Guardians of Tradition: How Tibetan Art Lives on Through Museum Collections

Guardians of Tradition: How Tibetan Art Lives on Through Museum Collections invites audiences to an illuminating conversation with collector Alice Kandell and leading curators exploring the preservation, interpretation, and continued resonance of Tibetan Buddhist art within museum collections today. Centered around Kandell’s extraordinary legacy, the discussion will examine how sacred Tibetan objects transition from private devotional spaces into public institutions while retaining their spiritual and cultural significance. Alice Kandell is one of the most significant collectors of Tibetan religious art. Her extraordinary gifts of two complete Tibetan Buddhist shrine rooms—each containing more than 200 sacred objects—were donated to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. Installed in their entirety, just as they appeared in her home, these immersive environments offer visitors a rare opportunity to encounter Tibetan Buddhist art as lived experience rather than isolated museum objects. Together, the panelists will explore Kandell’s journey as a collector of Tibetan art and the inspiration behind the creation of her Shrine Room. The conversation will also address the collection’s rich iconography and spiritual significance, as well as the donation and installation of the Shrine Rooms at their respective institutions. Speakers will further reflect on public engagement, related programming, and the evolving role museums play in preserving and sharing Tibetan artistic and spiritual traditions today. PANELISTS: Rebecca Bloom, Curator and scholar specializing in Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhist material culture, and the intersection of religion and museums. Debra Diamond, Elizabeth Moynihan Curator of South Asian and Southeast Asian Art, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution Alice Kandell, Noted collector of Tibetan Art MODERATOR: Matthew Welch, Senior Deputy Director, The Minneapolis Institute of Art INTRODUCTION BY: Dessa Goddard, U.S. Head of the Asian Art Group, Senior Vice President and Head, Business Strategy for Chinese Paintings, and Senior Specialist for Chinese Art at Bonhams