a regimen for health, fitness and spiritual well- being

YOGIS IN HISTORY AS WELL AS YOGA AND POWER

Key themes in this gallery:• Importance of place in yoga practice• Associations between yoga and power• Yogis in Indian imagination• Yogis in Western imagination

OSHER GALLERY

HAMBRECHT GALLERY

LEE GALLERY

EXPLORING KEY ELEMENTS OF YOGA PRACTICE AND YOGIC CONCEPTIONS OF THE BODY

Key themes in this gallery:• Shared origins of yoga• Elements of yoga practice• Teachers and transmission of teachings

the art of transformation

ASIAN ART MUSEUMFEB 21–MAY 25www.asianart.org/yoga

Swami Vivekananda, Hindoo Monk of India (detail), 1893. United States; Chicago. Modern digital print of color lithograph. Courtesy of Vedanta Society of Northern California, V22.

Group of Yogis, approx. 1880s. By Colin Murray (English, active 1871–1884). India. Albumen print. Courtesy of Collection of Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck, 2011.02.02.0004.

Three aspects of the Absolute, page 1 from a manuscript of the Nath Charit (detail), 1823, by Bulaki (Indian, active early 1800s). India; Rajasthan state, former kingdom of Marwar, Jodhpur. Opaque watercolor, gold, and tin alloy on paper. Courtesy of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, RJS 2399.


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From ancient origins to todayTh e museum’s three major ground-fl oor galleries present important aspects of yoga portrayed between 100 CE and the 1940s.

Th e fi rst gallery (Osher) explores key elements of yoga practice and yogic con-ceptions of the body.

Th e second gallery (Hambrecht) looks at the importance of place in yoga prac-tice and the associations between yoga and power. Th e artworks in this gallery consider ways yoga practitioners (yogis) have been understood and imagined in Indian and Western popular cultures.

In the third gallery (Lee), historic and contemporary aspects of yoga as a regimen for health, fi tness and spiritual well-being are examined through the works of Indian philosophers, medical practitioners and yoga teachers.

In contrast with previous special exhi-bitions on the ground fl oor of the Asian Art Museum, the order of galleries for Yoga is reversed, going from Osher to Hambrecht to Lee.

Exhibition co-curator Jeff rey Durham describes the layout of the show this way:

“In the fi rst gallery, visitors will explore the ‘Path of Yoga.’ Here are artworks that reveal both physical practices and meditative visions from across the broad spectrum of yoga traditions.

“Th e second gallery explores the places where yogis have practiced their art, from monasteries to pilgrimage routes. Other paintings in this gallery reveal yoga’s relationship to power, both in natural and supernatural forms. Visitors will see how Indians imagined the practice of yoga, and they will encounter images of yoga created by and for Europeans.

“Th e fi nal gallery features some of the most important publications that brought yoga thought and practice into the Western mainstream. From sci-ence and medicine to philosophy and exercise, teachers and writers — both Indian and Western — have translated and synthesized new forms of yoga. Th ese developments took place through print and fi lm; also in this gallery, visitors will see a fi lm of the master yogi Krish-namacharya performing a sequence of postures.”

Getting around

Ascetics before the shrine of the goddess, page from a manuscript of the Kedara Kalpa,approx. 1815, attrib. to the workshop of Purkhu (Indian, active 1780–approx. 1820). India; Himachal Pradesh state, former kingdom of Kangra. Opaque watercolor on paper. (Courtesy of the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland [Gift of John and Berthe Ford, 2001], W. 859.)


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Landscapes of yoga practice, from mon-asteries to pilgrimage routes, appear in this gallery, alongside artworks that reveal the relationship between yoga and power, in both political and spiritual forms.

Musical modes called “ragas” are illus-trated in this gallery, which includes a listening station. Th e term raga means “passion” in Sanskrit, as these modal scales are thought to evoke specifi c emo-tional tones. Paintings of ragas reveal these same emotions in visual form. Th e Bay Area was long home to one of the giants of the genre, Ali Akbar Khan, mas-ter of the sarod, who was instrumental in popularizing Indian classical music in the West.

Other paintings in the gallery portray yogis within imagined and actual sites of practice. From bustling monasteries to icy mountain peaks, these landscapes contain sacred power thought to magnify the eff ects of practice.

One luminous painting from the late 18th century depicts the Hindu deity Shiva blessing yogis at the foot of his home on Mount Kailasha, which in

Hindu tradition also marks the center of the universe.

Another watercolor-gold painting, from approximately 1650, shows a female guru and disciple sitting in front of a hut in a women’s ashram by a river. Ashrams — refuges for study and contem-plation — have traditionally been segregated by gender, and often still are segregated.

Th e Gor Khatri monastery is depicted in a water-color-gold-ink painting from the 1590s. Emporer Babur visits the site. In the open courtyard, yogis, their bodies blue from

purifying ash, await dinner. One yogi wears a deer-horn whistle, characteristic of the Nath yoga tradition, which is asso-ciated with hatha yoga.

Th e (1603-1604) “Feast of the Yogis” is watercolor and gold on paper from a manuscript of Th e Magic Doe-Woman (Mrigavati), a Sufi romance.

