De Dalai Lama is zaterdag tien mei op een spirituele wijze aanwezig in Fort Asperen in het Nederlandse plaatsje Acquoi. Hij woont daar op uitnodiging van de organisatie en met medewerking van de Amsterdamse kunstenaar Airco Caravan de opening van het vriendelijke boeddhistische project Boeddha in de Linie bij. In de expositie is werk te zien van Leen Kaldenberg, Airco Caravan, Raoul Deleo en Mark Schalken. Mary Fontaine legt met haar object Lotusbloemen een verbinding tussen hedendaagse kunst en het boeddhisme. Op zondag elf mei is de Dalai Lama in Ahoy in Rotterdam. Het Boeddhistisch Dagblad is voornemens die dag met twee redactieleden verslag te doen van die bijeenkomst.
Zo is de Dalai Lama uitgenodigd.
The Dutch Buddhist Broadcast Foundation BOS (the BOS is the first independent Buddhist Broadcasting Foundation in the west to produce and broadcast Buddhist programs within a country’s Public Broadcasting System) and the Dutch-language digital newspaper ‘Boeddhistisch Dagblad’ have organised a Buddhist orientated and well-intentioned experiment titled ‘Boeddha in de Linie’ (‘Buddha within the Line’) that is being held during March and April 2014. In this experiment four artists of the visual arts with a Buddhist background have been invited, each for a period of two weeks, to live, work and carry out their Buddhist observances in relative isolation. This is taking place in an area that is known in The Netherlands as the Hollandse Waterlinie (the Holland Water-Line) that served as a line of defence following inundation.
The artists experience the effect that the silence has on their mind and work and which guidelines Buddhism provides them to cope with this change. The third artist, Raoul Deleo, is living and working at the moment in the studio and spends his nights in a bombproof shelter which is part of the bunker system of the Holland Water-Line. The BOS Television and Radio service and the Boeddhistisch Dagblad report on the experiences of the artists using text, image and sound.
The work of the four artists – their paintings and sculptures – is going to be exhibited in Kunstfort Asperen, a centuries-old fort that is used for art exhibitions. The opening of the exhibition is on Saturday May 10, 2014 and it will be open for three weeks. One of the works of art that the exhibition will feature is a creation of the Amsterdam artist Airco Caravan. It is a metres-high portrait of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled ‘Made in China’. Without knowing, sixteen artists in China contributed to the composition of this portrait. In 2013, on the birthday of His Holiness, Airco Caravan’s project was revealed to the public close to the Chinese embassy in The Hague. This was done in the presence of the Executive Director of International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) Mrs. Tsering Jampa and a number of Tibetan refugees. With this happening Airco Caravan and ICT hoped to attract attention for the situation in Tibet.
We are aware of the fact that His Holiness will be in Europe on May 10, 2014 and, following that, he will give teachings, for instance in Ahoy Rotterdam. We would consider it a very great honour if His Holiness were to open the Exhibition in Kunstfort Asperen and it is with pleasure that we invite His Holiness to do so. I look forward to hearing from you if this would be possible or what other possibilities there are.
I wish you a long and happy life and good fortune.
Your very sincerely and respectfully,
Joop Hoek, editor in chief Boeddhistisch Dagblad.
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