Care and Handling of Thangkas
A Guide For Caretakers
This Website is Dedicated to the Memory of Visionary Art Conservator Victoria Blyth Hill: (November 17, 1945 to April 20, 2013)
It features an interactive version of the manual she envisioned. Victoria was the senior conservator emeritus at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California, where she worked for 32 years. She was the director of the conservation center for six years prior to her retirement from LACMA in 2005, and had a private practice in paper conservation in Los Angeles, California.
Acknowledgments
By Victoria Blyth Hill
The idea for Care and Handling of Thangkas: A Guide for Caretakers was sparked by a visit to Tibet in 2004 and the clear need for a manual to provide basic instruction to monks and monasteries about how to preserve their collections of thangkas. A grant from Thaw Charitable Trust, a private foundation in the United States, enabled a small group of specialists to conduct a conservation survey of an important collection in a Tibetan monastery in Kham, Tibet. From this survey I gained an understanding of the need for a guide for caretakers of collections. The Thaw Charitable Trust has also been extremely generous in providing financial support to publish and distribute this basic primer.
Yin-wah Ma has been the engine that has moved this work forward. Without her continual encouragement, knowledge, compassion, and extensive contacts, this guide would not have come into being. She has been exceedingly generous with her time and energy, from the beginning through to publication and distribution. Jessie Wood also donated her time and expertise in editing this guide. I am very grateful for her positive attitude and professional advice. Isaiah Seret and Jesse Klein saved the day with their photographs to illustrate the guide and their video for a limited edition DVD.
The text was translated into Tibetan by Lama Sonam Phuntsho with the dedicated assistance of Perna Wangchuk, our coordinator in India; and into Chinese by Dr. Elsie Chan.
Many, many other friends and colleagues have given advice or read early drafts. My husband, Charles Hill, has been by my side through the whole process. Dr. Terry Schaeffer volunteered to read the fuse draft and made sound recommendations. Chai! Norton, Rebecca Morales, and Yosi Pozeilov all contributed to the early concept of the guide. Dr. P Pal and the late Mr. Benjamin B. Johnson were my first influences in the conservation of thangkas, and I owe a great deal to them for their guidance.
Meeting Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche in 2004 had a big impact on me and kindled the desire to help preserve thangkas in monasteries. Thank you all for your trust in me.
Victoria Blyth Hill
January 2009
Foreword
By Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
It may be due to attitudes that result from Buddhist views of impermanence and detachment, or it may be due to a lack of training and infrastructure, but whatever the reason, notions of maintenance have not really been embedded in the cultural systems and thinking of traditional Tibetan society, and crucially in Tibetan monasteries. Time and again this has result ed in the loss of precious relics, texts, and works of art.
But times are changing, and Tibetans are beginning to value and take an active interest in preserving their unique cultural and Buddhist heritage. Therefore I'm very happy that Yin-wah Ma and Victoria Blyth Hill have produced this manual for the care and handling of thangkas. I would also like to thank the Thaw Charitable Trust for their generous funding of the conservation projects. I have no doubt that this publication and its accompanying DVD have the potential of marking an important turning point for Tibetans in preserving this widely appreciated facet of their Buddhist culture.
Introduction
This manual is intended to be an introductory guide for caretakers of thangka collections. Many collections are subject to conditions thac make preservation difficult, and money and other resources for preservation are limited. This manual describes techniques for improving the conditions under which thangkas are handled, displayed, and stored, using the most readily available supplies and the least expensive solutions
Thangkas are created from many materials, such as cotton, silk, animal glues, hand sewn thread, and mineral pigments. These materials respond differently to changes in temperature and humidity, and to rolling and folding. Over time, all of these factors affect the stability of a thangka painting. For example, a thangka that is not on display is usually kept rolled and stored in a niche or storage box with other paintings. Pressure from its own weight and the weight of the other paintings causes cracking of the ground and paint layers. Rolling and unrolling worsen the damage and eventually result in complete separation and flaking of the paint.Thangkas that do not have borders may also be folded, resulting in vertical and horizontal cracking, as well as loss of pigment and ground.
Navigation Guide
To navigate the interactive CARE AND HANDLING OF THANGKAS: A Guide for Caretakers Manual, use the diagram below.
