By Candradasa on Fri, 8 Feb, 2013 - 22:48We’re delighted to feature as part of our galleries section this month a set of works in cloth by Kiranada Sterling Benjamin (with an extended Flickr selection and notes). Painting with hot wax and liquid dyes on thirsty cloth is an apt way to describe the work Kiranada does. Her background in fibers includes training in the Japanese kimono industry and research in the traditional Japanese classical arts; from scoll painting and tea ceremony...
By Windhorse Evolution on Sat, 17 Nov, 2012 - 07:30Vidyasiddhi has created a fascinating exhibition of photographs titled ‘In the Seen Only the Seen’. It is currently on display where he works, at Windhorse:evolution in Cambridge, UK. All the images can also be viewed online, here and are available to buy as prints. Vidyasiddhi writes of his work:
By really looking, purely and openly, we can move beyond ideas about form, towards the true nature of form, which is emptiness. This is looking as a...
A great wee discussion on religious art in the community with Suriyavamsa, artist and Dharma farer extraordinaire. He’s just back from four months on retreat as part of the team on the men’s ordination retreat for the Triratna Buddhist Order at Guhyaloka Retreat Centre in Spain near Alicante. Lovely to hear his thoughts on beautifully intricate models he made for a sand mandala - including his evocation of the making of pleated palm crosses in ...
Imagining the Buddha - by Maitreyabandhu. In this talk Maitreyabandhu explores his responses to Aloka’s remarkable new Buddha Rupa in the Padmaloka shrine room. You can see a glimpse of the image itself here.
By lokabandhu on Wed, 4 Apr, 2012 - 06:03Lokeshvara writes from Padmaloka, Triratna’s long-established men’s retreat centre in Norfolk UK, with news of - the arrival of their Buddha! This is part of their long-running project to populate every part of the shrineroom with images of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, mostly if not entirely painted and sculpted by Aloka. He says -
“If you haven’t been here since New Year, we have to tell you that we have a new Buddha made by Aloka...
By lokabandhu on Sun, 1 Apr, 2012 - 06:20Any readers of Triratna News who happen to be in Helsinki in April are warmly invited to visit a exhibition entitled ‘The Forest Speaks’ (‘Metsä puhuu’ in Finnish), created by two Order Members Akasaka and Nagashila. Akasaka writes, saying - “The Forest Speaks exhibition is the current result of a collaboration between myself, an Englishwoman and graphic artist, newly arrived in Finland, and Nagashila, a Finnish painter. Our collaboration started in the Koli Ryynänen artist residence in 2008. ...
By lokabandhu on Tue, 6 Mar, 2012 - 06:22Following Sunday’s story about new Triratna musicians and music, Arthasiddhi from Windhorse:evolution and the Cambridge Buddhist Centre writes with news of their recent ‘Composers’ Competition’ which took place late last year. He says -
“Engagement with the Arts is encouraged as an integral part of Buddhism in our community. Finding artistic forms that speak to us as Western Buddhists is a major part of this engagement. What would the Dharma chanted by Western Buddhists need...
By lokabandhu on Fri, 10 Feb, 2012 - 11:42In October last year, Dhammarati met for a day in Birmingham with 25 designers working in the Triratna Buddhist Community, with people coming from as far away as Amsterdam, Berlin and the Highlands of Scotland. As well as benefiting from Dhammarati’s vast experience in the field, the designers also reported the event as a rare and valuable opportunity to meet and share ideas with others working with much in common.
Following on from that, an online forum has been...
By lokabandhu on Mon, 30 Jan, 2012 - 10:38Samuel Rawlings, Subhuti’s secretary, writes from India with news of an exciting new Triratna venture: the first-ever Indian Buddhist Artists’ Retreat. He says -
“The event was the first of its kind to take place in India, with artists coming from all corners of the sub-continent to explore the relationship between Art and the Buddha-Dhamma. Most of the participants were from a Dalit background, and it was very moving to hear how deeply they had all struggled to produce...
