Human Remains in Tibetan Material Religion: An object centered approach

This talk introduces research into the use and instrumentalization of human remains in Tibetan material religion – as skull vessels, bone ornaments, thighbone trumpets and the double-sided skull drum – through an object-centered methodology that combines the technical documentation of examples in accessible museums and collections, visual cultural and iconographic study, and observations and interviews made during fieldwork across the Himalayas.
This work attempts to describe an interpretive rubric for these objects within a dynamic continuity of material skill and knowledge transfer, social valorization and cultural historical narratives, and which is complementary to textual sources and/or practice-based religious education.