Freer|Sackler Gallery Southeast Asia Collections
New web resource – the new Freer|Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian has a section devoted to Southeast Asian art.
Encompassing thousands of islands and mainland topographies between India, Australia, and China, Southeast Asia has been at the center of long-distance trade networks for centuries. Accordingly, Southeast Asian artworks feature innovative forms that blend local and imported traditions. The region’s art is also deeply connected with the tropical environment. Nature informs everything from the materials used to the imagery portrayed.
Thousands of sacred sites can be found across the region. Their structures range from caves and simple shrines to vast temple complexes. Like the artworks they hold, the sites are positioned in relation to natural features, such as rivers and volcanos.
Comprising close to nine hundred objects, the Freer|Sackler’s Southeast Asia collections range from Buddhist and Hindu sculpture in stone and bronze to gold jewelry and ceramics from Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma). Below, you can browse our objects, explore Southeast Asia’s sacred sites, and delve into the region’s vibrant material cultures.
Onfire – Experimental Archaeology Cambodia
On fire! is an Experimental Archaeology festival which will be held in December at the Siem Reap EFEO. They will be firing up their dragon kiln and unveiling an iron furnace and they even have a crowdfunding event where you can own one of the fired pieces!
French Archaeological Mission in Myanmar Facebook Page
For those interested in Myanmar Archaeology, the Mission Archéologique Française au Myanmar (French Archaeological Mission in Myanmar) has set up a Facebook page. Follow them for updates from the field!
UCLA Philippine Archaeology page
Just highlighting this Philippine Archaeology project page from UCLA, run by Dr Stephen Acabado. Also linked on the resources page.
The Archaeology Program at the Department of Anthropology, University of California-Los Angeles, has established a long-term project in the Philippines that involves research, training, and community engagement. Together with UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Dr. Stephen Acabado has successfully run the Ifugao Archaeological Project, and more recently, the Bicol Archaeological Project. In 2019, UCLA will launch the Archaeology of Spanish Colonialism in the Philippines, with the Partido State University, Ifugao State University, Archaeological Studies Program-University of the Philippines, and the Archdiocese of Caceres as collaborators.
The research program aims to contribute to archaeological studies in the Philippines as well as train the next generation of archaeologists, particularly those interested in the archaeology of the Philippines. More importantly, the training component of the research program provides opportunities for heritage students to conduct research in the Philippines. Indeed, more than 20 students of Filipino heritage have participated in the IAP since its inception.
Visualising Angkor: Envisaging a Living City
A new sub-site in Google Arts and Culture, based on previous work by the team from Monash university, Visualising Angkor presents a series of images and video reconstructions of Angkor during its prime.
Visualising Angkor in Google Arts and Culture
Source: Visualising Angkor: Part 1 – Envisaging a Living City — Google Arts & Culture
Please help take this survey on archaeology education in Southeast Asia
Regular readers of this blog will know that I work full-time in SEAMEO SPAFA, the Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts under the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization. I am currently conducting a large-scale regional survey to understand archaeology education in Southeast Asia: What is the regional archaeology education and industry landscape like? Where do people study archaeology in Southeast Asia? Where else in the world can you study about the archaeology of Southeast Asia? And what are the emerging training needs for regional archaeologists? To that effect, I hope you can help by taking part in our survey:
SEAMEO SPAFA Archaelogy Education Survey
The survey is open to everyone, anywhere in the world but especially since you are reading this blog, I am interested to hear from you. The online survey takes around 10-20 minutes to complete, and you can also choose to take the survey in Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese, Myanma, Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia. The data gathered from the survey will be very useful in informing educators about the current needs in the region and help with medium-to-long term planning.
Your input is important! Please take the survey here: http://www.seameo-spafa.org/archaeology-education-survey/
PoP Picks @ IPPA2018 at New Mandala
via Perspectives on the Past in New Mandala: Michael Leadbetter highlights some of the interesting sessions at the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association Congress in Hue, Vietnam happening next week. It is a very large conference with many concurrent sessions, so if you aren’t in Hue (or even if you are) you can follow the live tweets on the #IPPA2018 coverage page.
The most important conference for Asia-Pacific archaeology, heritage & museums is in Vietnam from 23 to 28 September. PoP takes a look at the Southeast Asia sessions & papers we are most excited about.
Indonesian archaeology research archive
Highlighting a new and very significant web resource, the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture’s Repository of research. The link below is the search result for all things related to archaeology deposited in the Institute’s Repository – about 400 items! This is a great initiative, and I wish more countries and institutions would do the same.
Source: Search results for arkeologi – Repositori Institusi Perpustakaan Kemendikbud
Disaster Risk Management resources
By now you would have heard about the terrible fire that consumed the Brazil National Museum which destroyed the largest museum collection in Latin America. The emerging story is that poor maintenance and funding cuts played a large role into this disaster of cultural heritage. The tragedy in Brazil could just as easily happen in Southeast Asia – just this year, we already saw fires at the Jakarta Maritime Museum and the National Archives of the Philippines. In this light I want to share some resources in Disaster Risk Management for cultural heritage that might be useful reading.
Brazil Museum fire Photograph: Ricardo Moraes/Reuters
- ICOMOS-ICORP: The International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness under ICOMOS has a great page of documents and publications that can be downloaded, such as:
- A Guide to Risk Management of Cultural Heritage, ICCROM, 2016
- Managing Disaster Risks for World Heritage, UNESCO, 2010
- Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage in Urban Areas, Research Center for Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan University (RitsDMUCH), 2013
- IFLA Emergency Preparedness Planning for Library Collections: Development of a Program and Lessons Learned
- UNISDR: United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has a page dedicated to cultural heritage. There is supposed to be a publication, but the link isn’t working at this time.
- UNESCO Endangered Heritage: Emergency Evacuation of Heritage Collections: Free download from the UNESCO website.
If you have any other resources to suggest, please leave a comment or send me an email and I will update the list.