The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation

The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation. 

Established in 2012 with a munificent endowment to The Courtauld from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation of Hong Kong, the Centre reflects the Ho Foundation’s express interests in promoting education in the arts, and in encouraging cross-cultural understanding and the preservation of the Buddhist cultural heritage. The Centre builds on the research, conservation and teaching in Asia—in Bhutan, China and India—by The Courtauld’s Conservation of Wall Painting Department, and also The Courtauld’s expansion beyond the Western art tradition in its art-historical teaching.

A major role of the Centre focuses on the MA in Buddhist Art: History and Conservation. Recognising the global significance of the vast cultural heritage of Buddhism, this innovative MA combines, for the first time, the separate studies of Buddhism, Buddhist art and its conservation. Taught by a wide range of specialists, the multidisciplinary course will advance understanding and scholarship of what objects mean, how they are made, used and deteriorate, and foster appreciation of their significance and need for preservation.

In announcing the MA, Robert Y. C. Ho, Chairman of the Ho Family Foundation, remarked, ‘Until now, Buddhism and Buddhist art and its conservation have been studied separately. We are delighted to support the integration of these fields in a new program that will impact not only on academia but on the preservation of irreplaceable treasures around the world, treasures we see disappearing on a daily basis.’

Other activities of the Centre include conferences and public lectures, of which a forerunner was The Buddhist Art Forum  held at The Courtauld from 11 to 14 April 2012.