From colourful projections and awe-inspiring installations to interactive performances, puppetry and an array of musical hubs, White Night Melbourne delivers it all from 17 to 18 February, dusk to dawn.
Offering calm amidst the revelry, master thangka painter Peter Iseli presents 21 Taras Thangka, a visually recorded teaching represented by 21 female Buddhas centred around an enormous Green Tara – together they embody an enlightened mind and heart. The large-scale painting (taller than a 4-storey building) will be presented for the first time in its entirety at Hammer Hall as part of the festival’s full program.
Peter Iseli, Tara the Liberator
Commissioned by Lama Zopa Rinpoche and generously donated to Melbourne’s Tara Institute, Swiss artist and Buddhist Peter Iseli dedicated four years of his life to create his biggest thangka to date, designed in accordance to sacred Tibetan geometry in order to instill a calm mind for those who take the time to observe it.
Thankga itself means ‘written down message,’ which denotes that this work functions as much as a piece of art as it does as a beneficial offering to the world. Meditation sessions will occur every hour on the hour with the opportunity to create your own offering of a paper flower from 7pm until midnight. Iseli will give an artist talk at 8pm and 10pm.