Hambrecht Gallery

Shiva blesses yogis on Mount Kailasha, approx. 1780–1800. India; Himachal Pradesh state. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper. (Courtesy of the Museum Rietberg Zürich, Gift of Horst Metzger Collection, RVI 2127.)

Th e exhibition begins in Osher Gallery with an introduction to yoga’s key ideas. Sanskrit verses from the ancient texts called Vedas (“knowl-edge”), from around 2000-1000 BCE, fi rst hint at ideas that would become central to yoga tradi-tions. Th e Yoga Sutras, compiled by Patanjali in between the second and fourth centuries CE, are arguably the most important statement of yoga philosophy.

Portraits of important yogis from a more recent period in this gallery include Bulaki’s “Th ree Aspects of the Absolute,” from a manu-script of the Nath Charit, 1823.

Two bronze statues face each other across Osher Gallery: “Jina,” from 900-1100, and the 13th-century “Vishnu in his Man-Lion Incarna-tion as Yoga-Narasimha.”

Th e Jain religion goes back thousands of years in India’s history. Focused on a series of Jinas (victors) or Tirthankaras (a human being who helps in achieving liberation and enlighten-ment), the tranquil imagery of Jainism suggests the non-violence and equanimity that are key-notes in the tradition’s art.

From the Hindu tradition, a stunning sculp-ture of the Narasimha faces the Jina. Th is fi erce manifestation of the deity Vishnu wears a yoga strap across his knees.

Osher Gallery

ABOVE: Standing Jina, 1000–1100. India; Tamil Nadu state. Bronze. (Courtesy of Private Collection.)

LEFT: Vishnu in his man-lion incarnation as Yoga-Narasimha, approx. 1250. India; Tamil Nadu state. Bronze. (Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski, 1973.187.)

Getting around


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Landscapes of yoga practice, from mon-asteries to pilgrimage routes, appear in this gallery, alongside artworks that reveal the relationship between yoga and power, in both political and spiritual forms.

Musical modes called “ragas” are illus-trated in this gallery, which includes a listening station. Th e term raga means “passion” in Sanskrit, as these modal scales are thought to evoke specifi c emo-tional tones. Paintings of ragas reveal these same emotions in visual form. Th e Bay Area was long home to one of the giants of the genre, Ali Akbar Khan, mas-ter of the sarod, who was instrumental in popularizing Indian classical music in the West.

Other paintings in the gallery portray yogis within imagined and actual sites of practice. From bustling monasteries to icy mountain peaks, these landscapes contain sacred power thought to magnify the eff ects of practice.

One luminous painting from the late 18th century depicts the Hindu deity Shiva blessing yogis at the foot of his home on Mount Kailasha, which in

Hindu tradition also marks the center of the universe.

Another watercolor-gold painting, from approximately 1650, shows a female guru and disciple sitting in front of a hut in a women’s ashram by a river. Ashrams — refuges for study and contem-plation — have traditionally been segregated by gender, and often still are segregated.

Th e Gor Khatri monastery is depicted in a water-color-gold-ink painting from the 1590s. Emporer Babur visits the site. In the open courtyard, yogis, their bodies blue from

purifying ash, await dinner. One yogi wears a deer-horn whistle, characteristic of the Nath yoga tradition, which is asso-ciated with hatha yoga.

Th e (1603-1604) “Feast of the Yogis” is watercolor and gold on paper from a manuscript of Th e Magic Doe-Woman (Mrigavati), a Sufi romance.

Hambrecht Gallery

Shiva blesses yogis on Mount Kailasha, approx. 1780–1800. India; Himachal Pradesh state. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper. (Courtesy of the Museum Rietberg Zürich, Gift of Horst Metzger Collection, RVI 2127.)

Th e exhibition begins in Osher Gallery with an introduction to yoga’s key ideas. Sanskrit verses from the ancient texts called Vedas (“knowl-edge”), from around 2000-1000 BCE, fi rst hint at ideas that would become central to yoga tradi-tions. Th e Yoga Sutras, compiled by Patanjali in between the second and fourth centuries CE, are arguably the most important statement of yoga philosophy.

Portraits of important yogis from a more recent period in this gallery include Bulaki’s “Th ree Aspects of the Absolute,” from a manu-script of the Nath Charit, 1823.

Two bronze statues face each other across Osher Gallery: “Jina,” from 900-1100, and the 13th-century “Vishnu in his Man-Lion Incarna-tion as Yoga-Narasimha.”

Th e Jain religion goes back thousands of years in India’s history. Focused on a series of Jinas (victors) or Tirthankaras (a human being who helps in achieving liberation and enlighten-ment), the tranquil imagery of Jainism suggests the non-violence and equanimity that are key-notes in the tradition’s art.

From the Hindu tradition, a stunning sculp-ture of the Narasimha faces the Jina. Th is fi erce manifestation of the deity Vishnu wears a yoga strap across his knees.

Osher Gallery

ABOVE: Standing Jina, 1000–1100. India; Tamil Nadu state. Bronze. (Courtesy of Private Collection.)

LEFT: Vishnu in his man-lion incarnation as Yoga-Narasimha, approx. 1250. India; Tamil Nadu state. Bronze. (Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. Norman Zaworski, 1973.187.)

