Week 4: Jan. 28, 2024

Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva), Japan, 700-800s C.E., Wood with traces of paint

Would you take me by the hand?

Sadly, despite being a history major as well as having had a couple classes in world religions, the minute I hear the name Bodhisattva, Steely Dan starts playing in my head. However, I was drawn to this wooden sculpture for two other reasons: its placement in an odd hallway between two galleries and the challenge of the lighting.

Three Buddhist pieces adorn a hallway that has stairs leading up to offices and transitions museum goers between two larger galleries. This one, Kannon Bosatsu, is the Bodhisattva of Mercy and Compassion. It is subtle but the placement of this Bodhisattva in this transitional area leading to a flight of stairs where an enormous golden Buddha sits gives a concrete sense of the path to enlightenment along which he would take ones’ hand and lead them. And cue the Steely Dan music again…

The downside of being displayed in a hallway is, perhaps, the lighting. Avoiding the exit signs and fire sprinklers made it almost impossible to frame the whole piece. I was compelled to move in very close - which was fortunate, because only at this short distance could I capture the golds and reds in the paint. They are almost impossible to see in person but the camera brings them to life.