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Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art

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Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art

The Rubin is a global museum dedicated to presenting Himalayan art and its insights
(2230)

The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art is an arts oasis and cultural hub in New York City’s vibrant Chelsea neighborhood that inspires visitors to make powerful connections between contemporary life and the art and ideas of the Himalayas, India, and neighboring regions. With a diverse array of thought-provoking exhibitions and programs—including films, concerts, and on-stage conversations—the Rubin provides immersive experiences that encourage personal discoveries and spark new ways of seeing the world. Emphasizing cross-cultural connections, the Rubin is a space to contemplate the big questions that extend across history and span human cultures.

10/20/2026

Meet the voices of AWAKEN season 6: Wrath.

Hosted by Kathleen Hanna, this season brings together activists, writers, Buddhist teachers, researchers, artists, and other thinkers to explore wrath from many perspectives—from fierce compassion and collective action to anger, courage, transformation, and change.

Across the season, their conversations unfold alongside Buddhist and Hindu artworks from the Rubin’s collection, asking what wrath can teach us about how we respond to the world around us.

Swipe to meet the guests and preview the ideas they’ll explore.

Read more about AWAKEN season 6: Wrath, and stay tuned for Episode 1 on October 27: https://rubinmuseum.org/kathleen-hanna-hosts-season-6-of-the-rubins-awaken-podcast/

10/17/2026

Now open in Pasadena! 🎉

"Gateway to Himalayan Art" is now on view at the USC Pacific Asia Museum .

Featuring artworks from the Rubin's collection, the exhibition offers an introduction to the art and cultures of the Himalayan region through three areas of focus: Symbols & Meanings, Materials & Technologies, and Living Practices.

Visitors can explore paintings, sculptures, ritual objects, contemporary art, and displays that illuminate artistic processes and the living traditions connected to the objects on view.

Swipe for a first look inside the galleries.

📍 USC Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California
🗓️ October 17, 2026–January 10, 2027

Learn more and plan your visit: https://rubinmuseum.org/exhibitions/gateway-to-himalayan-art-traveling/

10/15/2026

Why does the female figure known as a salanbhanjika often appear alongside an elephant? 🐘

In the third annual Rubin Museum Distinguished Lecture in Himalayan Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, "Flowering Trees and Beauties in Nepalese Art," Sanskritist and scholar Gautama V. Vajracharya explores this question through Sanskrit, Pali, and Newari sources.

Often depicted as a young woman standing atop a human figure beneath a flowering tree, the salanbhanjika has been the subject of ongoing scholarly debate. Vajracharya examines its connection to the artistic motif of an aggressive beast trampling an elephant and traces its continued popularity in Nepalese art long after it fell out of use in India.

Watch the lecture: https://rubinmuseum.org/the-rubin-museum-distinguished-lecture-in-himalayan-art-at-the-met/

📸: Filip Wolak

10/14/2026

Congratulations to the 13 recipients of the 2026 Rubin Grants!

This year, the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art is awarding nearly $195,000 in direct support to artists and researchers working in the Himalayan regions and internationally to preserve artistic traditions, create new art, and expand access to knowledge about Himalayan art and cultures.

Launched in 2024, the annual Rubin Grants program supports projects focused on the cultural heritage and living traditions of the Himalayan regions. To date, the program has supported 45 projects.

This year’s selected projects include new performance pieces, exhibition commissions, a film festival, and documentation of regional heritage sites and traditional art-making techniques.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll spotlight each grantee and the project their grant will support.

Meet the recipients and learn more about all 13 projects: https://rubinmuseum.org/the-rubin-awards-13-art-project-and-research-grants-in-2026-195000-in-support/

10/13/2026

Look closely at this sculptural portrait of Jikme Lingpa (1729–1798), an influential Tibetan Buddhist teacher and scholar.

Seated on a cushion in the clothing of a Tibetan layperson, Jikme Lingpa is depicted with a slightly askew posture, a lined face, prominent ears, a goatee, and hair gathered into a topknot. These lifelike details suggest that the sculpture may have been created during his lifetime or by someone who knew him personally.

Jikme Lingpa was a celebrated figure in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, known for his visionary experiences and for revealing sacred teachings that remain influential today.

Today marks Jikme Lingpa's parinirvana anniversary. In Tibetan Buddhism, parinirvana refers to the passing of an enlightened master, marking their complete liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering.

Who is a teacher or mentor who has made a lasting impact on your life?

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Jikme Lingpa (1729–1798); Tibet; 18th–19th century; metal alloy; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2002.29.2

10/11/2026

In recognition of International Day of the Girl, we’re looking closely at "Girl Herder" (2006) by Tibetan artist Dedron (b. 1976).

Dedron’s paintings focus on the beauty of nature and the changing traditional Tibetan life and environment. She often depicts women and animals, using a warm, natural color palette with tones of Tibetan butter milk tea and cooler colors of sacred mani stones.

In "Girl Herder," a girl wearing a customary sheepskin garment raises her arms as she herds sheep and yak. A Tibetan antelope, an endangered species, runs in the distance, while traditional houses, rolling hills, and stylized clouds fill the landscape. Across the painting, graffiti-like dotted forms evoke rock carvings found throughout Tibet—some ancient and some contemporary—which collectively represent traces of life in this environment.

The girl has no nose or mouth, but prominent eyes. Dedron worked at an orphanage where she introduced blind children to color through touch. The experience led her to emphasize her characters’ eyes, a defining element in her paintings.

At the center of this richly layered landscape, the girl becomes a powerful presence within Dedron’s reflections on nature, Tibetan culture, and change.

