Puja and Piety: A Conversation Between Pratapaditya Pal and Stephen Huyler

The conversation between Dr. Pal, born a Hindu, and Dr. Huyler, an eminent authority on religions in practice on the Indian subcontinent, will elaborate on the relation between rituals and visual culture in the living traditions of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, as expressed in the objects in the exhibition.

A signing of the catalogue by Dr. Pal and Dr. Huyler, contributors to the publication produced in conjunction with the exhibition, entitled Puja and Piety: Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Art from the Indian Subcontinent, will follow the discussion.

Dr. Pratapaditya Pal (DPhil, University of Calcutta; PhD, University of Cambridge) is an internationally known scholar of South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan art and culture, and has been affiliated with many prominent museums and universities over the course of his career as a curator and teacher, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Getty Research Institute; and the Norton Simon Museum. He has authored over seventy books and catalogues and served as the general editor of Marg magazine for seventeen years. His many honors include the fourth-highest civil award (Padmashri) of the government of India (1993), a chair established in his name in Curating and Museology in Asian Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and most recently the Doshi Bridgebuilder Award (2015).

Dr. Stephen P. Huyler

Stephen P. Huyler (PhD, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) is an art historian and cultural anthropologist who has surveyed Indian craftsmanship and ritual art for over forty years. He has published six books on Indian and Hindu art and curated numerous exhibitions, including projects at the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History. His photography has appeared in forty-one exhibitions in museums and galleries worldwide.