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Getting around

Among items in this gallery are pho-tos of Swami Vivekananda — who was among the most important expo-nents of yoga philosophy in the West — along with quotes from this father of modern yoga. Th ey include such pronouncements as “Virtue is the only friend that follows us even beyond the grave. Everything else ends with death,” and “One infi nite — pure and holy — beyond thought, beyond quali-ties, I bow down to thee.”

Vivekananda’s 1896 Raja Yoga pioneered the concept of a “secular” practice of yoga, concentrating the mind and discovering its innermost recesses.

Some of the fi rst works to pro-mote asanas (yoga postures) are also exhibited here, including Swami Kuvalayananda’s 1931 Popular Yoga: Asanas, along with early systematic studies of yoga, including “Th e eff ect of the fi sh pose (matsyasana) on the thyroid,” from the 1924 medical journal Investigation of Yoga (Yoga Mimansa), and the 1926 “Th e impact of inversions on blood pressure,” from the same

publication. Th e latter is the result of Swami

Kuvalayananda’s systematic experiments employing electrocardiograms, X-ray machines, sphygmomanometers, and

spectroscopes to measure the impact of yogic postures, breathing (pranayama), and other hatha practices upon the body.

Shri Yogendra’s Yoga Personal Hygiene

promulgates the idea of a “house-holder yogi,” as opposed to the yogi who renounces society. Th e book is also a forerunner of today’s health- and fi tness-oriented yoga. �

Lee Gallery

Raja Yoga, 1896/1944, by Swami Vivekananda (Indian, 1863–1902). Book; Tamil Nadu, India, 1944 reprint of 1896 edition. (Courtesy of General Collections, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., B132.V3 V58.)


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LOCATION200 Larkin St.(between Fulton and McAllister streets)San Francisco, CA 94102

HOURS� Tuesdays–Sundays: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.� Thursdays (Feb. 6 through Sept. 11):

10 a.m. to 9 p.m.� Closed Mondays, Thanksgiving Day,

Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

PARKINGThe museum does not have a parking facility, but it is served by several parking facilities within walking distance of the museum. Visit www.asianart.org for locations.

TRANSPORTATIONThe museum is one block away from the Civic Center BART station and other public trans-portation. Use the UN Plaza exit from the BART station for closest access to the Asian. Visit www.asianart.org for more information.

TO PURCHASE TICKETSVisit www.asianart.org or purchase tickets at the museum entrance. Advance ticket purchases are strongly encouraged as tickets may sell out at peak times and on weekends.

GROUP TOURSPrivate guided tours of the exhibition are available Tuesdays through Sundays, except on the first Sunday of each month. � Group of 1–20: $100� Group of 21–40: $200For reservations, visit www.asianart.org, email [email protected] or call (415) 581-3624. Please make reservations for group tours two to three weeks in advance; tours are subject to availability.

FREE SPECIAL-EXHIBITION DOCENT TOURS� Daily at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thursdays

include a 6:30 p.m. tour. Approximately 45 minutes.

� Saturdays and Sundays, Feb. 22–May 25, tours for families with kids, ages 7-10 at 11:30 a.m. Approximately 30 minutes.

MUSEUM WEBSITEVisit www.asianart.org for additional in-formation about directions to the museum, public transportation, accessibility and more.

EXHIBITION MULTIMEDIA GUIDEExplore yoga's key concepts, obscured histories and 20th-century transformation through commentary by curators from the Asian Art Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, the organiz-ing museum for this exhibition.� Ongoing, in English� $5; $4 for members; pick one up

at the information desk

ADMISSION General Yoga admission admissionAdults (18–64) $12 $17Seniors (65+) $8 $13College students with ID $8 $13Youth (13–17) $8 $13Children (12 and under) Free FreeSFUSD students with ID Free FreeAsian Art Museum members Free FreeThursday evenings after 5 p.m. $5 $10Target First FREE Sundays Free $5

Discounted rate is available for groups of 10 or more. Please email [email protected] for discounted admissions and tour information.

Visitors guide

Visiting the Asian Art Museum Th e Asian Art Museum presents Yoga: Th e Art of Transformation, the fi rst major exhi-bition to explore yoga and its historical transformation over the past 2,500 years through more than 130 rare and compelling artworks.


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Museum store

Take home the experience

Th ese specialty items are available beginning Feb. 21 while supplies last. Visit the museum store Tuesdays-Sundays during regular museum hours. Entrance

to the store is free. Purchases help support the museum’s educational programs and exhibitions. �

Yogasana yoga mat. One-hundred percent cotton materials and traditional, sustainable weaving methods ensure that this mat will support your yoga practice for years to come. Hand-woven in India, this mat is perfect for outdoor practice. Available in four colors. $95

Following your visit to the Yoga exhibition, come and peruse one-of-a-kind objects and handcrafted goods from local and international artisans at the Asian Art Museum store. In time for the Yoga exhibition, the store carries stunning crafts from India and items for your yoga practice including a Yogasana yoga mat and recycled-canvas yoga tote. Here are some highlights.

