Materials Lab Workshop: The Language of Smoke—Incense and Ritual across Time and Space
When:
Tuesday, Mar 31, 2026 1:00p -
4:00p
Tuesday, Mar 31, 2026 1:00p -
4:00p
Where:
Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Admission:
$15 materials fee.
Hosted by:
Categories:
Accessible Spots, Art, Classes, History
Event website:
https://bit.ly/3Np4guN
- How to join: Register here.
- Fee: $15, paid at registration (materials will be provided)
- Age restrictions: Age 14 and older
- Where to go: Materials Lab, Lower Level
- Accessibility accommodations: Email [email protected] at least 48 hours in advance, including the name and date of the program in the subject line.
- General info: The museum visit page has general guidelines for your visit.
Aromatic smoke has long marked moments of transition, from the physical realm toward the spiritual. Drawing on Japanese Buddhist funerary and memorial practices, the session offers cultural context for how incense purifies and mediates ongoing relationships between the living and the dead.
Assistant professor Paulina Kolata will first guide participants through the galleries in an exploration of Japanese Buddhist incense implements as well as devotional objects and statues shaped by centuries of smoke and fragrance. Then in the Materials Lab with artist Alexis Karl, participants will create their own hand-formed incense using wood, roots, flowers, and herbs traditionally used in Japan.
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