Through the Stop and Chat experience, guides engage visitors in meaningful discussions about Tibetan art and culture.
Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room: The Alice S. Kandell Collection installed in gallery G256 at Minneapolis Institute of Art
Stop and Chat: Making Connections • Meg Ubel
The new Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room and the adjoining gallery of Tibetan Buddhist art have been drawing a wide variety of visitors to Mia: members of the Tibetan community, people who have traveled to the Himalayan region, and those with a general interest in or curiosity about Buddhism. In our Shrine Room the lights are low, deep chanting can be heard, and richly colored objects are densely packed into the space—a very different experience from the rest of the museum, and that was the intent of the donor, Alice Kandell. After two sessions as a Stop and Chat guide for this installation, I find that this tour format works well for engaging and informing both these intentional visitors as well as the museum-goers who are just passing through on a Saturday afternoon.
Stop and Chat is different from a guided tour. As the name implies, it’s about having conversations—sometimes brief exchanges and sometimes in-depth discussions. As a guide, you’re not moving around the museum; you’re in one gallery and making connections between artworks, ideas, and visitors’ own lives and experiences—with the added bonus of a cart full of items that people can pick up and try for themselves. Instead of doing the traditional round of questions in front of an artwork, you’re tying that work in to the objects and activities on the cart.
Yamantaka Mandala, 1991 • Monks of the Gyuto Tantric University Colored silicate and adhesive on wood
Gift of Funds from the Gyuto Tantric University, 3M, Construction Materials, Inc., and the Asian Art Council • 82.44
As an example, the Yamantaka Mandala (92.44) is a large and colorful object that always grabs visitors’ attention. With the Stop and Chat cart strategically located right in front of it, I can point out the symbolism in the mandala, the importance of a sand mandala to a Buddhist practitioner, and the intense, laborious process of making one. This leads naturally to the sand mandala activity on the cart, where visitors can use the same tools that monks and nuns do and create their own designs. On a recent afternoon, one young woman approached our cart, and her face absolutely lit up with delight as she looked up at the mandala behind us. In our conversation, she remarked that she is an art therapist and has done sand mandala workshops with her patients. She tried the sand mandala activity, carefully scraping the chak-pur tool to release sand onto the board, watched others doing it, and absorbed information about Buddhist meditation practice. We all noted that doing this activity seems to have a meditative effect on adults and children alike. As she was leaving, she seemed energized and said that she had gained some new ideas to include in her therapy work.
Stop and Chat does not require that a guide always stay close to the cart. I frequently go into the rest of the gallery and engage people at other artworks. One group of four was taken with the thangka appliqué Architrave garland frieze (L2023.76.172) on the wall outside the Shrine Room entrance, and we had a discussion about how this intricately pieced textile was made. These people had noticed a similar work inside the Shrine Room, so we were able to make the connection between this thangka in the gallery and the atmosphere in which it would be used as an aid to meditation in a private home shrine.
One last connection: As my co-guide Margo Squire and I were packing up the cart at the end of a recent shift, we caught sight of Alice Kandell at the other end of the gallery. The generous donor of the Shrine Room was in town for a lecture, and naturally we introduced ourselves and had a lively chat with her about her collection and how she built it over 40-plus years. It was a moment to express mutual appreciation for the opportunity to have her collection at Mia and share it with people in this absorbing and immersive way.
Conversations at the Tibetan Shrine Room • Nancy Kelly
It has been interesting listening to visitor comments when they stop by the art cart after visiting the Tibetan Shrine Room. Many of the comments include the words peaceful, soothing, fascinating, unique objects, spiritual, mesmerizing, chill, overwhelming, compassionate, abundance, exotic.
My Stop and Chat colleagues and I have had some amazing conversations with guests at the shrine. Often, guests will stop at the art cart and stay for half an hour talking about their experiences not only in the Shrine Room but those experiences they have had that relate to the Shrine Room. I have spoken with quite a few people who have been to Tibet, Nepal, and India. They had insights and experiences to share about the temples and shrines they encountered in their travels. I have had people tell me about hiking treks in the mountains, learning more about eastern medicine on their travels, and how the people in these areas have influenced their lives.
I have spoken with about four or five people who have met the Dalai Lama here in Minnesota, India, and New York. My art cart colleague and myself I spoke with a gentleman who is a pastor at an Episcopal church in New York City. Several years ago, this pastor hosted the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, who were speaking at his church. He told a story about the Dalai Lama. The pastor said they were visiting in his office and told the Dalai Lama that he will bring him to see his church when the current guests leave. He said he told the Dalai Lama there were some businessmen from China visiting and he thought it would be uncomfortable for the Dalai Lama to be there with the Chinese men. The Dalai Lama said that no, that would be fine. The pastor said, “But the Chinese have driven you and your people from your homeland.” The Dalai Lama replied that he is not angry with the Chinese. He said he now appreciates his homeland more than ever because of this. It was an interesting story showing the compassion of the Dalai Lama.
My colleague and I had a conversation with a man who worked for the State Department doing economic development work in India and traveled to Nepal and Tibet and had wonderful information to share about his experiences. He explained the many different types of shrines that he encountered on his journeys and how impressed he is with our shrine.
It seems to me that people who have a real interest in Tibet and the surrounding areas are drawn to the Shrine room.
Learning from Tibetan Shrine Visitors • Fran Megarry
Visitors to the Tibetan Shrine say they are “awestruck" when we ask them at the Tibetan art cart if they have been in the room. They are very eager to share what they have noticed in the shrine and they are thrilled that they are allowed to touch the art on the cart. They have said it is a "double joy.”
As guides have often said, we learn from our guests, and that is certainly true as we engage guests with the art cart. Many guests are so surprised at the connections made between the mandala and the shrine room. People are hesitant at first, but with encouragement they try their hand at using the chalk-pur, or funnel used by Buddhist monks to create the mandala with sand.
Another very popular item is the singing bowl. One guest said she puts water in her bowl and can make the water jump as she rotates around the bowl.
Another guest was thrilled that he and his family could leave white sashes on the altar in the shrine room. He said that it is important for the Tibetan people to leave gifts, and the white sash works for our shrine room instead of flowers or fruit.
I enjoyed speaking with a Tibetan family. The grandma was explaining her prayer beads to me in her language and her adult son was translating. She wanted me to hold her beads. I really enjoy that the cart allows for connections through extended lovely conversations.
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