Elegant soapstone boxes. Hand-carved in Agra, India, boxes feature tradi-tional designs, including the “tree of life.” $15 and up

Contemporary tri-metal jewelry. Inspired by the ancient Indian belief of experiencing spiritual harmony by combining three metals, each piece is hand-crafted using zinc, brass and copper. Earrings $20, pendant $20, cuff $30

Recycled-canvas yoga tote. These sturdy totes are hand-

made in India using canvas recycled from army totes and include a re-production of a vintage

chart of Yogasan yoga poses. Totes are designed with an inside pocket and snap closure. $45

Recycled sari scarves. Women’s collectives in Nepal recycle old

saris by felting in layers of merino and Tibetan

wool, melding the wool and silk

fibers to create a warm and durable scarf. $45

Heirloom scissors. Traditional Indian heirloom scissors are handmade by a master artisan in Uttar Pradesh, India. Blades are carbon steel with brass handles. Four sizes available. $20 and up

Incense. The museum offers a wide selection of Indian incense includ-ing traditional temple incense, cone incense and hand-rolled incense sticks in a number of scents. $2.95-$12.50

Varanasi folk art figure of Radha and Krishna. Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, India, has been known for its brightly painted wooden figures for nearly 400 years; large pieces are used in festivals, while smaller deities can be found in homes or hanging from the rearview mirrors of local cars. $50


Northern California has been in the vanguard of welcom-ing to the United States Asian philosophies, many of which

underlie yoga.From Zen philosopher Alan Watts in

Marin and Berkeley in the 1950s to the Esalen Institute, which opened a half a century ago at Big Sur, Buddhism, media-tion, tai chi and yoga transformed in Northern California from the “exotic” to the familiar, and have gained widespread popularity.

Since 1966, the Asian Art Museum has led the way as an early and prominent representative of Asia’s art, exhibiting ancient masterpieces and contributing to California’s role as a cultural gateway.

Watts’ many books — including Th e Way of Zen, Psychotherapy East and West and Th e Joyous Cosmology — and his KPFA radio programs in conjunction with the American Academy of Asian Studies made their impact years before the Beatles’ advocacy for the Transcen-dental Meditation they learned in the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Asian philosophies and yoga have had a great fl owering in Northern California, leading to a plethora of yoga workshops, institutes, retreats and studios, involving thousands of people.

Th is big scene may be best observed in miniature through the work of a couple who serve as foot soldiers and exemplars of yoga.

Hosting yoga in MarinNicholas and Amanda Giacomini manage the 13-years-and-running yoga facility Yoga Toes in Point Reyes, a picturesque rural community and tourist destination in Marin, 30 miles north of San Fran-cisco. Visitors outnumber the town’s 840 residents many times over. Given the small size of Point Reyes, it’s signifi cant that it has several yoga teachers at the local community center, and a popular yoga studio.

Running a successful enterprise in Toby’s Feed Barn — a general store, art gallery, espresso bar, and all-organic farmers market handed down by Nicho-las’ grandfather — the Giacominis added a yoga studio, which became a vital part of the barn complex.

Th e couple fi rst met in the late Larry Schultz’s famed South of Market yoga school, and continued their yoga study

in Mysore, India, with K. Pattabhi Jois, Schultz’s teacher. Th ey learned ashtanga (“eight-limbed”) yoga, later modifi ed

by Schultz as “Th e Rocket,” considered easier than traditional yoga, with the promise of “getting you there quicker.”

Amanda describes what she teaches today as “gentle yoga, slowing everything down.” Nicholas still teaches some more active vinyasa classes.

Th e Giacominis realize that there is “a huge spectrum of yoga ... a big party out there.”

Regardless of the nature of individu-als and groups, Amanda says, “Anywhere I am when I meet people in yoga, I am connecting with my tribe.”

Connections between yoga, every-day life, Asian philosophies and music characterize Nicholas’ journey. Born in San Francisco and raised in the North Bay, he admits to starting life as a “prob-lem child” and an aimless teenager. His father practiced yoga at home but did not encourage him to follow, “which was the incentive I needed,” he says with a chuckle. Starting at 18, Nicholas practiced yoga and experienced a “trans-formation, becoming peaceful, happy — I found what I was looking for.”

Now known as MC Yogi, he has com-bined yoga, Indian philosophy and music,

Yet another transplanted art takes rootTh e Bay Area continues its longstanding tradition of welcoming gifts from Asia. By Janos Gereben

Yoga by the Bay

Advisers to the exhibition’s public programsAmid the richly varied crowd in the world of yoga, these are some of the prominent local leaders of yoga and related disciplines who have advised the Asian Art Museum on the related programs for the Yoga: The Art of Transformation exhibition.

