The Rubin Museum of Art

The Rubin Museum’s Much Anticipated Mandala Lab to Open October 1st

This much anticipated gallery, encompassing the entire third floor of The Rubin Museum of Art, has finally been completed, and ready for its opening in September. This is almost one-year after closing that space, which once housed the permanent collection exhibition ‘Masterworks of Himalayan Art.’

The Rubin Museum of Art announced today that the newly finished third-floor, renamed the Mandala Lab, is the Museum’s new interactive space for social, emotional, and ethical learning, and will open to the public on October 1, 2021, with a free admission during opening weekend, October 1-3. The remodeled third floor is designed by Brooklyn-based architecture and design firm Peterson Rich Office (PRO). The Mandala Lab invites visitors to participate in five thought-provoking and playful experiences, featuring videos accompanied by scents, a site-specific commissioned sculpture that invites collective breathing, and curated percussion instruments dipped in water.

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Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey at The Rubin Museum of Art

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Tsherin Sherpa (American, b. 1968, Nepal); Luxation 1; 2016; acrylic on sixteen stretched cotton canvases; each 18 x 18in. (45.7 x 45.7 cm); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund; 2017.195a–p

The Rubin Museum of Art invites visitors to unplug and discover the possibility to free their minds with “Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment,” opening March 12, 2021. Organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, this traveling exhibition guides visitors on a journey toward enlightenment, showcasing the power of Tibetan Buddhist art to focus and refine awareness, and highlighting the inextricable relationship between artistic endeavor and spiritual practice in Tibetan Buddhism. The exhibition has been re-imagined and adapted for the Rubin Museum’s galleries and features 35 traditional objects, including 14 from the Rubin Museum’s collection, with two contemporary works by Nepal born, Tibetan American artist Tsherin Sherpa. “Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment” will be on view March 12, 2021, to January 3, 2022.

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The Rubin Museum of Art Celebrates the Himalayan New Year 2021

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Celebrate Losar, the Himalayan New Year. Image courtesy Rubin Museum of Art

The Rubin Museum of Art will be celebrating the Himalayan New Year on February 7th with a virtual, festive afternoon filled with art-making activities, baking and performances.

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The Rubin Museum Creates an Entire Floor Dedicated to Social & Emotional Learning

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The Rubin Museum of Art transforms its third floor galleries into space for Social and Emotional Learning. Renderings: © Peterson Rich Office / The Rubin Museum of Art

The Rubin Museum of Art announced today that on November 10 the Museum will close its third floor galleries, where the permanent collection exhibition Masterworks of Himalayan Art is currently on view, and begin construction on a new interactive space for social and emotional learning for all ages. Scheduled to reopen fall 2021, the third floor, renamed Mandala Lab, will bring cognitive science, contemplative practice, and visitor-contributed art experiences to the heart of the Rubin, as well as act as the new home for School and Family Programs. The Mandala Lab will draw on the symbolism of a Tibetan Buddhist mandala, which also serves as conceptual inspiration for the floor.

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The Rubin Museum of Art Launches New Online Collection Database

Chelsea, Online Viewing Rooms, The Rubin Museum of Art

Tara Protecting the Eight Fears; Kham Province, Southeastern Tibet; late 19th-early 20th century; Pigments on cloth with silk brocade; Rubin Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. Michael Henss, Zurich

With a globally renowned collection of nearly 4,000 objects spanning more than 1,500 years from the Himalayan region, the Rubin Museum of Art launches a new and improved online collection database today. A total of 381 objects from the Rubin Museum’s permanent collection are now available at collection.rubinmuseum.org. This marks the first phase of an initiative to make the Rubin Museum collection accessible to visitors, students, teachers, and scholars alike around the world. More objects will be added continually, with the goal of eventually publishing the entire collection.

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The Lotus Effect ~ a Participatory Installation About Gratitude & Transformation at The Rubin Museum of Art

COVID-19, The Rubin Museum of Art

The Rubin Museum of Art launched a new participatory installation, The Lotus Effect, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lotuses take root in murky waters and burst into beautiful bloom above the surface. For The Lotus Effect, the Rubin invites members of the public to fold a lotus flower and dedicate their origami creation to someone or something that has helped them overcome a challenging time. When the Rubin reopens, people can contribute their folded piece to an installation in the Museum that will serve as a community-built symbol of gratitude and powerful reminder that collectively we can emerge from difficult moments.

