Photographs from De long en large Ladakh by Jean Mansion - Édition Findakly. Copyright Lise Mansion

Katia BuffetrilleClick to enlargeKATIA BUFFETRILLE

French anthropologist and tibetologist, specialist in Tibetan culture. 

Will present its new publication "L'âge d'or du Tibet" at Éditions Belles Lettres

Thursday, September 26, 2019 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

at the Harmattan Bookstore.

LE POT A LAIT NEPALAIS Click to enlargeTHE NEPALESE MILK BUCKET AND THE ACEPHALOUS LIZARD

Several years ago, a theory was advanced concerning the nature of the iconography on the handles of Nepalese buckets. It prorposed that the handle is a rendering of an acephalous lizard and that the graphic representation of the reptile on the bucket would serve to scare away flies and mosquitoes, which would cause the milk to turn when they fell into it. There appears to us to be little documentation to support this idea, and we believe it to be erroneous. Anyone who finds themselves under assault from mosquitoes and flies knows perfectly well that moving one’s head around and beating one’s arms does not do much to deter the insects. I had also contacted the national association of milk producers at the time to ask what effect they thought mosquitoes and flies in milk might have on its turning. Amused, my interlocutor replied ironically that a mixture of half milk and half flies and mosquitoes macerating together for eight days would very likely result in bad milk.

On a more serious note though, when one looks at the buckets, like those illustrated on pages 122 and 123 of the Ghurras de la ferme au musée - Nepal (Ghurras from the Farm to the Museum – Nepal) catalog, one sees very clearly that they were manufactured with wickerwork handles so that they could be easily held in hand, and that the wickerwork designs on them were reproduced in sculpture. The lateral windings are moreover obviously representations of cordage and not lizards’ feet. Anyone with a doubt about this would do well to consult the Encyclopædia Universalis.

The problem with this type of absurd assertion is that one sees it repeated regularly, and especially in auction catalogs.

As Saint Ignatius of Loyola said: “A grave error propagated by many soon becomes a truth that all share”.

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION Click to enlargeCALL FOR PARTICIPATION

MUSEUMS AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE : TRANSMISSION, KNOW-HOW AND MUSEUM
CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM 8-9 November 2019

Mons (Doudou Museum)-Binche (International Carnival and Mask Museum)

Under the high patronage of the Belgian French-speaking and German-speaking Commission for Unesco and with the Support of WBI and ICOM Belgium

The deadline for submissions is 15th july 2019

Submissions must include the following: a CV and a summary of the paper (10-15 lines, half of an A4 size).

The conference languages are French and English (with simultaneous interpretation into the two languages).

Submissions must be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

You will be informed around 30 August on the acceptance of your proposal by the jury.

Download the press release.

Three shamans

5Click to enlarge

On the occasion of PARIS RUE VISCONTI, the ARCH organizes a projection of the film

3 shamans (2014, 77min)

Friday, June 21 at 18 h still at the gallery at 6, rue Visconti - 75006 Paris.

in the presence of directors, Aurore Laurent and Adrien Viel.

"In the heart of the Himalayan hills, shamans travel in the immaterial, their souls explore the world of ancestors and spirits to relieve the suffering of the living, to each his method: 3 stories, 3 states, 3 shamans."

photo 4Click to enlarge

The letter du Toit du Monde

On the occasion of PARIS RUE VISCONTI,
François Pannier will present his new letter from the Roof of the World on

Phurbus psychopompes

Thursday, June 20 at 18 h still at the gallery at

6, rue Visconti - 75006 Paris

photo 3Cliquer pour agrandirPARIS RUE VISCONTI

Du 20 au 22 juin 2019,
les galeries de la rue Visconti vous invitent à venir fêter l'été !

Vernissage jeudi 20 juin de 15 h à 21 h

photo 2Click to enlarge

Evening Du Toit Du Monde

Our next night at the Roof of the World will take place on

Wednesday June 5th at 6 pm

still at the gallery at 6, rue Visconti - 75006 Paris

Caroline Riegel will present her film

Semeuses de Joie

De l'Himalaya aux Andamans

retracing the life of nuns in Zanskar.

This film has been awarded many times in festival you can after the projection dialogue with its director.

photo 1Evening Du Toit Du Monde

Our next night at the Roof of the World will take place on

Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 6 pm

still at the gallery at 6, rue Visconti - 75006 Paris

Known for his film

Cybèle or the Sundays of Ville-d'Avray

for which he won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1963

photo 1.1Click to enlargeSerge Bourguignon

was also a great traveler.

We are pleased to welcome him to present and comment on his film

SIKKIM ou le langage du Sourire

shot in 1956.

The early date of this shoot makes it an important testimony for the knowledge of the Himalayan cultures.

You are hoping for this exceptional evening.