Nicholas and Amanda Giacomini, who met at a yoga school in San Francisco, manage the Yoga Toes facility in Point Reyes. “Anywhere I am when I meet people in yoga, I am connecting with my tribe,” Amanda says. (Photo by Tim Porter)

� Tanuja Bahal, executive director of the India Community Center; international marketing and event management executive

� Monica Desai-Henderson, yoga teacher, dancer, muralist and storyteller

� Judith Hanson Lasater, yoga teacher and founder of Yoga Journal magazine; a founder of the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco

� John Marino, yoga teacher, massage therapist, advocate of Ayurveda and Chinese medicine

� Kaitlin Quistgaard, former editor of Yoga Journal magazine, and an influential international journalist

� Meena Srinivasan, mindfulness educator, author of books on mind-fulness for Parallax Press, who participated in the creation of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, “Planting Seeds: Practicing Mind-fulness with Children”

as well as other arts, in the form of what he calls “a kind of rap,” performing as a vocalist. As many other yoga practitio-ners and teachers, he has reached out to classical Indian musicians and Ameri-can masters of Hindu devotional music, such as Krishna Das and Bhagavan Das. MC Yogi is currently working on a new album, “Mantras, Beats, and Meditations,” with music producer Robin Livingston.

Describing himself as “a working-class mystic,” whom Mark Morford branded “a beat-happy, Krishna-crazed love magnet,” MC Yogi continues to connect modern yoga and performance music with ancient philosophies — “the Rama-yana with a backbeat.”

Small world of yoga back then Judith Hanson Lasater, with more than four decades of experience and in the forefront of yoga’s advancement in the U.S. and Europe, started the infl uental Yoga Journal in the early 1970s with a MasterCard of a $500 limit, “our venture capital.”

She has been both leading and observ-ing the yoga world ever since. Back at the beginning, she recalls, “Everybody knew everybody else, it was such a small world.” Now that yoga is part of “the

broad concept of health and fi tness,” there is often an undue emphasis on only one aspect of the practice: the physical.

Yoga, Lasater says, has two essen-tial components: a state of being and

practices. “Yoga is introspective; its aim is being happy — which is not possible if the body is not healthy.” She calls the present-day popularity of yoga “wonder-ful and horrible,” the latter if the essence

of yoga is neglected or even unknown. She remembers the question from a young woman in a yoga class, who wanted to know if yoga originated in the 1980s.

“Life is dynamic,” Lasater says, “and we can go only forward, not dwell on the past, nor can we ignore it. Th e important and joyful aspect of Yoga: Th e Art of Trans-formation is that it shows the beauty, art, wisdom of ancient yoga, how multi-lay-ered and textured it is, allowing us access to historical and profound roots.”

“Pardon My Hindi”Th is exhibition’s educational installation includes contemporary work contributed by San Francisco artist Chiraag Bhakta. His project is located in the Resource Center, adjacent to Lee Gallery.

Bhakta’s project is an insightful collec-tion from an American of Indian descent, who has been creating highly personal work under the name of PMH, or “Pardon My Hindi” (www.pardonmyhindi.com).

For his contribution to the Asian Art Museum educational resources, Bhakta uses his collection of Western yoga mate-rial from the 1950s through the 1980s, including posters, books, educational cards and advertising. �

Nicholas Giacomini performs as MC Yogi at Wanderlust Festival in Tahoe. He has been described as “a beat-happy, Krishna-crazed love magnet.” (Photo by Josh Berry)


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Northern California has been in the vanguard of welcom-ing to the United States Asian philosophies, many of which

underlie yoga.From Zen philosopher Alan Watts in

Marin and Berkeley in the 1950s to the Esalen Institute, which opened a half a century ago at Big Sur, Buddhism, media-tion, tai chi and yoga transformed in Northern California from the “exotic” to the familiar, and have gained widespread popularity.

Since 1966, the Asian Art Museum has led the way as an early and prominent representative of Asia’s art, exhibiting ancient masterpieces and contributing to California’s role as a cultural gateway.

Watts’ many books — including Th e Way of Zen, Psychotherapy East and West and Th e Joyous Cosmology — and his KPFA radio programs in conjunction with the American Academy of Asian Studies made their impact years before the Beatles’ advocacy for the Transcen-dental Meditation they learned in the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Asian philosophies and yoga have had a great fl owering in Northern California, leading to a plethora of yoga workshops, institutes, retreats and studios, involving thousands of people.

Th is big scene may be best observed in miniature through the work of a couple who serve as foot soldiers and exemplars of yoga.

Hosting yoga in MarinNicholas and Amanda Giacomini manage the 13-years-and-running yoga facility Yoga Toes in Point Reyes, a picturesque rural community and tourist destination in Marin, 30 miles north of San Fran-cisco. Visitors outnumber the town’s 840 residents many times over. Given the small size of Point Reyes, it’s signifi cant that it has several yoga teachers at the local community center, and a popular yoga studio.

Running a successful enterprise in Toby’s Feed Barn — a general store, art gallery, espresso bar, and all-organic farmers market handed down by Nicho-las’ grandfather — the Giacominis added a yoga studio, which became a vital part of the barn complex.

Th e couple fi rst met in the late Larry Schultz’s famed South of Market yoga school, and continued their yoga study

in Mysore, India, with K. Pattabhi Jois, Schultz’s teacher. Th ey learned ashtanga (“eight-limbed”) yoga, later modifi ed

by Schultz as “Th e Rocket,” considered easier than traditional yoga, with the promise of “getting you there quicker.”

Amanda describes what she teaches today as “gentle yoga, slowing everything down.” Nicholas still teaches some more active vinyasa classes.

Th e Giacominis realize that there is “a huge spectrum of yoga ... a big party out there.”

