Temple & Gallery

Lucy working on floral work for the Kalachakra ceiling of the Great Stupa of Compassion

The final issue of the Together Spaces series turns to sacred spaces where objects bring people together.

Temple & Gallery features stories about the making of these spaces, where we go to reflect on life and the world. In these spaces, we perform rituals together and celebrate the storied days of the year.

We conclude our journey back in the art gallery, which we can now see with fresh eyes not just as a shop for decorative items but as a rare space for contemplation that is set apart from the busy world.

Thanks to Ian Green, Shan Pillai, John Stafford, Jude van der Merwe, Tara Poole, and Urmila Mohan. Pamela See is the guest editor.

From China

• A temple without walls by David Cheah
• Lucky Charms: The temple returns to the gallery by Jacky Cheng
• Messages in rice: From table to grave by Angela Sim
• The Great Stupa of Compassion: The work of a thousand hands by Kevin Murray
• Sky Temple by Helen Vivian
• Joss House artifacts: Rediscovering Australia’s Chinese temples by Michael Williams
• Too serious by Mark du Potiers

From India

• Beyond the facades: Temple wood carving of Himachal Pradesh by Lalita Waldia
• Kalighat Temple: A terracotta revival by Tamal Bhattacharya
• Gateways to the soul in Indian art and craft by Kruti Dholakia and Reena Bhatia
• In search of mathh, a sugar craft for ingesting a sacred spirit by Kaustav Chatterjee
• A new home for the gods across the Indian Ocean by Kevin Murray
• Making Memolo: Temple domes from Sitiwinangun, Cirebon by Akbar Adhi Satrio
• The new Majapahit art: Craft or artefact? by Tod Jones

At home

• The crafting of sacred spaces in Australia by Pamela See
• A future for which the bell tolls by Anton Hasell
• The hidden art of flower petal bead making by Shalome Knoll
• Modimo O Mogolo/god Is Good Bracelets by Boitshoko Kebakile
• Mezuzah: At the threshold between world and home by Elisa Ronzoni
• The Andes as temple by Keka Ruiz-Tagle
• Temples in Rockhampton by Pamela See

In the gallery

• Makers’ Tale: Craft, light and sound in a sacred space by Loucia Manopoulou
• The sacred and the spectacular: how Bengal’s Durga Puja pandals morph into temporary art galleries by Aishani Gupta
• An enduring transience: Pandal hopping in Melbourne by Mitraja Bais
• How ancestors guide our journeys by Tiffany Singh
• Two rivers meet in the gallery: A connection journey by Paemanu
• Guardians: Tarryn Gill’s soft sentinels for the gallery by Leigh Robb
• Prita Tina Yeganeh ✿ My Soil Farsh فرش  by Lamisse Hamouda
• Contemporary deities: Vipoo Srivilasa and Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran by Elena Dias-Jayasinha

Dedication

Teodora Blanco Núñez (February 28, 1928 – December 23, 1980) was a pioneering ceramicist from Oaxaca, Mexico, who created unique fantastic figures decorated with *pastillaje*—small pieces of clay applied to enhance the surface of her creations. She inspired generations of artisans with her imaginative freedom and use of decoration.