Views from the top

Paul Saitowitz

He may not wear the trademark hat or carry a whip with him wherever

he goes, but Dr. Peter Keller is a modern-day Indiana Jones.

He’s been to China 40 times, Columbia 24 times and he once went to

Tibet -- a three-day journey -- on a Thursday and was on his way home

by Saturday. He brings the art of ancient civilizations from all over

the world to the United States, and spends days negotiating with the

officials from likes of Israel, Tibet and South America. Convinced

yet?

The Newport Beach resident and director and president of the

Bowers Museum of Cultural Art has turned the small mission-style

building in the heart of Santa Ana into a world-class internationally

recognized institution of cultural art.

He brought the Dead Sea Scrolls -- which had never left Israel

before -- to Bowers, and now he’s at it again.

After two years and six trips back and forth to Tibet -- a city

14,000 feet above sea level where the hotel rooms come equipped with

oxygen tanks and yaks are almost as common as people -- for varying

periods of time, he has secured the “Tibet: Treasures From the Roof

of the World” exhibit.

The exhibit marks the first time that the Dalai Lamas’ personal

treasures have been taken out of the country, and it is the biggest

show of Tibetan artwork outside of the country ever.

“He’s a genius when it comes to finding and exhibiting and putting

collections of art together,” said Rick Weinberg, Bowers Museum

marketing director. “He is world-renowned in his field.”

For Keller to convince the Tibetans to allow these priceless, very

fragile works of art to come with him back to the States took quite a

bit of fortitude. Having to contend with the altitude was one thing,

but having to deal with the language barrier and cultural difference

were big obstacles.

“Yaks are really worshiped in Tibet, and they make all kinds of

food out of them so the scent is everywhere you go,” Keller said.

“After three weeks at a time of dealing with that ... it can be

trying.”

Those trying times are what made it all happen.

“Every time I went back the people there got to know and trust me

more and more,” he said. “I think the fact that I kept showing up is

what allowed this exhibit to happen. If I had just written letters, I

would have had no chance.”

The exhibit features almost 200 pieces drawn from the 1,000-room

Potola Palace -- the home of the Dalai Lama -- the Tibet Museum in

the capital city of Lhasa and the Norbulingka Museum, which is also

in Lhasa.

Keller was allowed in rooms in the palace that were rarely entered

by anyone, yet alone Westerners.

“It was really an experience to walk into a room in this enormous

palace with no elevators and tiny stairways and see thousands of

different statues of Buddha,” he said.

When it came to selecting the pieces, he brought along several

scholars, but also kept the untrained eye in mind.

“Sure we were looking for the most historically meaningful works,

but if the exhibit only appealed to scholars it would alienate

people,” Keller said. “I took the vantage point of John Q. Public,

and selected a few things that I just thought were cool.”

The exhibit has drawn praise from around the globe and will be on

display until Sept. 12, at which time it will shown at a museum in

Houston, followed by New York and San Francisco.