Between Friday 5th and Saturday 6th September 2014, Professor Peter Skilling will participate and give a presentation "Amaravati in the Age of Great Caityas" at the conference "Amaravati: the art of an early Buddhist monument in context" which will be held at the Courtauld Institute of Art and at the British Museum, London, respectively. The conference is organised by Organised by Dr Michael Willis, from the British Museum, and Professor David Park, from the Courtauld Institute of Art.


BRIEF SCHEDULE:
18.00 - 20.45, Friday 5 September (with registration from 17.30)
Kenneth Clark Lecture Theatre, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN

10.00 - 17.20, Saturday 6 September (with registration from 09.30)
The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Seminar Rooms, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG


DESCRIPTION:
The Great Stupa at Amaravati was one of the most important Buddhist monuments in India. Founded before 200 BCE, it was enlarged and embellished with innumerable superb sculptures over the following four centuries. More than 120 of these sculptures entered the collection of the British Museum in 1880, forming the most important single group of Indian sculptures outside the subcontinent.

This conference celebrates the reopening of the Asahi Shimbun Gallery, where the sculptures have been displayed since 1992, but which was temporarily closed during construction of the Museum's World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre. Organised by The British Museum and The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation at The Courtauld, the conference brings together leading specialists from around the world to address many aspects of Amaravati and its sculptures, from the rediscovery of the stupa at the end of the 18th century to its recreation in the 21st century. Amaravati's art will also be considered in the context of other surviving sculpture from the Andhra region of south- eastern India, which, despite its importance and quality, has been relatively neglected in the study of Indian art.

The conference opens on Friday evening with a keynote lecture by Professor Akira Shimada, author of a major recent study of Amaravati. This lecture is hosted by the Research Forum of The Courtauld and is followed by a reception. The conference continues at the British Museum on Saturday with a full day of presentations.


TO BOOK A PLACE: £20 (£12 students and concessions: over 60). Complimentary places available for British Museum staff and Courtauld staff/students with advance booking required.

BOOK ONLINE: http://courtauld-institute.digitalmuseum.co.uk Or send a cheque payable to ‘Courtauld Institute of Art' to Research Forum Events Co-ordinator, Research Forum, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN, stating the event title ‘Amaravati conference'.

For further information, email ResearchForumEvents@courtauld.ac.uk or call 07834 521471 

The Asahi Shimbun Gallery of Amaravati Sculpture will be open
throughout Museum opening hours Friday 5 through Sunday 7 September.

To download the complete program of the Amaravati Conference, please see the link below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6AGkzzIE_gYLWw1OUVqSGtsUTA/edit?usp=sharing

 conference