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Girl Herder; Lhasa, Tibet; 2006; Mixed media on canvas; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; SC2009.2

10/09/2026

Opening next week: "Gateway to Himalayan Art" at the USC Pacific Asia Museum! 👀

Installation is underway in Pasadena as teams from the Rubin and USC PAM work together to prepare the galleries for opening day on October 17.

From hanging paintings and positioning sculptures to assembling the exhibition’s lost-wax casting display, the installation team is putting the final pieces in place.

Swipe for a behind-the-scenes look at the exhibition taking shape.

📍 USC Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, California
🗓️ October 17, 2026–January 10, 2027

Learn more: https://rubinmuseum.org/exhibitions/gateway-to-himalayan-art-traveling/

📸: Tiffany Miller; Sung-Hee Son

10/08/2026

Kathleen Hanna—punk singer, writer, and frontwoman of the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre—hosts AWAKEN Season 6: Wrath.

Across the season, Kathleen guides conversations exploring wrath as a fierce, protective, and transformative force—and what it can teach us about compassion and meaningful action.

Season 6 premieres October 27. Learn more: https://rubinmuseum.org/kathleen-hanna-hosts-season-6-of-the-rubins-awaken-podcast/

10/07/2026

When we’re feeling anxious or uncertain, how can we distinguish realistic concerns from exaggerated worries and see things more clearly?

Ahead of , practice the art of attention with the Rubin’s Mindfulness Meditation podcast. Throughout September, each meditation explored clarity through an artwork from the Rubin’s collection.

The final September meditation, led by Elaine Retholtz, was inspired by White Manjushri (slide 1), a bodhisattva and deity embodying the wisdom of all awakened beings. Manjushri is often shown holding a flaming sword, symbolizing the ability to cut through illusion and discern truth. In this peaceful depiction, he holds a lotus, a sacred symbol in Tibetan Buddhism associated with purity, awakening, transformation, and compassion. His luminous white form invites us to reflect on how we can cultivate greater clarity in our own lives.

🎧 New episodes every Friday. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at https://rubinmuseum.org/spiral/mindfulness-meditation/
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1. White Manjushri; Tibet; 19th century; Pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, Gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.30
2. Medicine Buddha Palace (Copy of first painting from the set of the Tibetan Medical Paintings from Mentsikhang Lhasa); Rebgong county, Qinghai Province, China; 2012-2013; Pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; SC2013.6
3. Incense Burner; Kham Province, Eastern Tibet (possibly Derge area); 15th century; Damascened iron; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2005.16.67a-b
4. Tsongkhapa (1357-1419); Tibet; 16th century; Silver, copper, and enamel with semiprecious stones and pigments; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, gift of the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation; F1997.31.19

10/06/2026

Opening October 8 at the 國立故宮博物院南部院區 Southern Branch of National Palace Museum , “Crossing the Himalayas: An Artistic Odyssey” explores the Himalayas as a cultural crossroads.

The Rubin is the exhibition’s largest lender, with 42 artworks from the Museum’s collection on view. One of the exhibition highlights is Four Mandalas of the Vajravali Cycle, an exquisite 15th-century thangka (scroll painting). A Tibetan inscription written in gold identifies it as the 13th painting in a 14-painting set illustrating the Vajravali cycle, a compendium of esoteric teachings compiled in 11th-century India and widely transmitted in Tibet. Only six paintings from the set are known to survive today.

Ngor monastic histories record that six itinerant Newar artists from the Kathmandu Valley, including the famous artist Wangguli, created the paintings at Ngor Monastery. This thangka represents the culmination of Newar artisanship in southern-central Tibet.

See this exceptionally well-preserved thangka in person as part of “Crossing the Himalayas: An Artistic Odyssey,” on view through April 6, 2027.

原本應有 14 幅的《金剛鬘》組畫，
現在，全世界已知僅存 6 幅。
其中一幅，10 月 8 日即將在故宮南院閃亮亮登場！

〈《金剛鬘》組畫之四曼荼羅〉是魯賓藝術博物館（Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art）藏品中保存最完整、文獻記錄最詳實的作品之一。畫面精密繪製四座曼荼羅，頂端的金泥藏文題記，顯示它屬於《金剛鬘》十四幅組畫中的第十三幅。

這幅精美的唐卡有一段真實流傳下來的故事：
十五世紀，西藏薩迦派俄寺創建者俄欽．貢噶桑波，為圓滿上師的遺願而委託製作這組畫。俄欽傳記曾記載，就在他想畫《金剛鬘》的時候，有六位來自加德滿都谷地的紐瓦爾畫師竟然不約而同地前來參與繪製，彷彿受到了召喚。數百年後，這段記錄竟能與留存的實物相互印證。濃郁且吸睛的紅色主調、蓮花柱拱廊和細密精緻的金色卷草紋，是這群紐瓦爾大師在西藏留下的頂峰之作。

以豐富的喜瑪拉雅藝術收藏而聞名的魯賓藝術博物館，是本展最大借展方，這次出借了42件珍貴館藏。10月8日起，在故宮南院S101展廳，一起細看這件跨越數百年、至今仍光彩奪目的唐卡！

「 #穿越喜瑪拉雅：從恆河到雪域的藝術行旅」
2026.10.08－2027.04.06｜故宮南院 S101 展廳

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Four Mandalas of the Vajravali Cycle; Ewam Choden Monastery, Tsang region, central Tibet; 1429-1456; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art; C2007.6.1

Address

New York, NY

Opening Hours

Thursday	10am - 11am
	11am - 5pm
Friday	11am - 10pm
Saturday	11am - 5pm
Sunday	11am - 5pm

Website

http://www.RubinMuseum.org/

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