Public Lecture
Why authentic material heritage matters? A case study of Himalayan wall paintings conservation
Invited Speaker
Dr. Pu Lan
Date: 26 March 2026 (Thursday)
Time: 7:30 – 9:00 pm
Venue: CPD3.04, 3/F, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
About the speaker
Dr Pu Lan is a wall painting conservator and associate lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, co-convening the MA Art History and Conservation of Buddhist Heritage of the Courtauld’s Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation. Her research areas primarily focus on wall paintings in the Himalayas and other related regions, with special attention paid to religious domains in Bhutan and Tibet. Her research explores painting technology, deterioration processes, conservation treatments, and the sociocultural survival of sacred objects.
Lecture abstract
The conservation of Buddhist wall paintings is often obscured by a notion that suggests conservation only focuses on materiality but overlooks spirituality, which sometimes leads to a debate between conservation and restoration. Meanwhile, disciplinary barriers caused by expertise division also somehow obscure the progression of interdisciplinary and comprehensive study when ‘inaccessible’ scientific data can be of crucial value to the broader humanities studies but is largely reserved only in conservation. This talk will use Himalayan wall paintings as an example to discuss conservation issues of unmovable heritage and the insights scientific analysis of materiality can offer to the wider humanities research.
Conducted in English | Free Admission
All are welcome | First come first served
Enquiry | hkucbs@hku.hk
Organizer: HKU Centre of Buddhist Studies
Sponsor: Tung Lin Kok Yuen
