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Museum Visit Report

I have always been excited about history and particularly museums. I once did a class assignment where our teacher required us to visit a historical monument and write a report. I had just visited the Rubin Museum the previous week and enquired whether I could include that in the report, it was difficult to go down to Manhattan and I was just there less than a week past on 3rd February, 2019. The Rubin Museum is one of the most underrated historical places in the country. There was information about the Tibetan history with breathtaking displays. The Tibetan culture is fascinating because of the pursuit of enlightenment, which is quite an interesting phenomenon. This is a report on the visit to the Rubin Museum including additional information on the historical context inspired by the artifacts in the building and the history about it.

Getting to the Museum, the entrance was blocked by joyous groups with various artists playing live sounds and one had to squeeze between the many people to get to the door and into the building. Apparently, I had gone on a day when an annual block party was in progress. It was beautiful and cultural with dancers shaking their body to the live music and various treats spread all over. The entrance was exciting and no one would mind the commotion. It was my plan to go in and then come back to the party. I was still excited about finding a little history of the Buddha with figures and all. A six-story staircase led to an exhibition area. There were several guides that showed people around but I wanted to do the tour alone and maybe join a group later. I had one intention and that was to begin at the Tibetan exhibition area.

The Tibetan culture was particularly important to me because it is currently under threat from restriction to express the culture by the Chinese, the gradual loss of national identity, and mass Chinese immigration. A particular piece that I came across that was interesting in terms of cultural significance and the display was something titled the “Four-Armed Avalokiteshvara in His Pure Realm of Potalika.” It looked like pigment on canvas placed between walls and people walked up to a frame and placed their arms against the glass, a gimmick that was confusing until one got their turn. One was supposed to lean against the glass, touch the wall, and like sorcery you could hear the chants of monks and the vibrations of the sound could be felt on the hand. It was as if the sound of some invincible soul that made the chants came to life.

The Tibetan people live by Buddhist principles with nuns and monks playing a crucial role in providing guidance and education (Pauls). The Tibetan people work hard to protect their religion and culture, which makes it unfortunate that the Chinese are undermining this beautiful culture with an important place in history.

At the museum, I moved to a section that had a little history of Buddha called the Tibetan shrine room. Here I gathered information that Buddhas were lifted from the earth when they achieved enlightenment. Not all Buddhas, however, left the earth and one group called the Bodhisattvas remained with the people to provide guidance and help them achieve their own enlightenment. The museum had displays of Buddha himself, Shakyamuni, who was named after the religion because of his role in founding it. Alongside him were different sculptures and paintings illustrating different expressions and gestures.

The experience at the museum augmented information that was provided in history books. For a person that has almost as much interest as me, this was a particularly an enriching experience. Walking out of the museum challenged an individual to research more on particular topics, like for my case was the Buddhist theory of evanescence and the Tibetan sky funeral. Be it a documentary, a visit to an exhibition, or a museum, augmenting class work with an external activity kills the monotony of always being in class provides students with the opportunity for additional information not covered in the syllabus.

Works Cited

Pauls, Elizabeth Prine. “Tibetna People .” 2019. Encyclopedia Britannica . Website . 29 February 2020