Regardless of the nature of individu-als and groups, Amanda says, “Anywhere I am when I meet people in yoga, I am connecting with my tribe.”

Connections between yoga, every-day life, Asian philosophies and music characterize Nicholas’ journey. Born in San Francisco and raised in the North Bay, he admits to starting life as a “prob-lem child” and an aimless teenager. His father practiced yoga at home but did not encourage him to follow, “which was the incentive I needed,” he says with a chuckle. Starting at 18, Nicholas practiced yoga and experienced a “trans-formation, becoming peaceful, happy — I found what I was looking for.”

Now known as MC Yogi, he has com-bined yoga, Indian philosophy and music,

Yet another transplanted art takes rootTh e Bay Area continues its longstanding tradition of welcoming gifts from Asia. By Janos Gereben

Yoga by the Bay

Advisers to the exhibition’s public programsAmid the richly varied crowd in the world of yoga, these are some of the prominent local leaders of yoga and related disciplines who have advised the Asian Art Museum on the related programs for the Yoga: The Art of Transformation exhibition.

Nicholas and Amanda Giacomini, who met at a yoga school in San Francisco, manage the Yoga Toes facility in Point Reyes. “Anywhere I am when I meet people in yoga, I am connecting with my tribe,” Amanda says. (Photo by Tim Porter)

� Tanuja Bahal, executive director of the India Community Center; international marketing and event management executive

� Monica Desai-Henderson, yoga teacher, dancer, muralist and storyteller

� Judith Hanson Lasater, yoga teacher and founder of Yoga Journal magazine; a founder of the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco

� John Marino, yoga teacher, massage therapist, advocate of Ayurveda and Chinese medicine

� Kaitlin Quistgaard, former editor of Yoga Journal magazine, and an influential international journalist

� Meena Srinivasan, mindfulness educator, author of books on mind-fulness for Parallax Press, who participated in the creation of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, “Planting Seeds: Practicing Mind-fulness with Children”

as well as other arts, in the form of what he calls “a kind of rap,” performing as a vocalist. As many other yoga practitio-ners and teachers, he has reached out to classical Indian musicians and Ameri-can masters of Hindu devotional music, such as Krishna Das and Bhagavan Das. MC Yogi is currently working on a new album, “Mantras, Beats, and Meditations,” with music producer Robin Livingston.

Describing himself as “a working-class mystic,” whom Mark Morford branded “a beat-happy, Krishna-crazed love magnet,” MC Yogi continues to connect modern yoga and performance music with ancient philosophies — “the Rama-yana with a backbeat.”

Small world of yoga back then Judith Hanson Lasater, with more than four decades of experience and in the forefront of yoga’s advancement in the U.S. and Europe, started the infl uental Yoga Journal in the early 1970s with a MasterCard of a $500 limit, “our venture capital.”

She has been both leading and observ-ing the yoga world ever since. Back at the beginning, she recalls, “Everybody knew everybody else, it was such a small world.” Now that yoga is part of “the

broad concept of health and fi tness,” there is often an undue emphasis on only one aspect of the practice: the physical.

Yoga, Lasater says, has two essen-tial components: a state of being and

practices. “Yoga is introspective; its aim is being happy — which is not possible if the body is not healthy.” She calls the present-day popularity of yoga “wonder-ful and horrible,” the latter if the essence

of yoga is neglected or even unknown. She remembers the question from a young woman in a yoga class, who wanted to know if yoga originated in the 1980s.

“Life is dynamic,” Lasater says, “and we can go only forward, not dwell on the past, nor can we ignore it. Th e important and joyful aspect of Yoga: Th e Art of Trans-formation is that it shows the beauty, art, wisdom of ancient yoga, how multi-lay-ered and textured it is, allowing us access to historical and profound roots.”

“Pardon My Hindi”Th is exhibition’s educational installation includes contemporary work contributed by San Francisco artist Chiraag Bhakta. His project is located in the Resource Center, adjacent to Lee Gallery.

Bhakta’s project is an insightful collec-tion from an American of Indian descent, who has been creating highly personal work under the name of PMH, or “Pardon My Hindi” (www.pardonmyhindi.com).

For his contribution to the Asian Art Museum educational resources, Bhakta uses his collection of Western yoga mate-rial from the 1950s through the 1980s, including posters, books, educational cards and advertising. �

Nicholas Giacomini performs as MC Yogi at Wanderlust Festival in Tahoe. He has been described as “a beat-happy, Krishna-crazed love magnet.” (Photo by Josh Berry)


IN-GALLERY TALKSFriday, March 7, April 4, May 2, 3–3:45 p.m. Meet at the information desk. Free with museum admission.Explore the Yoga exhibition with curators Qamar Adamjee and Jeffrey Durham and dis-cover what it takes to present an exhibition from the inside.

TALKSJourney of Self with Yoga Master B.K.S. Iyengar: A Talk by Manouso ManosSunday, March 9, 2–3 p.m. Samsung Hall. Free with museum admission.Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher Manouso Manos will take us on a journey of the modern his-tory of yoga and the life and influences of renowned yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar.

