Photographs from De long en large Ladakh by Jean Mansion - Édition Findakly. Copyright Lise Mansion
Click to enlargeKATIA BUFFETRILLEFrench 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.
Click to enlargeTHE NEPALESE MILK BUCKET AND THE ACEPHALOUS LIZARDSeveral 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”.
Click to enlargeCALL FOR PARTICIPATIONMUSEUMS 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
You will be informed around 30 August on the acceptance of your proposal by the jury.
Click 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."
Click to enlarge
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
Cliquer pour agrandirPARIS RUE VISCONTIDu 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
Click to enlarge 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.
Evening Du Toit Du MondeOur 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
Click 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.