In 2021, to mark the retirement of longtime director Bonnie Speed, the Carlos Museum commissioned two thangka paintings from the Norbulingka Institute in Dharamsala, India—one of the bhavacakra or “wheel of becoming,” and the other, the śamatha or “calm-abiding.” 

According to Buddhist narratives, the image of the bhavacakra is said to have been conceived of by the Buddha himself. The image is frequently painted on the exterior walls of Tibetan Buddhist temples as a means for monastics to teach the laity about karma and the cyclic conception of existence known as samsara.  

Often paired with the bhavacakra in Buddhist teaching, the śamatha represents the practice of “taming the mind” through focused meditation.  

Unfortunately, on their journey from India to Atlanta, the thangka paintings were severely damaged.. Click HERE to hear master thangka painter Buchang Nugbya and Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Conservation, Ella Andrews, discuss their months-long collaborative efforts to repair the two paintings.