Light of Kailash Lecture 21 | Divine Feminine in Art: Searching for Shakti in India and Bhutan

With Nor Wang  – February 2nd, 2025 10am UK time

Online via Zoom

The portrayal of feminine power in sacred art has long shaped cultural attitudes toward women and worship. Goddesses have a powerful presence in our collective consciousness, influencing various aspects of the human experience.

In exploring female spiritual forces and their significance in Hindu and Buddhist traditions, this talk inspired by Nor Wang’s pilgrimage in India and Bhutan, will examine the representations of Shakti – power, or the cosmic energy of creation – that is intimately related to femininity. She refers to key sacred sites and art to highlight contrasts and commonalities as ways of thinking about female autonomy and agency. 

The talk will highlight key female figures in history, including Yeshe Tsogyal (Tibet) and Mandarava (India), two extraordinary Vajrayana spiritual leaders, alongside Princess Wencheng (China), who played an important role promoting cross-cultural understanding in the region. The discussion aims to emphasise the interaction between socio-political, spiritual, and cultural forces, highlighting how these dimensions shaped cross-cultural artistic production in the Himalayas.

About the speaker:

Nor Wang is the Head of Development at the Asian Civilisations Museum and Peranakan Museum, institutions of the National Heritage Board, a custodian of Singapore’s National Collection. She is a museum and gallery professional specialising in patronage, curation, and collections development for leading galleries and cultural institutions across Asia.

Nor’s research and writing on art are focused on knowledge frameworks influenced by the cultural, spiritual and material traditions of South and Southeast Asia. Her writing on the political resonance of Indonesian art collectives that emerged during the Reformasi era has been published in SOUTHEAST OF NOW: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia. She is the 2024 recipient of the Platform Projects Curatorial Award conferred by the Nanyang Technological University for her curatorial project that explores sacred art objects found along Singapore’s shorelines produced in collaboration with multidisciplinary artist Ila.