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Rubin Museum of Art

Located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, the Rubin Museum of Art (RMA) (www.rmanyc.org) is the first Western museum dedicated to Himalayan art. Though the RMA has only been open a short time (since October 2, 2004), it has already established a sizeable presence online, with galleries at www.HimalayanArt.org and www.ExploreArt.org. That presence is only going to grow: in collaboration with entrepreneur and RMA board member Omar Amanat, the museum will be creating the first comprehensive online archive of Islamic art.

The RMA, which occupies a 25,000 square foot space at 150 West 17th Street, was created by Donald and Shelley Rubin, who had begun purchasing tangkas . Himalayan paintings on fabric . during the 1980s. The museum displays over 1,000 art objects, including paintings, sculpture, textiles, ritual objects and more, spanning a period from the 2nd to the 20th century.

The RMA.s primary online gallery, www.HimalayanArt.org, features over 17,000 entries, making it one of the most encyclopedic databases of Himalayan art and iconography online. The site.s development has been overseen by RMA curator Jeff Watt.

Mr. Amanat began his business career in the electronic brokerage industry, but since 9/11 he has turned his attention to the role of art and media in fostering or preventing violence. In particular, he has been inspired by the plausibility theory of sociologist Peter Berger, which states that members of minority groups derive more of their self-esteem from media images of people like themselves than they do from their own personal interactions with others.

Along with his involvement with the RMA, Mr. Amanat is a prominent film financier. He has founded or invested in several feature film companies, including:
Blue Planet Films, LLC (http://www.bpfilmsllc.com)
Groundswell Productions (http://www.imdb.com/company/co0173527)
For more information about Mr. Amanat.s aesthetic and humanitarian projects, please visit www.OmarAmanat.com.