New Books Network Wisdom of the Goddess: The Divine Feminine in South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan Art
Feb 5, 2026
Hillary Langberg, a scholar-curator of South and Southeast Asian goddess traditions and Buddhist art, unveils an online Smithsonian show on nine goddesses. She traces her path from fieldwork to museum practice. Conversations cover curatorial choices, cross-religious goddess forms, pedagogical resources, tantric and sutra contexts, and the benefits and limits of presenting divine feminine art online.
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Personal Origin Story
- Hillary Langberg first encountered goddess worship at a Durga temple in San Francisco, which sparked her academic path.
- That experience led her to study goddess images at the Asian Art Museum and pursue South Asian art history at UC Berkeley.
Fieldwork On Tara
- Langberg researched early images of Tara in the Western Deccan caves and wrote a dissertation on their origins.
- She combined art history and religious studies to trace Tara's emergence in Mahayana contexts.
Use Public Scholar Fellowships
- Apply for public-scholar fellowships to bring academic expertise into museums and media.
- Use such fellowships to learn curatorial skills and build public-facing projects like online exhibitions.
