SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Tibet’s Potala Palace sits atop a breathtaking mountainous hilltop at the roof of the world. This architectural marvel features two mammoth castle palaces, the “Red Palace,” which served a religious function, and the “White Palace,” which served a political function. Construction of the Potala Palace was begun in the seventeenth century under the Fifth Dalai Lama. Some 7,000 workers were assigned to the vast project, together with 1,500 artists and artisans. Two hundred artists from Nepal, along with others from China and Manchuria, were also brought in to help realize the Dalai Lama’s ambitious vision. Over the centuries the Dalai Lamas poured into this immense structure an almost unimaginable artistic bounty, including about 20,000 statues and stupas (commemorative monuments), 25,000 Tibetan historical documents, 3,000 square yards of murals, countless thangkas (devotional paintings on cloth), and thousands of ritual implements. While many of these treasures remain hidden away, others have been displayed in Tibetan museums. Now, for the first time, some of the most spectacular works in these collections are being exhibited in the United States.

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco presents Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World—a landmark exhibition showcasing nearly 200 rare treasures never before seen in the Western world. Drawn from the Potala Palace and the Tibet Museum in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, these works offer an unprecedented glimpse into the legendary winter and summer palaces of the Dalai Lamas. For the first time, museum visitors will see the finest examples of Tibetan sculpture, painting, textiles and Buddhist ritual objects, as well as beautifully crafted objects made for nobility. The artifacts reveal both the religious underpinnings of this culture and the exceptional nature of the arts used in its service. They were used by the Dalai Lamas and their courts in lavish ceremonies and daily rituals in Lhasa, the fabled city of the “roof of the world” and a spiritual center of Tibetan Buddhism. Organized by the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in collaboration with the Bureau of Cultural Relics, Tibet Autonomous Region; the Potala Palace; and the Tibet Museum, Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World will be on view at the Asian Art Museum through September 11, 2005. Leading support for the museum's presentation of the exhibition was generously provided by Wells Fargo.

Tibet: Treasures from the Roof of the World is curated by Terese Tse Bartholomew, Curator of Himalayan Art and Chinese Decorative Art at the Asian Art Museum; Patricia Berger, Associate Professor of Art History at the University of California, Berkeley; and Robert Warren Clark, independent scholar, consultant to the Himalayan Department at the Asian Art Museum, Tibetan language interpreter, and former interpreter at the private office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in India. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated 250-page catalogue. The exhibition made its debut at the Bowers Museum before embarking on a national tour including presentations at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Rubin Museum of Art in New York. The Asian Art Museum will serve as the exhibition’s final venue, where it will be on view in the Hambrecht, Lee, and Osher Galleries on the museum’s first floor. The exhibition is organized into four thematic sections: History and Culture of Tibet; Ritual Objects; Paintings, Sculptures, and Textiles; and Daily Life of the Tibetan Nobility.