“Yoga: The Art of Transformation,” which opens at the on Oct. 19, is billed as “the world’s first exhibition of yogic art.” The large-scale show promises to bring in thousand-year-old sculptures, regal illustrations, rare books and other artifacts from 25 museums and collections around the world. It also needs to bring in $125,000.
That’s where you come in: Last month, Smithsonian launched its first major crowdfunding campaign.
If the plan flops, the show will still go on, albeit with scaled-back programming. But the hope is that the effort (on ) will raise even more than expected with the help of the 20 million people in the United States who practice yoga.
As a test for the crowdfunding concept, it’s hard to think of a better topic than yoga, the Sanskrit word for “union.” And local yoga instructors are eager to support an exhibit that strives to provide a deeper understanding of the history, philosophy and spirituality behind the practice.
“A picture is worth a thousand words,” says Avneet Baid, the director and co-founder of .
Hopefully, it’s worth $1,000 as well.
