Rubin Museum of Art to Host Fifth Annual Nine Rivers Gala

The Rubin Museum of Art will celebrate modern, vibrant India during its fifth annual Nine Rivers Gala on Tuesday, November 15, 2011. The evening will include an exclusive preview of Modernist Art from India: The Body Unbound, the first in a series of exhibitions at the museum that will showcase modernist paintings from post-independent India. The Mandala Award for Art and Humanitarian Achievement will be presented to three individuals on this evening: Ray Chambers, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria and recently named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential people of 2011; Patrick San Francesco of Goa, India, founder of the Samarpan Foundation, which provides aid to the most vulnerable populations throughout India; and Eva Haller, a Rubin Museum board member since 2006, who is a recognized social, educational, and environmental activist and philanthropist in the United States and across the globe. Past Mandala Award recipients include Dr. Muhammad Yunus; HRH Ashi Kesang Wangmo Wangchuck, Princess of Bhutan; and the Buddhist monk and acclaimed author Matthieu Ricard. Proceeds from the Nine Rivers Gala support the Rubin Museum’s exhibitions and public programs.