Rituals & Celebrations

Learn about the festival in India for one of the most popular forms of the Goddess—Durga.

John Duncan, Director for Korean Studies, UCLA, gives a talk on Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) Korea at the Asian Art Museum.

Asian Art Museum Docent, Linda Lei, gives a talk to teachers on the symbols associated with Chinese Lunar New Year at the Asian Art Museum on May 15, 2014.

Jeffrey Durham, Associate Curator of Himalayan Art, discusses a painting of the Buddha Vairochana in the exhibition, Enter the Mandala.

The painting of the temple offering at the start of this video, on view at the Asian Art Museum during the Bali exhibition, is by Miguel Covarrubias. It is among the many offerings he must have seen as he traveled around the island of Bali. Offerings such as these are still an important part of ceremonial life in Bali to this day. Miguel Covarrubias, a Mexican artist famous in 1920s and 30s New York City for illustrating the covers of magazines like Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, made his first trip to Bali in 1930 with his wife Rose.

This video features examples of different types of Balinese dance, costumes, and music. Bali: Art, Ritual Performance was on view at the Asian Art Museum from February 25–September 11, 2011.

This video depicts a cremation ceremony for members of the Balinese royal family. There are dozens of steps in the Balinese cremation process which can take many months depending on the wealth and status of the deceased. Wealthy people often have extremely elaborate pavilions and other implements that are part of this process. When the body finally makes it to the cremation grounds, there is a pavilion built there under which stands an animal-shaped coffin. The shape of the coffin is related to the caste of the person who has died.

Associate Curator of Southeast Asian Art, Natasha Reichle, trains the Asian Art Museum docents on the upcoming Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance exhibition on view at the Asian Art Museum from February 25-September 11, 2011.

Sip, learn, and chat with Miwa Wang, sake sommelier and manager of True Sake, about the nuanced tastes and bouquets of sake. Stroll the galleries, see Lords of the Samurai, discover a Japanese tea ceremony showcasing matcha, a powdered green tea and namesake of our program. Observe its meticulous preparation and whisk your own. Dip into a talk on tea ceremony and warrior culture, join a docent conversation, or relax with a sake-tini, friends, and DJ-spun music.

Sun Joo Kim, Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean history in the department of East Asian languages and civilizations and Director of Korea Institute, Harvard University, gives a talk on the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910) in conjunction with the exhibition, In Grand Style: Celebrations in Korean Art During the Joseon Dynasty at the Asian Art Museum.