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Take Refuge in the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room at The Rubin Museum of Art

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The Rubin Museum of Art is sending out an online ‘Rubin Care Package’ of art and practices for navigating our world in this time of instability and feeling of global community fear, loss, isolation and stress. Take refuge in the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room.

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The Rubin Museum of Art in 2020 ~ Brainwave Impermanence

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Brainwave Impermanence via The Rubin Museum of Art

You live inside your head, but do you understand how it works? Brainwave investigates how our minds shape our everyday experiences with onstage conversations and immersive experiences that combine the most compelling advancements in science with traditional Himalayan wisdom.

The Rubin Museum of Art’s annual Brainwave series returns in January to explore the connections between the Buddhist idea of impermanence, or that everything changes, and cutting-edge research in neuroplasticity. Featuring unscripted onstage conversations and experiences that engage the head and heart, each Brainwave program investigates how our minds shape our everyday experiences by combining the most compelling advancements in science with traditional Himalayan wisdom. Tickets go on sale to the general public at 11am on January 9th.

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Shahidul Alam: Truth to Power at The Rubin Museum of Art

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Shahidul Alam (b. 1955, Dhaka, Bangladesh); Bishsho Ijetma; Tongi, Gaipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh; 1988; photograph; courtesy ofShahidul Alam/Drik/Majority WorldBishsho Ijetma isthe second largest religious gathering of Muslims after Mecca. President Ershad and his predecessor President ZiaurRahman introduced Islam as the state religion for political benefit. The nation has struggled to return to its secular roots. —Shahidul Alam

The Rubin Museum of Art will open its doors to Shahidul Alam: Truth to Power, the first U.S. survey of photographer and activist, Shahidul Alam. The exhibition will feature more than 40 images, ephemera, and new work from the artist’s over four-decade career, including portraits, landscapes, and scenes of daily life, strife, and of resistance in the “majority world” ~ a phrase Alam has used since the 1990s to reframe the notion of the “third world” or “global south,” with a view of Bangladesh and South Asia.

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#DreamOver at The Rubin Museum of Art on December 7 ~ 8

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On December 7, the Rubin Museum will host its annual Dream-Over for adults, where guests sleep overnight under a hand-picked work of art in the museum. After guests arrive in their pajamas, Khenpo Lama Pema Wangdak will discuss the significance of dreaming in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. Tickets on sale October 22nd.

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It’s Time for the 2019 Rubin Museum’s Annual Block Party!

Chelsea, Rubin Museum Annual Block Party, The Rubin Museum of Art

The Rubin Museum’s Annual Block Party will take place on Sunday, July 21st from 1-4pm! It’s a true Summer celebration when thousands of New Yorkers fill the car-free 17th Street between 7th/6th Avenues. This year, it’s all about the Power Within.

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Power: Within and Between Us ~ A Yearlong 2019 Theme at The Rubin Museum of Art

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The Rubin Museum of Art will dedicate its 2019 exhibitions, programs, and experiences to the theme of power, focusing on how visitors can activate the power that exists “within and between us.” Drawing on a diverse range of sources and perspectives, from contemporary art to scientific theories to Buddhist philosophies, the Rubin Museum will explore secular and religious systems of power as well as personal and collective agency. The timely, year-long exhibition Power: Within and Between Us will begin January 1, 2019.

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‘Karma’ ~ Ancient Wisdom Meets the Future at The Rubin Museum of Art

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The Series, Karma at The Rubin Museum of Art

This fall at the Rubin Museum of Art, guests from a diverse set of spiritual traditions will discuss the connections between ancient wisdom and the earth’s future with notable personalities including Laurie Anderson, Marina Abramović, Paul Miller (DJ Spooky), Meredith Monk, and Maira Kalman. Tickets for the 2018 Karma schedule go on sale September 7, 2018.

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Step into The Future at The Rubin Museum of Art with Future Fellow, Chitra Ganesh

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Chitra Ganesh at The Rubin Museum of Art with images via The Rubin

As part of the 2018 theme, The Future, artist Chitra Ganesh will kick-off her residency on May 4th with a free celebration from 6:00pm to 10:00pm, featuring music by DJ Rekha, and the performance “Blessed Avenue” by Jacolby Satterwhite. This is exciting and pertinent programming, exploring responsibility, feminism, transformation and The Future.

Face The Future with artist, Chitra Ganesh during her fellowship at The Rubin Museum of Art.

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