Art Gallery of WA chairperson Sam Walsh, Chief Abbess Venerable Man Ko, Art Gallery of Western Australia director Dr Stefano Carboni, Arts and Heritage Minister David Templeman, Venerable Hui Kuan and Buddha’s Light International Association president David Yee.
Camera IconArt Gallery of WA chairperson Sam Walsh, Chief Abbess Venerable Man Ko, Art Gallery of Western Australia director Dr Stefano Carboni, Arts and Heritage Minister David Templeman, Venerable Hui Kuan and Buddha’s Light International Association president David Yee. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Maylands temple donates Encyclopaedia of Buddhist Art to Art Gallery of WA

Kristie LimEastern Reporter

A MAYLANDS temple has donated its first encyclopaedia to the Art Gallery of WA after more than 10 years of compiling the best of Buddhist art.

Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple’s Encyclopaedia of Buddhist Art consists of 20 volumes including architecture, sculptures, caves, rock carvings, calligraphy and paintings from China, India, Japan, North Korea, Europe, America and Australia.

Representatives from the temple took part in a handover at the gallery last week, which was attended by Venerable Hui Kuan, Chief Abbess Venerable Man Ko, Art Gallery of WA director Stefano Carboni and chairperson Sam Walsh, Arts and Heritage Minister David Templeman and Buddha’s Light International Association WA president David Yee.

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Temple spokesman and Western Lotus Subdivision president Dan Klofverskjold said the encyclopaedia had artworks collected by Fo Guang Shan Grand Master Hsing Yun from his travels in the 1940s.

“In 2001, they started the Chinese version first and it took them 12 years to compile all the photos and wording (before) another 300 English speaking scholars translated it,” he said.

“There are more than 10,000 selected entries, more than 14,000 pictures and approximately 3.5 million words.”

Mr Klofverskjold said he contacted Murdoch University, Notre Dame University and other institutions about making the encyclopaedia available for the public.

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