Why do Buddhists make art?

Luczanits, Christian

Abstract

There is no term for “art” in Buddhist literature. Instead, the terms used make clear that what we understand as art today was made for a purpose. Buddhist texts also rarely explain this purpose, so the information has to be pieced together from scant references and the visual evidence itself. In the following, I focus on the Buddhist art of India and Tibet and consider the purpose of art parallel to the historical development of Buddhism.

Citation

Luczanits, C. (2021). Why do Buddhists make art?. In E. J. Harris (Ed.), Buddhism in Five Minutes (248-253). Equinox. https://doi.org/10.1558/equinox.40789

• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Mar 13, 2023
• Pages: 248-253
• Series Title: Religion in 5 Minutes
• Book Title: Buddhism in Five Minutes
• ISBN: 9781800500907
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1558/equinox.40789
• Keywords: Buddhism