review 21-3-2012 september

VO

LUM

E 2

1 N

O.

3 S

EP

TE

MB

ER

20

12

the journal of the asian arts society

of australia

TAASA Review

3 Editorial

JosefaGreen,Editor

4 tHENatSoFMYaNMar

SallyBamford

7 SCUlPtUrEWorKSHoPSoFaNGKor:tWorECENtEXCaVatioNS iNCaMBodia

MartinPolkinghorne

10 FroMCaMElGirtHtoCoNtEMPorarYGoWN:PlY-SPlitartiStErrollPirES

CaroleDouglas

12 aCtSoFdEVotioN–BaliNESEMaNdalaS

JoannaBarrkman

14 BUddHiSttrEaSUrESiNMoNGolia

JackieMenzies

16 diViNEWorldS: iNdiaNPaiNtiNGattHENGa

MelanieEastburn

18 rESEarCHiNGBUrMa:tHEaUStraliaNNatioNalUNiVErSitYliBrarY

CharlotteGalloway

20 FOCUS ON INDIA attHE2012SYdNEYFilMFEStiVal

JimMasselos

22 BooKrEViEW:THE DELHI CORONATION DURBARS

NarayaniGupta

24 BooKrEViEW:SACRED SITES OF BURMA

PamelaGutman

26 iNtHEPUBliCdoMaiN:A BURMESE BUDDHA AT THE MAITLAND REgIONAL ART gALLERy

CherylFarrell

27 YUri’SBUrMESEdVd:arEViEW

MerryPearson

28 rECENttaaSaaCtiVitiES

29 drMiCHaElBraNd

JillSykes

29 taaSaMEMBErS’diarY:SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2012

30 WHat’SoNiNaUStraliaaNdoVErSEaS:SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2012

CompiledbyTinaBurge

C o N t E N t S

Volume 21 No. 3 September 2012

2

aFUll iNdEXoFartiClESPUBliSHEd iNTAASA RevIew SiNCE itSBEGiNNiNGS

iN1991 iSaVailaBlEoNtHEtaaSaWEBSitE,WWW.taaSa.orG.aU

VallEYoFSaiNtS,wOMEN TAkE THEIR wARES TO A BOATERS’ MARkET, kASHMIR, STILL FROM FILM.

COURTESy SyDNEy FILM FESTIVAL. SEE PP20-21.

taaSarEViEW

THEASIANARTSSOCIETYOFAUSTRALIAINC.ABN64093697537•Vol.21No.3,September2012ISSN1037.6674Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134

Editorial•email:[email protected]

Generaleditor,JosefaGreenPUBliCatioNSCoMMittEE

JosefaGreen(convenor)•TinaBurgeMelanieEastburn•SandraForbesCharlotteGalloway•JimMasselos•AnnProctorSabrinaSnow•ChristinaSumner

dESiGN/laYoUt

IngoVoss,VossDesign

PriNtiNG

JohnFisherPrinting

Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. PO Box 996 Potts Point NSw 2011 www.taasa.org.au

Enquiries:[email protected]

TAASA Review is published quarterly and is distributed to members

of The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc. TAASA Review welcomes

submissions of articles, notes and reviews on Asian visual and

performing arts. All articles are refereed. Additional copies and

subscription to TAASA Review are available on request.

No opinion or point of view is to be construed as the opinion of

The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc., its staff, servants or agents.

No claim for loss or damage will be acknowledged by TAASA

Review as a result of material published within its pages or

in other material published by it. we reserve the right to alter

or omit any article or advertisements submitted and require

indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages

or liabilities that may arise from material published.

All reasonable efforts have been made to trace copyright holders.

taaSaMEMBErSHiPratES

$70 Single$90 Dual$95 Libraries(inAustralia)$35 Concession(full-timestudentsunder26,pensioners

andunemployedwithID,SeniorsCardnotincluded)$115 Overseas(individualsandlibraries)

adVErtiSiNGratES

TAASAReviewwelcomesadvertisementsfromappropriatecompanies,institutionsandindividuals.RatesbelowareGSTinclusive.

Backpage $850Fullinnerpage $725Halfpagehorizontal $484Thirdpage(verticalorhorizontal) $364Halfcolumn $265Insert $300

Forfurtherinformationreadvertising,includingdiscountsforregularquarterlyadvertising,[email protected]

FOR OUR NEXT ISSUE IS 1 OCTOBER 2012

tHEdEadliNEForalladVErtiSiNG

FOR OUR NEXT ISSUE IS 1 NOVEMBER 2012

E d i t o r i a l

JosefaGreen,Editor

3

t a a S a C o M M i t t E E

Burma has been in the spot light in recenttimes,withAungSanSuuKyi’sNobelPeacePrizeandthecurrentseeminglyrapidopeningup of the country. Many TAASA membershave already visited or are planning to visitBurma, so will hopefully find a number ofarticlesonBurmainthisissueofinterest.

