NAKO

Gabriela Krist is professor at the Institute of Conservation, University of Applied Arts Vienna, since 1999. She studied conservation at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, as well as art history and archaeology in Vienna and Salzburg. For many years, she worked for ICCROM in Rome and at the Austrian Federal Office for the Care of Monuments (Bundesdenkmalamt), and is a UNESCO Chair holder.Deborah Klimburg-Salter ist emeritierte Universitätsprofessorin für asiatische Kunstgeschichte am Institut für Kunstgeschichte der Universität Wien. Sie war Gastprofessorin an der University of Pennsylvania, der Oxford University, der École Pratique des Hautes Études und dem Wellesley College. Ihr Spezialgebiet ist die Kunstgeschichte Süd- und Zentralasiens, Tibets und der Himalaya-Region. Ihre zahlreichen Publikationen umfassen unter anderem The Kingdom of Bâmiyân: The Buddhist Art and Culture of the Hindu Kush (1989)Tatjana Bayerová MSc Since 2000 a senior lecturer and a head of the chemical laboratory at the Conservation Department at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. After finishing the chemistry study she joined The Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic, and the Faculty of Restoration, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic as a conservation scientist. Tatjana Bayerová has participated in various national and international research projects and is the author of numerous articles in national and international journals.Gabriela Krist is professor at the Institute of Conservation, University of Applied Arts Vienna, since 1999. She studied conservation at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, as well as art history and archaeology in Vienna and Salzburg. For many years, she worked for ICCROM in Rome and at the Austrian Federal Office for the Care of Monuments (Bundesdenkmalamt), and is a UNESCO Chair holder.

The settlement of Nako, at 3,700 m altitude in Upper Kinnaur, North India, and close to the Tibetan border was once part of the Western Tibetan Purang-Guge Kingdom. Today it is a remarkable well preserved mountainous village with living Buddhist cultural heritage. Apart from its breath-taking cultural landscape setting embedded in the Himalayan mountains, it is important for its temple complex dating from the 12th century which is considered as an extraordinary testimony of early Tibetan Buddhism, not anymore preserved in Tibet today. In the footsteps of the famous Tibetologist Giuseppe Tucci, who explored the region in 1933, a group of scholars from various Austrian universities started a transdisciplinary long-term research project at Nako in the 1980s which led to the preservation and model-like conservation of its temples and artworks.

The Nako temple complex from the 12th century is an extraordinary testimony of early Tibetan Buddhism not anymore preserved in today's Tibet. Endangered by the rough environment, improper treatment and frequent earthquakes, the outstanding monuments were re-discovered by scholars from Austrian universities in the 1980s. The transdisciplinary research project carried out over more than 20 years led to in-depth studies, preservation and model-like conservation of the temples and their artworks.

The Nako temple complex from the 12th century is an extraordinary testimony of early Tibetan Buddhism not anymore preserved in today's Tibet. Endangered by the rough environment, improper treatment and frequent earthquakes, the outstanding monuments were re-discovered by scholars from Austrian universities in the 1980s. The transdisciplinary research project carried out over more than 20 years led to in-depth studies, preservation and model-like conservation of the temples and their artworks.