The monasteries of the western Himalayas played a crucial role in the process of the translation and dissemination
of Buddhism from the Indian to the Tibetan world. It is this process which the research project focuses on. The
findings of different analyses, done by the different members of the art history project, will be interpreted from
different view-points and set in the wider context of late Indian and early Tibetan Buddhism.
The goal of the art history project is to document the remaining Buddhist monuments and artefacts of the western
Himalaya which can be attributed to a period ending ca. 15th century, when a pan-Tibetan style emerges. The
research has concentrated on Tabo and Alchi.
Tabo monastery has contiinued to form the focus of the research, as well as comparative research on other
monuments attributed to Rin chen bzang po. Therefore, the comprehensive documentation of the art historical
evidence is essential. Further, as the monuments are in a steady process of decay and sometimes "renovation", it is
only through this documentation that adequate measures are being taken to ensure that this precious historical
evidence survives. Considering that a continuous analysis of secondary, primary and other resource material are
only available in obscure places and languages which are only spoken by some members, the digital processing of
the bibliography is especially important,
The individual research themes have been chosen with a view to illuminating the distinctive character of local
Buddhist art, as well as the process of the translation of Indian Buddhism and its visual forms into the distinctive
Western Tibetan art form; these studies serve as a basis for continuing investigation, as listed below.
Among the main topics researched into are narrative art (Klimburg-Salter), manuscript illustrations (Klimburg-
Salter, Allinger), style (Allinger, Luczanits), iconography (Luczanits), the relationship of the western Himalayan art
to Central Asian art (Friesen) textile patterns and donor depictions (Klimburg-Salter, Papa-Kalantari) and the
representation of local tradition within Buddhist art and culture (Jahoda).