November 1, 2010 — The University of Virginia Art Museum will host Michael Meister for an Ellen Bayard Weedon Lecture in the Arts of Asia on Nov. 18. His lecture, "Decoding Origins for India's Temples," will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Campbell Hall, room 153.

Indian temples are among the most mysterious expressions of architecture as embodiments of symbolism found in world history. Decoding their origins and significance, tracing their evolution and uncovering missing links in that history has been the central work of Meister's career as an architectural historian. In this lecture, he will share the excitement of new discoveries and insights based on his recent work on Indic temples in Pakistan.

Meister is the W. Norman Brown Professor of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in the study of the art of India and Pakistan. He is curator of Indian art, Asian section, at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Art and Archaeology; he is also curator of the South Asia Art Archive at Pennsylvania. His research focuses on temple architecture, the morphology of meaning and other aspects of the art of the Indian sub-continent. He has carried out excavations at Salt Range temple sites in Pakistan; surveyed mountain temples in the Himalayas; and done ethnographic cross-disciplinary research on pilgrimage temples in Rajasthan.

The Weedon Lectures are made possible by support from the Ellen Bayard Weedon Foundation.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For information, call 434-243-2050 or e-mail museumoutreach@virginia.edu.