From the Maplewood Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs:
Dozens of colorful Tibetan flags are now on display in the main lobby of the Maplewood Town Hall located at 574 Valley Street in Maplewood, New Jersey. The exhibition is free and open to the public from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday – Friday through October 16.
This impressive collection is the unintended result of an arts and crafts activity that took place as part of the Maplewood Mandala Project. The public was encouraged to personalize multi-colored, light cotton flags with words and images that convey hope, joy, open-mindedness, compassion and good will. Children old and young answered the call and adorned the flags with messages that range from profound — “freedom for my family” — to the refreshingly innocent “peace love pancakes.” Taken together they reflect the spirit of creativity and self-reflection inspired during the Mandala Project.
The Mandala Project took place from August 10-15, 2015 at the Woodland in Maplewood. Over the course of that week, five Buddhist monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in India took up residence in Maplewood to create an intricate work of art called a mandala. Painstakingly constructed using millions of grains of colored sand, the astounding mandala was swept up by the monks soon after it was completed, and returned to the earth in an elaborate ritual of prayer and celebration.
While the mandala itself was short lived, the beautiful banners now on display serve as a permanent reminder of the remarkable event.
