High Line Plinth: Lectures & Meditations – Buddhism Along the Silk Road
About this Event
As part of the public programming for Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s High Line Plinth commission, The Light That Shines Through the Universe, the High Line presents a monthly lecture and guided meditation series at the Spur. Presented in partnership with the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, the series invites visitors to engage more deeply with themes central to Nguyen’s work. Each session features a lecture by a scholar, artist, or cultural leader, followed by a guided meditation led by an invited practitioner. The series is hosted by Tashi Chödrön, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, who, in her two decades with the Rubin, has led meditation programs for over ten years and is the current host of the Rubin’s Mindfulness Meditation podcast. Through this combination of intellectual and contemplative practice, the series invites audiences to pause, reflect, and consider the artwork’s historical and philosophical themes through both thought and experience.
Buddhism Along the Silk Road — Saturday, July 11, 2026 (Rain date: Sunday, July 12, 2026)
Featuring a lecture by Jin Xu, Jane and Leopold Swergold Associate Professor of Chinese Art History at Columbia University, this session situates the Bamiyan Buddha within the broader history of Buddhist transmission across East, Central, and South Asia. The session highlights how trade routes facilitated cultural encounters, religious coexistence, and the circulation of artistic forms.
The lecture will be followed by a guided meditation by Jessica Angima, a Kenyan-American artist, organizer, and dharma practitioner in the Western Insight and Theravada traditions. With over ten years of training and mentorship, she leads meditation and contemplative experiences in community green spaces throughout New York City.
Bio:
Jin Xu is a Jane and Leopold Swergold Associate Professor of Chinese Art History at Columbia University. He specializes in pre-modern Chinese art history, with particular interest in art and architecture during the imperial period (221 BCE–1911 CE). His research focuses on the artistic expressions of migrants and their communities, including both non-Chinese immigrants in China and Chinese emigrants in border regions.
Jessica Angima is a Kenyan-American artist, organizer, and dharma practitioner in the Western Insight and Theravada traditions. With over ten years of training and mentorship, she leads meditation and contemplative experiences in community green spaces throughout New York City.
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Accessibility:
We encourage all persons with disabilities to attend. To request additional information regarding accessibility or accommodations at a program, please contact [email protected]. Program venues are accessible via wheelchair, and ASL interpretation can be arranged two weeks in advance. If you require registration information for this event in Spanish or Simplified Chinese, contact us at [email protected].
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Lead support for High Line Art comes from Amanda and Don Mullen. Major support is provided by The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston and Charina Endowment Fund. Major support of High Line Art's digital infrastructure is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Major support for the High Line Plinth is provided by members of the High Line Plinth Committee, contemporary art leaders who are committed to realizing major commissions and engaging in the public success of the Plinth: Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, Amy and David Abrams, Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros, Sarah Arison, Elizabeth K. Belfer, Fairfax Dorn, Kerianne Flynn, Ingrid Cincala Gilbert, Hermine Riegerl Heller, Janine and J. Tomilson Hill, The Holly Peterson Foundation, Annie Hubbard, Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, Randi Levine, Jennifer Levitt, W. Scott McCormack and Noah Jay, Amanda and Don Mullen, Douglas Oliver and Sherry Brous, Mario Palumbo and Stefan Gargiulo, Susan and Stephen Scherr, Dani R’bibo, Eric Schwartz and Debra Fram, Susan and David Viniar, Olivia Walton, and Vivian and James Zelter.
Program support for High Line Art is provided by Sarah Arison, Suzanne Deal Booth, Charlotte Ford, Molly Gochman, and Joyce F. Menschel. Additional support is provided by Agnes Gund and Shane Akeroyd.
Program funding for the Plinth Lectures and Meditations series is provided by the Scintilla Foundation.
High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Julie Menin.
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