The Ayurvedic Kitchen Pharmacy: The Yoga of Culinary SpicesThursday, April 17, 6–7:30 p.m. Samsung Hall. $20 museum members; $25 general admission.Join Dr. Anand Dhruva and chef Nalini Mehta for an evening of conversation and cuisine showcasing Ayurvedic principles of cooking.

ASIAALIVEYoga and Art Series: Kathak YogaFriday–Sunday, April 25–27, noon–4 p.m. North Court. Free with museum admission.Behold the revolutionary dance technique of Kathak yoga created by Pandit Chitresh Das.

YOGA CLASSESYoga Pop–Up ProjectThursdays, Feb. 6, Feb. 27, March 27, April 24, May 22, 6:30–7:30 p.m. Check information desk for location. $5 museum admission, pay what you can for the class.Open your mind to art through yoga. Join the Yoga Pop-Up Project at the Asian Art Museum for a vinyasa-style class. Beginners welcome. Mats provided for $3.

Yoga FlowFirst Sundays, March–May, 11 a.m.–noon, 2–3 p.m. Education Classrooms or Samsung Hall. Check information desk for location. Free courtesy of Target.How do we use works of art to connect with ourselves and others? Explore this idea through movement, meditation, stories and art. Each session offers an opportunity to delve into practices that balance energy, align your body, and go inward. Please bring mats and wear comfortable clothing.

FAMILY PROGRAMSFamily Fun DaysFirst and third Sundays, March–May, 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. (10:30–11 a.m. stART tour for kids ages 3–7; 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. art making and self-guided activities; 11:30–11:45 a.m. gallery parade). Check information desk for location. Free with museum admission.Designed for pre-school and kindergarten students’ families, Family Fun Days are excit-ing opportunities to explore art and ideas through storytelling, gallery activities, art-making and more.

Kids ToursSaturdays and Sundays, Feb. 22–May 25, 11:30 a.m. Meet near the information desk; suggested for ages 7–10. Free with museum admission.Explore the galleries with a docent on a search for artwork with amazing animals, creepy creatures and beautiful beings.

THURSDAY NIGHTSYoga: The California ConnectionThursday, March 6, 6–9 p.m. Museum-wide. Free with museum admission.Discover California’s unique role in the adoption, evolution and popularization of yoga. Using the Yoga exhibition as a point of departure, the evening features acro-yoga performances, demonstrations and workshops.

Yoga: Sounding TransformationThursday, April 3, 6–9 p.m. Museum-wide. Free with museum admission.Ann Dyer mines Yoga: The Art of Transforma-tion to create a sensory performance that calls on the power of voice, word and other sound expressed in yoga philosophies and texts throughout the ages.

PERFORMANCESSpecial Performance: An Afternoon with Navarasa Dance Theater With Aparna Sindhoor and Guru Anil Natyaveda. Sunday, March 30, 1–2:30 p.m.Samsung Hall. Free with museum admission.Navarasa Dance Theater melds Indian clas-sical dance, yoga, Indian martial art (Kalari ppayattu) and contemporary dance theater works to create a sensual and breathtaking performance.

Langgeng (Everlasting)Multimedia Performance by Gamelan Sekar Jaya. Sunday, April 6, 2–4 p.m. Samsung Hall. Part of the Target First Free Sunday program.Join masters of Balinese music and find your balance. Renowned Balinese traditional-mu-sic ensemble Gamelan Sekar Jaya presents a performance that includes the Hindu mantra Trisandya, with a guided meditation practice streamed live online from the village of Tun-juk, Tabanan in Bali.

Learning more

Yoga Opening Night PartyFriday, Feb. 21, 7–11 p.m.Museum-wide. Tickets are $15–$30 and can be purchased through www.asianart.org/yoga. ComboTicket discounts available

Take a deep breath and dance the night away with MC Yogi, DJ Drez and DJ Sol Rising. Not your speed? Stretch out in a 60-minute yoga class earlier in the evening led by MC Yogi or spend some time in our galleries. Either way, be the first to see the exhibition The New York Times called “immensely pleasurable.” Acro-yogis, Non Stop Bhangra with Dholrhythms, gallery tours, storytell-ing, complimentary sips by Laughing Glass Cocktails, and cash bars make this a feel-good party for the body and soul.

(Photo above by Josh Berry)

Exhibition-related programs

Yoga Festival Saturday, Feb. 22, 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m. Museum-wide. Tickets are $15-$32 and can be purchased through www.asianart.org/yoga. ComboTicket discounts available

Practice yoga in the museum’s beautiful Samsung Hall with your choice of one of three 90-minute classes taught by top-notch teach-ers: Erica Jago, Adam Rinder, Jenny Sauer-Klein and Stephanie Snyder. Open your mind and chill out in our collection galleries and Yoga exhibi-tion. Got kids? Bring ‘em! Yoga for the little ones, art-making activities, storytelling sessions, Laughter Yoga, curator-led gallery talks and tours, and the Yogi Tea Lounge round out this family-friendly event. Beginners welcome. Bring a yoga mat and wear comfortable clothing.


