yogini.! art from tibet

Why Tibetan art in Gugging? The major exhibition august walla.! universe-end provided insight into the mythological process of creation and the philosophical and theological thinking of an Art Brut artist, offering a look into a world of gods, angels, and wizards. This artistic expression of a self-created polytheistic philosophy was now juxtaposed with a thousand year old art form of a religious tradition in Tibet. Thangkas, scroll paintings on linen and silk, which were produced according to specific rules and had a significant religious function, are the most important artifacts remaining of a sphere that until recently had been unknown to Central Europeans.

Walla’s divine universe was followed by the artistic products of a world characterized by longstanding tradition, handed down from generation to generation, of people devoted to their religion. In these works, too—as in Walla—we find the great importance of symbolism; this, however, is not primary creative expression by a painter, but follows clearly defined iconographic patterns. The private collection endowed by Peter Infeld, curated by Prof. Gerhard Kisser at the time, lent these valuable, rare works, brought together over decades, for this presentation. Around one hundred thangkas were on view in museum gugging.