“Paradoxes of Youth and Old Age in the Arts of India” presented by Katherine Young – an online presentation hosted by the CSRS

“Paradoxes of Youth and Old Age in the Arts of India” presented by Katherine Young – an online presentation hosted by the CSRS

Thursday, May 19, 2022
12:00-1:00 p.m. PT
DTB A102 and Zoom https://uvic.zoom.us/j/96971529046

Despite passages that describe how the Buddha’s sight of an old man prompted his quest for enlightenment, his first noble truth that “all is suffering”, and his own trials of aging at eighty, it is odd that Buddhist art never images him as old. Hindu texts have a more positive view of old age, but here too images of youth dom- inate for over a millennium. This illustrated talk probes these paradoxes, and how influences from Persia, Tibet, and modern technology eventually challenge this visual erasure.

Katherine Young is Professor Emerita of Asian Religions at McGill University and an Associate Fellow at the CSRS. Beyond her specialization in the religions of India, especially Hinduism, she has explored cross-cultural themes related to religion, gender, and ethics.