mustang - serindia publications · · 2017-07-28are on mustang, published in earth ... effigies...

R o b e R t P o w e l lSelected Recent and Retrospective Works

G a l l e r ylimited edition giclée prints

M u s ta n g

All images © 2009 Robert Powell

Robert Powell, born in Sydney in 1948, studied humanities and architecture in Australia. He came to Asia in 1974 and was in India when Ladakh was opened to foreigners for the first time. He spent 7 months there documenting its Tibetan Architecture. That experience was the beginning of a lifelong exploration of Asian cultures, inspired by their material manifestations and especially their traditional architectures.

Since then he has lived and worked in Asia, mostly in the Himalayas, in Nepal, India, Pakistan and also China and Japan. Since 2004 he has been based in Thailand and has begun a series of paintings from Angkor, and the south east Asian region. His sketchbooks, measured drawings, and photographs from more than three decades in Asia continue to inspire current works.

His paintings and drawings have been exhibited and published widely. His best known works are on Mustang, published in Earth Door Sky Door: Paintings of Mustang (Serindia, 1999). Made available as limited edition giclée prints for the first time, the Mustang paintings here include his recent as well as published works.

Major solo exhibitions have been held at:The Freer Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.The Zurich Ethnographic Museum, ZurichThe Patan Royal Palace Museum, Patan, Nepal

Robert Powell’s work is also represented in public and private collections including: The Zurich Ethnographic Museum, Zurich Trudy Styler and Sting, LondonThe Patan Royal Palace Museum, Patan, Nepal Bill Bensley, BangkokDonna Karan, New York Dr Hiroshi Nagahara, KyotoDr. Mary Slusser, Washington D.C. Julia Chang-Bloch, Washington D.C.Christina Ong, Singapore John and Berthe Ford, BaltimoreHamid and Fatima Hakimzadeh, London Anthony Aris, LondonJohn Stewart, Bangkok

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Until 2008 when the monarchy was abolished in Nepal, Mustang was a minor kingdom of Tibetan culture under Nepal’s suzerainty. It is a high altitude desert occupying the upper reaches of the Kali Gandaki valley which cuts through the Himalayan mountains from the Tibetan plateau to the plains of India. It has thus been a major trading route since prehistoric times.

M u s t a n g

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Houses in lo Manthang

Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 62 x 81 cm Paper size: 89 x 105 (height x width)

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eight Chortens of lo Manthang

Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 40 x 140 cmPaper size: 65 x 164 (height x width)

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Caves at Drakmar, Mustang, Nepal


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Cave of the Dakinis


Detail

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black Sun Dakinis


Detail

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Rock Garden Cave


Door with Skins

Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 81 x 38 cmPaper size: 105 x 62 (height x width) G a l l e r y

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tree with Horns


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Mustang Namgo


Rigsum Gonpo


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Tibetan houses in the 15th-century walled town of Lo Manthang have their parapets covered in firewood and hung with prayer flags. Coloured clay washes have symbolic protective power and the complex structure on the wall is an Earth Door Sky Door. The yellow ram’s skull “closes” the door of the earth to evil spirits that dwell there. The blue dog’s skull closes the door of the sky. Painted effigies of family members attract malicious influences which are then trapped by the thread crosses like insects in a spider’s web.

Houses in Lo Manthang Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 62 x 81 cm; Paper size: 89 x 105 (height x width)

C ata L o g u e

At the death of the Buddha, his ashes and the objects associated with him were divided among his disciples. According to the Buddha’s directions, eight stupas were built to contain these relics at the sites of the eight most important events of his life. Tibetan Buddhist cultures construct sets of “chortens” to evoke the original eight stupas. This row, about 25metres long, is in the 15th-century walled town of Lo Manthang in Mustang.

the eight Chortens of Lo Manthang Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 40 x 140 cm; Paper size: 65 x 164 (height x width)

According to legend the cliffs and mountains around Drakmar are stained with the blood and entrails of a gigantic demoness, the Balmo, who was slain by Guru Rinpoche, (Padma Sambhava) .Hand dug caves housed a now abandoned monastery.

Caves at Drakmar Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 81 x 63 cm; Paper size: 105 x 87 (height x width)

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The third floor was added to Jampa Lhakhang in Lo Manthang at the end of the 16th century with murals of mandalas dedicated to the peaceful and wrathful deities. Above the main mandalas a row of dakinis (sky-walkers) has turned black from some chemical reaction of the pigments with the wall substrate.

Black sun Dakinis Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 20 x 115 cm; Paper size: 44 x 139 (height x width)

A layer of painted boulders is supported by willow trunks; an imaginary sheltered garden in Mustang.

Rock garden Cave Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 56 x 91 cm; Paper size: 80 x 115 (height x width)

The great sedimentary cliffs of Mustang have been dug into to create cave complexes since prehistoric times. Since the arrival of Buddhism in the 11th century, some have been converted and extended for religious uses. This imaginary painting shows a painted cave that has been exposed by the erosion of the outer cliff face.

Caves of the Dakinis Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size:99 x 54 cm; Paper size: 123 x 78 (height x width)

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C ata L o g u e

Willows and poplars are regularly pollarded for fuel and building materials and with time they acquire a stunted and twisted form. The hollow trunks of old and venerable trees are sometimes stabilized with rocks. Here an imaginary shrine to a tree spirit is depicted with offerings of horns and red ochre.

tree with Horns Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 96 x 45 cm; Paper size: 120 x 69 (height x width)

The Namgo is a ritual device that protects a house from spirits of the air and sky. It is the sky door of the SagoNamgo, Earth Door Sky Door, and is constructed around a cloth covered dog skull, facing upwards and filled with offerings of various grains and tiny fragments of “precious” substances.

Mustang namgo Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 65 x 19 cm; Paper size: 89 x 43 (height x width)

The”Rigsum Gonpo,” the three precious protectors, are the most popular gods of Tibet and representations of them come in all sizes , forms and materials. Their popular role as guardians means that their presence can be invoked by sculptures, by rock engravings, as woodblock prints, as simply three splashes of coloured clay. This rammed earth wall has them as miniature “lhato,” god markers, and running stripes of colour: yellow (or red) for Manjushri, wisdom; white for Avalokiteshvara, compassion; and grey (or blue) for Vajrapani, a wrathful protector.

Rigsum gonpo Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 65 x 19 cm; Paper size: 89 x 43 (height x width)

a B o u t s e R i n D i a g a L L e R y

Serindia Gallery will soon open in Bangkok in a historic courtyard complex — OP Garden — within steps from the Oriental Hotel, the French Ambassador’s residence, and soon-to-open the Aman Resort Bangkok.

General Inquiries: [email protected]

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C ata L o g u e

A stable door in lower Mustang wrapped in goat skins.

Door with skins Giclée print, edition of 50, signed & numberedImage size: 81 x 38 cm; Paper size: 105 x 62 (height x width)

F o R P R i C e & ava i L a B i L i t y P L e a s e C o n ta C t

Shane Suvikapakornkul

Email: [email protected]

mustang - serindia publications · · 2017-07-28are on mustang, published in earth ... effigies...

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