Calling the Earth to Witness: Eight Centuries of Buddhist Imagery from Southeast Asia on View at SFO

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Calling the Earth to Witness:  Eight Centuries of Buddhist Imagery from Southeast Asia on View at SFO
 

SAN FRANCISCO --  Calling the Earth to Witness: Eight Centuries of Buddhist Imagery from Southeast Asia, now on view at San Francisco International Airport, presents more than forty images of Buddha from the 12 ^th to 20 ^th centuries. Carved in wood, sandalwood or stone, or cast in bronze or silver, the images utilize specifically prescribed poses and hand gestures to depict the Buddhist doctrine in human form.

The images on display also reflect the different regions and periods in which they were created.   Represented in the exhibition are the distinctive styles of the Khmer Empire, whose rule extended throughout most of Southeast Asia from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries, as well as successive kingdoms in Thailand, Laos and Burma. 

The Buddhist images on exhibition are from the collection of Karsten Tietz.

Calling the Earth to Witness: Eight Centuries of Buddhist Imagery from Southeast Asia is located pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall, Departures/Ticketing Level, and is on view through September 26, 2008. There is no charge to view the exhibition.

Images from the exhibition are available online at http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/about/news/pressres/exh-buddhistim.html.

San Francisco Airport Museums

The San Francisco Airport Museums program was established by the Airport Commission in 1980 for the purposes of humanizing the Airport environment, providing visibility for the unique cultural life of San Francisco, and providing educational services for the traveling public. The Museum was granted initial accreditation from the American Association of Museums in 1999, reaccredited in 2005, and has the distinction of being the only accredited museum in an airport. Today, the San Francisco Airport Museums features approximately twenty galleries throughout the Airport terminals displaying a rotating schedule of art, history, science, and cultural exhibitions, as well as the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Library and Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, a permanent collection dedicated to the history of commercial aviation.

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