The Road to Sanchi

In The Road to Sanchi (2016), artist Ghiora Aharoni transforms obsolete taxi meters with video screens that capture his travels to sacred sites throughout India for Hindus, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists. One such site is Sanchi, which is famous for its Great Stupa, built by the emperor Ashoka of ancient India over relics of the Buddha. Sanchi and the other sacred sites are never seen, making the journeys a vehicle for examining the prism of time and the act of pilgrimage for the viewer. They also express India’s history of cultural plurality and the natural commingling of sacred and secular in India today.

On view through October 15, 2018, as part of the Rubin’s ongoing exhibition Sacred Spaces, the exhibition invites visitors to reflect on devotional activities in awe-inspiring places. This iteration, The Road To…, focuses on the act and action of pilgrimage for the benefit of one’s future self.