Alchi: A Rare Look at the World-Famous Monastery

Get an unprecedented look inside the world-famous Buddhist monastery of Alchi at this illustrated lecture by Peter Van Ham, author and photographer of the sumptuous new book Alchi: Treasures of the Himalayas.

Sitting at an elevation of 3,500 meters in the Ladakh region of northwest India, Alchi is the best-preserved temple complex in the Himalayas, housing thousands of rare paintings and sculptures dating back to the 11th century. For the first time, the Dalai Lama has authorized the documentation of these extraordinary artworks, which offer powerful insight into the spiritual and secular life of medieval Kashmir and Western Tibet.

In this illustrated lecture, the renowned researcher, author, and photographer Peter van Ham introduces the audience to the transformative power of the masterpieces of Alchi. The lecture offers selected insights into the spectacular new findings gained by van Ham and his co-author, renowned Tibetologist Amy Heller, which are presented in the book.

A book signing of Alchi: Treasure of the Himalayas will follow the program.

About the speaker

Peter van Ham is a German researcher, author, photographer, filmmaker, and curator, focusing on the Himalayas, India, and Tibet. His internationally successful work includes path-breaking publications on the arts and cultures of both the Western and the Eastern Himalayas, in many regions where he was among the first to travel and do extended fieldwork, often with permissions by the highest authorities that were issued especially and only for him. Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic and Royal Geographical Societies, London, and the Explorers Club, New York, and chairs the charitable Society for the Preservation and Promotion of Asian Culture (SPAH) in Frankfurt, Germany.