Embodying Compassion in Buddhist Art

Enjoy highlights from the 2015 exhibition, Embodying Compassion in Buddhist Art: Image, Pilgrimage, Practice, organized by The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College. This multimedia smartphone app introduces you to Avalokiteshvara, the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion—a figure who works tirelessly for the good of all. It features twenty-seven outstanding examples of paintings, sculptures, texts, and ritual objects from India, Nepal, Tibet, China and Japan. Take a journey to learn how this envoy of unbiased altruism influenced art and spiritual practices throughout Asia.

The app includes high-resolution reproductions of each object in the exhibition, as well as dozens of comparative images and a rich array of interpretative texts, audio commentary, a glossary of terms, maps, and pronunciation guides. Using the app, you can explore these works and see how Avalokiteshvara traveled from his birthplace in India to the Himalayas and East Asia, becoming one of the most revered and influential figures in Buddhism.

This app is a cross-institutional collaboration, designed and developed by members of CompSci 408, Duke University, with content created by faculty and students from Vassar College.