Waltham, Massachusetts – Brandeis University has donated the bulk of its Tibetan art collection to a New York museum in a move the school said is aimed at preserving rare pieces of Tibetan culture for the Tibetan people, the school announced Tuesday.
Brandeis officials on Tuesday shipped 138 pieces from its “Riverside Collection” to the Tibet House museum in New York.
Brandeis University President Jehuda Reinharz plans to officially present the collection to the Dalai Lama during his visit to New York on Sept. 23. The art will be kept at the Tibet House, nearly doubling its current collection of 150 objects, with the ultimate goal of returning the art to national museum in a free Tibet.
Pieces in the Riverside Collection date as far back as the 17th century and include objects ranging from Buddhas to tea vessels. The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis has housed the collection since 1971, but Reinharz said the Tibetan art was not part of Brandeis’ primary collection and there was little chance it would be displayed.
“We believe it much more important to let the Tibetan people reclaim some of their heritage,” Reinharz said. “The Tibetan people have lost so much of their art … every morsel of art is extremely important to them.”
The Dalai Lama visited Brandeis in May 1998 and will visit the Boston area starting Friday on his current U.S. tour.