SallyBamfordsharestheresultofherresearchinto a less well known aspect of Burmesespiritual life: a belief in thenats or guardianspiritsthatevolvedfromancestorworshipandabelief insupernatural forcesresiding in thelandscape.Illustratedbyherownphotos,shepaintsavividpictureofhowabelief innatsstillpermeatesBurmesesociety,asevidencedby the many shrines and images foundthroughoutthecountrysideandinhomesandbusinessesaswellasBuddhisttemples.

Art historical research on Burma has beenimpeded due to political upheaval from the1950s and restricted access to informationin the second half of the 20th century. Thismakes collections of research material suchas, in this case, that of Burmese specialistDr David Pfanner donated to the MenziesLibrary at theAustralianNationalUniversity,all themorevaluable.CharlotteGallowayhaswadedthroughthiscollectiontogiveussomeinterestinginsightsintothekindofinformation,sometimesoffbeat,suchcollectionscanoffer.

ThreeshorterpiecesprovidefurtherdifferingperspectivesonBurma.Ourregularfeature,InthePublicDomainpresentsalovelyMandalaystylemarbleBuddhaattheMaitlandRegionalArtGallerybycuratorCherylFarrell.PamelaGutmanreviewsa2011publicationSacredSitesof Burma by Donald Stadtner, while MerryPearson reviews a Burmese produced DVDof songs in the Mahagita, Burmese classicalmusic tradition, featuring Yuri Takahashi assingerandMahagitamusicianYeNaingLinn.

Just a note on terminology in relation toBurma. Alert readers will notice that someauthorsinthisissuehaveusedthecurrentUNrecognised terminology for Burma, namelyMyanmar, Yangon and Bagan, as againstthe older style Burma,Rangoon andPagan.This is a very sensitive issue and there areargumentsforbothapproaches.Myeditorialapproach has therefore been to allow eachauthortoadopttheterminologytheyprefer.

This September issue also offers a rangeof Indian related topics. Melanie Eastburnpreviews an NGA exhibition Divine Worldsstarting 1 September which is the firstexhibition dedicated to the NGA’s own

extensive Indianpaintingcollection.TAASAis organising amembers’ event toview thisexhibitioninCanberra,togetherwithamajorcontemporaryChinese portrait exhibition attheNational PortraitGallery (seeMembers’Diaryonp29).

TextileenthusiastswillenjoyCaroleDouglas’fascinating account of the life and work ofcontemporary ply-split braider Erroll Pires,who is also co-ordinator of textiles at theNational Institute forDesign atAhmedabad.Cineastes will enjoy Jim Masselos’ livelytakeon thisyear’sFocuson Indiafilmsat the2012 Sydney Film Festival. Finally,NarayaniGupta’seruditereviewofthelatestpublicationfrom the Alkazi Collection of Photography,Power and Resistance: The Delhi CoronationDurbars,allowstheTAASAReviewtodipagainintothiswonderfularchiveof19thandearly20thcenturySouthAsianphotography.

Following his recent presentation at theUniversity of Sydney, I’m delighted thatMartin Polkinghorne has been able toreportinthisissueontheoutcomeofrecentexcavations led by the Angkor ResearchProgram of the University of Sydney atAngkor, Cambodia. He points out that upuntil now, the manufacturing methods andactivities of the artists who made the greatAngkor sandstone and bronze sculptureshavebeenunknown.Forthefirsttime,theseexcavations have focused on two sculptureateliers at Angkor, with fascinating resultssuchasthediscoveryofabronzeworkshop,thefirstofitskind,notonlyinCambodiabutinSoutheastAsia.

Two final contributors will be familiar toTAASA Review readers and both presentarticles with a Buddhist theme, though inentirelydifferent contexts. JoannaBarrkmandiscussestheuseofcosmicmandaladesignsin Balinese devotional art. Jackie Menziesoffersusatantalizingpreviewofhercurrentresearch on Mongolian Buddhist art, inpreparation for aproposedmajor exhibitionattheAGNSWonthissubjectnextyear.

On p28 you will find a report on TAASA’s2012 AGM where new TAASA CommitteemembersCharlotteGalloway,SusanScollay,Todd Sunderman andMargaretWhitewerewelcomed, and outgoing members of theCommitteeSandraForbes,PhilipCourtenayand Lucie Folan, were heartily thanked fortheir contribution toTAASA. SandraForbesremainsamemberoftheTAASAPublicationsCommittee.

GillGrEEN•PRESIDENT

ArthistorianspecialisinginCambodianculture

CHriStiNaSUMNEr•VICE PRESIDENT

PrincipalCurator,DesignandSociety,PowerhouseMuseum,Sydney

aNNGUild•TREASURER

FormerDirectoroftheEmbroidersGuild(UK)

dYaNdrEaSEN•SECRETARy

HasaspecialinterestinJapanesehaikuandtankapoetry

HWEi-FE’NCHEaH

VisitingFellow,SchoolofCulturalInquiry,AustralianNationalUniversity.