European Encounters with Yogis and India’s ReligionsGallery 5, South Asia after 1600, on the 3rd fl oor

Th e 10 prints on view in this exhibition, dating from 1685 to 1860, feature West-ern conceptions of Indian religion, and particularly focus on the subject of yogis. Much of what European travelers to India experienced was novel and “exotic,” far removed from their “familiar” context.

Th e new places and people were seen as strange and wondrous, and as subjects for scientifi c inquiry, but they also were subjects of prejudice that led to the devel-opment of negative stereotypes. Painters, writers and publishers produced works that often relied on existing texts and available imagery, selectively chosen and adapted for the context at hand. Th ese prints provide a glimpse into the ways in which knowledge about India — some reliable, some inauthentic — circulated in the European imagination for centuries.

A related display of paintings in an adjacent gallery shows the encounters

of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh reli-gion, with ascetics and yogis on various occasions in his life as documented in the Life Stories (Janam Sakhi) literature.

Yoga in Himalayan TraditionsGallery 12, Th e Himalayas and the Tibetan Buddhist World, on the 3rd fl oor

Yoga in Himalayan Traditions features fi ve dramatic and intricate thangkas (sacred pictures). Created from the 18th to the 20th centuries, each reveals key aspects of yoga developed on the Tibetan plateau and its surrounding culture regions.

Highlights include “Th e Buddhist adept Dombi Heruka,” which depicts a Tibetan lama named Tsongkhapa appear-ing to a disciple in the guise of an Indian Great Adept (mahasiddha). Th e lama can accomplish this “transformation” because he has gained supernatural powers (sid-dhi) that allow him to alter his form in meditation — an important result of yoga practice in the Himalayas.

Current & upcoming exhibitions

Also on view now

Coming soon

The lama Khedrup-jey and the bodhisattva Manjushri, 1700-1800. Tibet. Colors on cotton. (Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B62D33.)

Enter the Mandala: Cosmic Centers and Mental Maps of Himalayan Buddhism March 14–Oct. 26

Enter the Mandala explores the physi-cal and symbolic geography of man-dalas, geometric maps of Hima-layan Buddhist visionary worlds. In this exhibition, Tibetan master-works transform one of the muse-um's galleries into a three-dimen-sional architectural mandala. In this way, visitors can literally “enter the mandala,” explor-ing dimensions of the cosmos—and perhaps them-selves—that might otherwise remain invisible.

Vairochana, Buddha of the center, 1300-1400. Tibet | Sakya Monestary. Colors on cotton. (Asian Art Museum, City Arts Trust Fund 1991.1.)

Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaOct. 24, 2014-Jan. 18, 2015

An eye-opening look at the largely unknown ancient past of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, this exhibition draws on recently discovered archaeological material never before seen in the United States.

Roads of Arabia features objects excavated from several sites throughout the Arabian Peninsula, tracing the impact of ancient trade routes and pil-grimage roads stretching from Yemen in the south to Iraq and Mediterranean cultures in the north.

Elegant alabaster bowls, fragile glassware, heavy gold earrings and Hellenistic bronze statues testify to a lively mercantile and cultural interchange among distant civilizations.

GorgeousJune 20–Sept. 14

Gorgeous presents master-pieces from the Asian Art Museum and SFMOMA in provocative ways and stimulating new contexts to encourage viewers to ask the question “What is gorgeous?” Th e very idea of gorgeous, and whether it is valuable, has always been debated. Th is exhibition will explore the extremes and ambiguities of what we might consider gorgeous, from luxurious ornamentation to austere simplicity; kitsch and camp;

the body as a source of visual pleasure; compelling images of disturbing—or even ugly—subjects; and gorgeousness as feelings or ideas separate from physical form.

How does the placement of a Mark Rothko painting near a Buddhist mandala, or a 2,000-year-old Chinese tomb fi gure near a self-portrait sculpted in chocolate and soap by Janine Antoni, bring into focus new aspects of each work? Th rough two very dis-similar collections with very dissimilar histories, Gorgeous will inspire debate and discovery.

Marilyn; 28 years old; Las Vegas, Nev.; $30, 1990, by Philip-Lorca diCorcia (American, b. 1951). Chromogenic print. (Courtesy of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of the artist, 94.156 © Philip-Lorca diCorcia. [Photo by Don Ross.])


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Our thanksYoga: The Art of Transformation was organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution with support from the Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne and the Ebrahimi Family Foundation.

Presentation at the Asian Art Museum is made possible with the generous support of:

Credits

Jay XuDIRECTOR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Tim HallmanDIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Amelia Bunch · Deborah ClearwatersPeri Danton · Saly LeeMarc Mayer · Raymond McKenzieDavid Owens-Hill · Annie TsangAmi Tseng · Allison Wyckoff CONTRIBUTORS

Todd VogtPRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER

Jessica BatesVICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Steve DrumwrightMANAGING EDITOR

Janos GerebenWRITER

Terry ForteDESIGNER

� Helen and Rajnikant Desai

� The Bernard Osher Foundation

� E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

� Kumar and Vijaya Malavalli

� Society for Asian Art� Walter & Elise Haas

Fund

Media sponsors:� ABC7� The San Francisco

Examiner� KQED Public

Broadcasting� San Francisco magazine

© Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Photo by Kaz Tsuruta.


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