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DR Christian Luczanits' Outputs (114)

Why do Buddhists make art? (2021)
Book Chapter
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

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 scan... Read More about Why do Buddhists make art?.

What is a mandala? (2021)
Book Chapter
Luczanits, C. (2021). What is a mandala?. In E. J. Harris (Ed.), Buddhism in Five Minutes (254-258). Equinox. https://doi.org/10.1558/equinox.40790

The mandala is first and foremost a ritual tool. In its simplest form, it consists of a square space marked by protective features and a circle of deities within it. The ground marks a purified space to which deities can be invited during the ritual.

A Case of Old Menri (sman ris rnying pa) in Mustang? (2021)
Book Chapter
Luczanits, C. (2021). A Case of Old Menri (sman ris rnying pa) in Mustang?. In V. Caumanns, J. Heimbel, K. Kano, & A. Schiller (Eds.), Gateways to Tibetan Studies: A Collection of Essays in Honour of David P. Jackson on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday (643-657). Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg

Understanding Buddhism from its Material Remains: Monastic Architecture and Buddhist Practice around Bhaja, Bedsa and Karla (2021)
Thesis
Zukas, D. Understanding Buddhism from its Material Remains: Monastic Architecture and Buddhist Practice around Bhaja, Bedsa and Karla. (Thesis). SOAS University of London

My thesis is a detailed, new, cave-by-cave, survey of the well known rock-cut Buddhist monasteries at Bhaja, Bedsa and Karla and the newly found Buddhist sites near them in the upper Indrayani and Pavana valleys of India’s Western Ghats. These sites... Read More about Understanding Buddhism from its Material Remains: Monastic Architecture and Buddhist Practice around Bhaja, Bedsa and Karla.

Establishing an Iconography: The Case of Early Tibetan Representations of the Medicine Buddhas (2020)
Journal Article
Luczanits, C. (2020). Establishing an Iconography: The Case of Early Tibetan Representations of the Medicine Buddhas

Taking the depictions of the Medicine Buddhas in the iconographic programme of a fourteenth century Sūtra Collection at Namgyal Monastery, Upper Mustang, as a point of departure, this study surveys roughly contemporaneous representations of the same... Read More about Establishing an Iconography: The Case of Early Tibetan Representations of the Medicine Buddhas.

From Tabo to Alchi: Revisiting Early Western Himalayan Art (2020)
Journal Article
Luczanits, C. (2020). From Tabo to Alchi: Revisiting Early Western Himalayan Art. Orientations (Hong Kong), 51(5), 36-47

In 2004, I published a book on early western Himalayan monuments based on a consideration of the main sculptures in the temples, which are commonly made of clay (Luczanits, 2004). What distinguishes this work is the attempt to present a relative chro... Read More about From Tabo to Alchi: Revisiting Early Western Himalayan Art.

Investigations of a Gandharan stucco head of the Buddha at the Victoria and Albert Museum (IM.3-1931) (2020)
Journal Article
Verri, G., Luczanits, C., Borges, V., Barnard, N., & Clarke, J. (2020). Investigations of a Gandharan stucco head of the Buddha at the Victoria and Albert Museum (IM.3-1931). Techné (Paris), 48, 136-149. https://doi.org/10.4000/techne.2792

This study presents the results of a technical and art historical study of an important Gandharan head from the Victoria and Albert Museum. For several years, the head has played an important role in the history of Gandharan art, because of its high... Read More about Investigations of a Gandharan stucco head of the Buddha at the Victoria and Albert Museum (IM.3-1931).

Meritorious Curating and the Renewal of Pagoda Museums in Myanmar (2020)
Thesis
Tan, H. Meritorious Curating and the Renewal of Pagoda Museums in Myanmar. (Thesis). SOAS University of London

Gifts have been accumulated, stored and displayed at sacred sites in Myanmar for millennia as they have elsewhere within the Buddhist world. This thesis is the first attempt to analyse the phenomenon known as the ‘pagoda museum’ that existed since at... Read More about Meritorious Curating and the Renewal of Pagoda Museums in Myanmar.

A Crucial Link in Fifteenth-Century Tibetan Art (2019)
Book Chapter
Luczanits, C. (2019). A Crucial Link in Fifteenth-Century Tibetan Art. In M. Clemente, O. Nalesini, & F. Venturi (Eds.), Perspectives on Tibetan Culture: A Small Garland of Forget-me-nots Offered to Elena De Rossi Filibeck (203-226). Vajra Books

Revival and renaissance in Tibetan art: imagining Kashmir and Nepal in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries (2018)
Journal Article
Luczanits, C. (2018). Revival and renaissance in Tibetan art: imagining Kashmir and Nepal in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. European bulletin of Himalayan research, 52, 93-131

Both Kashmir and Nepal have been sources of inspiration throughout the history of Tibetan art. The art of Kashmir was adopted and adapted in the Purang-Guge Kingdom (circa 950–1100 CE) and its successors, and Nepalese artists were instrumental in the... Read More about Revival and renaissance in Tibetan art: imagining Kashmir and Nepal in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Unveiling a Unique Ningma Pantheon: the Art of Gönpa Gang (2018)
Book Chapter
Luczanits, C. (2018). Unveiling a Unique Ningma Pantheon: the Art of Gönpa Gang. In J. Harrison, C. Luczanits, C. Ramble, & N. Drandul (Eds.), A Blessing for the Land: The Architecture Art and History of a Buddhist Convent in Mustang Nepal (54-99). Vajra Books

A Blessing for the Land: The Architecture Art and History of a Buddhist Convent in Mustang Nepal (2018)
Book
Harrison, J., Luczanits, C., Ramble, C., & Drandul, N. (Eds.). (2018). A Blessing for the Land: The Architecture Art and History of a Buddhist Convent in Mustang Nepal. Vajra Books

In Nepal’s Mustang District, on the right bank of the Kali Gandaki river facing the large settlement of Tshug (Chusang), is a low hill known as Gönpa Gang, the “convent ridge.” Standing on the ridge are the remains of a Buddhist site, Künzang Chöling... Read More about A Blessing for the Land: The Architecture Art and History of a Buddhist Convent in Mustang Nepal.

The secrets of 14th century wall painting in the Western Himalayas: Structural damage sheds light onto the painting technique in the Tsuglag-khang in Kanji in Ladakh (2018)
Book Chapter
Skedzuhn, A., Oeter, M., Bläuer, C., & Luczanits, C. (2018). The secrets of 14th century wall painting in the Western Himalayas: Structural damage sheds light onto the painting technique in the Tsuglag-khang in Kanji in Ladakh. In H. Feiglstorfer (Ed.), Earth Construction and Tradition, Vol. 2 (205-222). IVA–ICRA Institute for Comparative Research in Architecture