Output details

'Demons of Dust and Gods of Boiled Rice: Shamanism and Ephemeral Ritual Art in the Himalayas'

20 pages

This article's research was undertaken from an iconographic stance, the most salient aspects, symbols and functions of Shamanic ritual artefacts, considering them from the specific perspective of artworks. Underlining the emphemeral as studied in the fields of anthropology and Himalyan ethnography the research reveals how, beyond its mere ritual function, the artworks play a pivotal role in the shamanic approach to art and, more widely, in Asian tribal aesthetics. The research focuses on relations between Himalayan shamanic art and contemporary art in this same geographic and cultural milieu.

As part of the research, field work was undertaken to explore the specific ritual artefacts which comprised of drawings and aniconic three-dimensional objects, all created according to the personal imagination of the shaman and specific rules handed down orally through the generations of shamans, which play a central role in most shamanic liturgical séances. In this context the artworks and objects are commonly employed as temporary receptacles for the invisible beings evoked during the ritual, as well as a symbolic representation of the shamanic cosmos.

In accordance with their specific functions and meanings, these ritual artefacts, which are usually made of perishable materials such as coloured powders, paper, wood, fruit or comestible paste, appropriately moulded, are very often unequivocally characterized by their ephemeral status. They are created at the beginning of the ritual performance and they are usually destroyed during the execution of the rite itself or at the very end. This research has been able to document and ‘save’ this heritage to be reviewed by other generations and cultures. As such the research has been an international reference source on Himalayan anthropology of art.

The article was funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Italian National Council for Scientific Research and the Italian Research Project Ev-K2-CNR.