NEWLY OPENED EXHIBITION
Gateway to Himalayan Art
February 15 – July 27, 2025
Utah Museum of Fine Arts, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Gateway to Himalayan Art is a traveling exhibition for colleges, universities, and art museums that introduces the main forms, concepts, meanings, and living traditions of Himalayan art. It is part of the Rubin’s flagship educational initiative Project Himalayan Art: a resource that aims to support the inclusion of Tibetan, Himalayan, and Inner Asian art and cultures into undergraduate teaching on Asia as well as present Himalayan art to the general public.
The exhibition’s three areas of focus are Symbols and Meanings, Materials and Technologies, and Living Practices. Traditional scroll paintings (thangkas), sculptures in various media, and ritual items comprise the diverse range of objects on view. Among the featured installations are in-depth displays that explain the process of Nepalese lost-wax metal casting and the stages of Tibetan thangka painting. Multimedia features include videos of art making and religious and cultural practices, audio recordings of voices from Himalayan communities that highlight the living traditions, and much more on the integrated digital platform that offers rich contextual material to dive deeper.
To learn more, click here.
RECURRING EVENT
Weekly Mindfulness Meditation
Every Thursdays from 1:00-1:45pm
New York Insight Meditation Center
115 W. 29th St., 12th Fl, NYC
Practice the art of attention in this weekly meditation session hosted and curated by the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art at New York Insight Meditation Center.
For centuries Himalayan practitioners have used meditation to quiet the mind, open the heart, calm the nervous system, and increase focus. Mindfulness Meditation is a refuge from the world around us, as well as an opportunity to engage with it more consciously.
Inspired by works of art from the Rubin’s collection and guided by expert teachers, each session is framed around a monthly theme, such as Compassion, Impermanence, Unity, and Interconnectedness. The sessions are open to beginners and skilled meditators alike and include an opening talk, a 20-minute meditation session, and a closing discussion.
Friends of the Rubin receive complimentary tickets, click here to sign up.
To learn more and reserve tickets, click here.
UPCOMING EVENT
Losar Family Day: Celebrate the Year of the Wood Snake
March 2, 2025 from 12-4pm
LaGuardia Community College, C Building, 29-10 Thomson Ave, Long Island City
Slither into the Year of the Wood Snake with your family and friends at this free community event! Celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year, with an afternoon of discovery. Learn about traditional Losar celebrations such as Chemar Bo. Sample scrumptious khapse pastries made especially for the New Year. Uncover the characteristics of this year’s zodiac animal, the wise and determined Wood Snake. Then watch a traditional torma butter sculpture demonstration, and let your creativity go wild!
To learn more, click here.
UPCOMING EXHIBITION
Installation view
Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room at the Brooklyn Museum
In June 2025, the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art’s beloved Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room will open in a custom space in the Brooklyn Museum’s Arts of Asia galleries as part of a long-term partnership between the two institutions.
The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room was one of the most popular exhibitions at the Rubin Museum’s 17th Street building in New York City, experienced by more than one million visitors from the year it opened in 2015 until the building’s closure in 2024.
In a commitment to ensure New York City communities and visitors continue to have access to the Rubin’s collection, the Shrine Room will find a new home at the Brooklyn Museum’s Arts of Asia galleries. Opening in June 2025, it will launch a six-year collaboration between the institutions that includes collection sharing and curatorial exchange.
To learn more, click here.
PROJECTS
Project Himalayan Art
Publication, Traveling Exhibition, and Digital Platform
Project Himalayan Art is an interdisciplinary resource for learning about Himalayan, Tibetan, and Inner Asian art and cultures. This three part-initiative is designed to support the inclusion of these cultures into undergraduate teaching on Asia and presents Himalayan art to the general public. The project focuses on cross-cultural exchange with Tibet at the center and Buddhism as the thread that connects the diverse cultural regions.
To learn more, click here.
Rubin Art Prize
The vision of the Rubin Museum Himalayan Art Prize is to support and celebrate the dynamic dialogue between Himalayan art and contemporary life, ensuring that the rich cultural heritage of the Himalayan region continues to inspire and resonate globally.
Learn about the 2024 Rubin Art Prize recipient, Tenzin Gyurmey Dorjee, here.
Mandala Lab
An Interactive Space for Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning
The Mandala Lab invites people to get curious about their emotions. Consider how complex feelings show up in your everyday life and imagine how you might have the power to transform them. Inspired by powerful Buddhist principles, the Mandala Lab features five thought-provoking, playful experiences. With a collection of online resources and a traveling installation, learn more about the emotions and wisdoms explored in the Mandala Lab, visit the Mandala Lab in a city near you, or bring these powerful ideas to the classroom.
To learn more, click here.
New Future
Founded in 2004, the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art (formerly Rubin Museum of Art) first opened its doors at 150 West 17th Street in Chelsea, New York City. Today we’ve evolved to serve people across the globe, modeling new possibilities for how museums might reach, engage, and serve the public worldwide.
The Rubin is a global museum dedicated to presenting Himalayan art through exhibitions, participatory experiences, partnerships, and a dynamic digital platform. We bring together diverse perspectives—from Buddhist practitioners to neuroscientists and contemporary artists—to offer insights into the art and its meaning in life today.
Inspired and informed by Himalayan art, the Rubin invites people to contemplate the human experience and deepen connections with the world around them in order to expand awareness, enhance well-being, and cultivate compassion.
The Rubin advances scholarship through a series of educational initiatives, grants, a collection sharing program with other museums and institutions, and the stewardship of its collection of nearly 4,000 Himalayan art objects spanning 1,500 years of history—providing unprecedented access and resources to scholars, artists, and students across the globe.
To learn more, click here.
Our Collection
The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art’s preeminent collection of nearly 4,000 objects spans more than 1,500 years to the present day. Included are artworks of exceptional quality and historical significance from the Tibetan Plateau, with examples from Northern Indian, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Mongolian, and Chinese culturally related areas. The collection consists primarily of scroll paintings (thangkas and paubhas) and sculptures, as well as masks, textiles, illuminated manuscripts, religious implements, and other objects from these regions.
To learn more and view our collection highlights, click here.
