CO-SPONSORSHIP: Buddhism Unit and Space, Place, and Religion Unit

• Encountering Buddha in Museums:
 Modern Expressions of an Ancient Tradition (Contacts: Aik Sai Goh, aiksai@virginia.edu or Stephanie Bell, sab2346@columbia.edu) 

Since the establishment of the first Buddhist museums by British colonial administrators in Bagan, Myanmar (1904), and Sarnath, India (1908), to house archaeological finds, the world has seen an explosion of Buddhist exhibitions and museums. This session seeks to understand this phenomenon in its broadest form—exhibitions, galleries, museumified temples, cultural parks, or temple-museums—and ask what these tell us about the confluence of the modern museological form and an ancient tradition. In what ways do Buddhist museums and exhibitions illustrate the changing attitudes towards the religion? How do these places interpret Buddhism and what impacts do these interpretations have on the beliefs and practices of Buddhism?