Zitationsvorschlag
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Dieses Werk steht unter der Lizenz Creative Commons Namensnennung - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 International.
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Miraculous display
Temporal and collaborative materializations in Tibetan Buddhist butter art
Based on observations made in 1991 during the construction of a large ‘butter-sculpture’ or metok chöpa for the Great Aspiration Prayer Festival at Rongwo Monastery, Repgong, this chapter argues that the consecration of ritually important objects can be understood as the culmination of a more general reverence expressed throughout their production. Through analysis of the production sequence (chaîne opératoire), it is further revealed that in the instance of the metok chöpa such ritualized making is linked to collaborative dimensions of the making process, together with the componential or composite nature of the artform and the festival events it contributes to. While specific consecration rituals are employed prior to the metok chöpa’s display, acts of reverence employed at earlier stages are already oriented toward sacralization. Like consecration, ritualized making becomes part of the ritual objects that are produced. Furthermore, through the synchronization of culturally significant steps, time becomes one of the materials from which ensouled objects are shaped. Beyond the insights this chapter offers to the study of Tibetan ritual art, it also serves as a broader call for greater attention to collaboration and componentiality in the anthropology of both art and making.
Keywords ritual art, reverence, anthropology of making, collaboration, componentiality, timing
