November 4, 2006 – February 4, 2007

This display of thangkas – large, delicately painted Tibetan religious paintings – augmented the photographs of Vanished Kingdoms. Thangkas typically feature portraits of arhats or Buddhist saints and important lamas or Buddhist teachers. Paintings made between the 17th and early 20th centuries demonstrate not only the rich iconography of Tibetan Buddhist tradition, but also the exquisite painterly skills in portraiture and illustration.

The exhibit included a thangka of the four-armed Avalotitešvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion, painted especially for the Burke by local artist and well-known monk, Dhawa Dhondup Ngoche. One of Ngoche’s own traditional Tibetan Buddhist altars was displayed amongst the thangkas in the exhibit.

Sacred Portraits from Tibet was sponsored by the Blakemore Foundation with support from the Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, the Sidney Fund, and the Silk Road Foundation. Vanished Kingdoms and Sacred Portraits from Tibet have the active participation and approval of Tibetan religious and community leaders in Seattle.