Pakistan – Where civilizations meet – 1st - 6th centuries - Gandharan arts

Musée Guimet Exhibitions Current exhibition Pakistan – Where civilizations meet – 1st - 6th centuries - Gandharan arts

21 April -16 August

Exhibition organised by the Guimet museum of Asian arts and the National Art and Exhibition Centre of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn.
The Paris exhibition commissioned by Pierre Cambon, head curator of the Guimet museum, replicates, in a modified form, the exhibition designed by Professor Michel Jansen and Doctor Christian Luczanits, presented under the name Gandhara. The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan Legends, monasteries, and Paradise

The Gandhara is a former kingdom with a Hellenistic influence which spanned the North West provinces of today’s Pakistan. This civilisation contemporaneous with the Romans in the west and the Chinese Hans in the east, peaked between the 1st and 3rd century AD, in the era of the successors of Alexander the Great and the Kushan Empire.

A land of encounters, a land of Buddhism, invasions and exchanges, but also a land of ancient culture and diversities, Gandhara witnessed the birth and development of a brilliant civilisation combining Greek influences, resulting from the conquests of Alexander the Great, and Persian and Indian inspirations.

In this exhibition, statuettes or statues of Buddha and revered deities (bodhisattva, etc.), low reliefs of temples and stupas, will appear alongside terracotta and stucco items from monasteries or palaces.

Gandharan art bridges the gap between continents, between western and eastern cultures, offering a multiplicity of artistic forms which invite us to discover a world where beauty and humanity prevail.