22nd Annual Nelson Wu Lecture: "Dancing in Circles in the Arts on India and Its Neighbors"

In India and neighboring countries one of the most important subjects of sculpture, painting, and other visual arts is dance. Dance has always held a uniquely important place in the culture of the region, where it can convey the profoundest religious, spiritual, and social messages. The talk focuses on the circle dances engaged in by Hindu deities such as Krishna and Buddhist deities such as Hevajra.  In another sense, “dancing in circles” also applies to the great god Shiva. What is conveyed can be creative energy and eroticism, the doom-laden power of destruction, or the prospect of transcendence.

Presented in partnership with the Saint Louis Art Museum.

Forrest McGill is the Wattis Senior Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art at the Asian Art Museum. He has worked for forty years as a museum administrator and a teacher, curator, researcher, and writer in Asian art. Major exhibitions of which he has been organizer or co-organizer include The Rama Epic: Hero, Heroine, Ally, Foe (2016); Gorgeous (2014), a joint project with SFMOMA; Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam and Burma, 1775–1950 (2009), A Curious Affair: The Fascination between East and West (2006), and The Kingdom of Siam: The Arts of Central Thailand, 1350-1800 (2005). He served as editor for the catalogues of these exhibitions and wrote major essays for them.

In his earlier position as chief curator he led the curatorial efforts to plan the organization and presentation of the art collections when the museum moved into its present building in 2003.

McGill holds a BA magna cum laude from Cornell University (1969) and a PhD in Asian art history from the University of Michigan (1977).

Image: Krishna playing the flute and dancing with the cowherd women (detail), 1700-1900. Southern India. Bronze. Asian Art Museum, The Avery Brundage Collection, B77B5. Photograph © Asian Art Museum.