Divine Presence

Casa Asia, established in 2000 by the Spanish government to foster cultural and educational exchange between Asia and Spain, celebrates its inaugural exhibition entitled "Divine Presence: Arts of India and the Himalayas". The exhibition brings together over 60 of the world's finest examples of Indian and Himalayan art, drawn from 26 leading private and public collections in Europe and North America. The exhibition highlights the artistic achievements of one of the world's most aesthetically accomplished regions. India's artistic heritage can be traced at least as early as the third millennium BCE and since the early centuries BCE, Indian artists have continuously created images of breathtaking quality and power. Both in India and the Himalayas, images were chiefly intended to communicate the presence and the powers of divinity. The objects represent the major schools and the finest aesthetic traditions in Indian and Himalayan art and thus provide an introduction to the field.
Although the works in this exhibition had particular and in some respects now irretrievable meanings and associations for the culture that produced them, today they can also legitimately be seen as cultural ambassadors of unique periods and regions of our common human heritage. In their catalogue, the authors describe the salient aesthetic and art historical characteristics of each work, and suggest further reading through which the reader can deepen his or her understanding of their historical and cultural associations.