It’s difficult to reach Nirvana at the moment, between a global pandemic and a war that threatens to become one.
So why not turn to Buddha, a multifaceted figure who has inspired and continues to inspire artists? His serene face, in deep meditation, could even do us good thanks to his eternal smile.
An exhibition brings together millennia-old sculptures from across Asia: Japan, India, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia. Buddhas of all sizes, in different poses, and made from various materials: wood, metal.
To create a dialogue between the arts, Adrien Bossard, the museum’s curator, invited Virginie Broquet, an illustrator from Nice, to paint the entire Buddhist rotunda, a large circular room 40 meters long.
A fresco that represents the story of the founder of Buddhism: “The Deeds of Buddha.”
She needed a thousand arms to create these giant drawings!
Virginie Broquet spent 10 days in the museum, sometimes in front of visitors, to complete this enormous fresco: drawings in gold or black on a white background. Some Buddhas seem to have come straight out of a scene from Angkor or a Buddhist temple.