JoCElYNCHEY

VisitingProfessor,DepartmentofChineseStudies,UniversityofSydney;formerdiplomat

MattCoX

StudyRoomCo-ordinator,ArtGalleryofNewSouthWales,withaparticularinterestinIslamicArtofSoutheastAsia

CHarlottEGalloWaY

LecturerAsianArtHistoryandCuratorialStudies,AustralianNationalUniversity,withaspecialinterestintheBuddhistArtofMyanmar

JoSEFaGrEEN

GeneraleditorofTAASAReview.CollectorofChineseceramics,withlong-standinginterestinEastAsianartasstudentandtraveller

MiN-JUNGKiM

CuratorofAsianArts&DesignatthePowerhouseMuseum

aNNProCtor

ArthistorianwithaparticularinterestinVietnam

YUKiESato

FormerVicePresidentoftheOrientalCeramicSocietyofthePhilippineswithwide-ranginginterestinAsianartandculture

SaBriNaSNoW

HasalongassociationwiththeArtGalleryofNewSouthWalesandaparticularinterestintheartsofChina

toddSUNdErMaN

FormerAsianantiquedealer,withaparticularinterestinTibetanfurniture

MarGarEtWHitE

FormerPresidentandAdvisoroftheFriendsofMuseums,Singapore,withspecialinterestinSoutheastAsianart,ceramicsandtextiles

HoN.aUditor

RosenfeldKantandCo

S t a t E r E P r E S E N t a t i V E S

AUSTRALIANCAPITALTERRITORY

roBYNMaXWEll

VisitingFellowinArtHistory,ANU;SeniorCuratorofAsianArt,NationalGalleryofAustralia

QUEENSLAND

rUSSEllStorEr

CuratorialManager,AsianandPacificArt,QueenslandArtGallery

SOUTHAUSTRALIA

JaMESBENNEtt

CuratorofAsianArt,ArtGalleryofSouthAustralia

VICTORIA

CarolCaiNS

CuratorAsianArt,NationalGalleryofVictoriaInternational

4

lthough it is estimated that around90% of Myanmar (Burmese) people are

Buddhist,manyretainanancientbeliefinthenats,guardianspirits thathaveevolved fromancestorworshipandabeliefinsupernaturalforcesresidentinfeaturesofthelandscape.InthecomplexspiritualframeworkofMyanmarlife, which also has space for astrology,divination, alchemy and other spiritualpractices, the nats are believed to havehegemonyover ‘their’ area -be that ahome,road, field, village, river or mountain - andareoftenfearedfortheharmtheymaycauseif not correctly acknowledged and appeasedwith offerings. Appeasing the nats ensuresthehealthandwell-beingofone’sfamilyandcommunity,safepassagethroughtheterritorygovernedbyaparticularnat,orthesuccessofaplannedventure.Beliefinthenatsiscommonto all sections ofMyanmar society, and theirshrinesmaybeseeninhomesandbusinesses,attached to prominent trees, guarding roadsandontheoutskirtsofvillages.

Thecolourfulcreationlegendsofthenatshaveafforded artists the opportunity to portraythem in a wide variety of artistic contexts.Their images range from crudely carved andpaintedfigures to beautifullyworked statuescombiningthetalentsofmasterwoodcarvers,goldsmiths and jewellers. While most natimages are three-dimensional, they are alsocommonlyfoundinreliefcarvingsdecoratingpagodas and monasteries, are depicted inpaintings,textiles,ceramicplaques,metalworkandtattoos,andarealsomadeaspuppets.

Two pairs of protective spirit figures, foundattheancientMyanmarcityofSriksetra,aredatedtoasearlyasthe5thcentury(Hudson&Lustig2008).Madeofiron–ametalbelievedto have protective properties – these figuresattest to a long tradition of representingprotective guardian spirits in Myanmar art.Pagodasdatedtothe13thcenturyshowthatby this time, the nats were fully integratedinto the corpus of art created for Buddhistmeritmaking.Elementsofroyalregaliahaveconventionally been employed by artists todistinguish nats of the deva (or deity) classfromasearlyasthe17thcentury.

Nat imagery since the late 20th century hasevolved to portray each nat as an agelessand more ‘humanised’ being, with propsand costumes used to represent elements oftheir creation story, or to distinguish each

nat from its fellows. This practice appearsto have its roots in the traditional costumesworn by professional nat kadaw, the spiritmediumswho channel nats at festivals heldintheirhonour,asrecordedbytheGovernorofMyawadiin1805(Temple1906).

Thepracticeofplacatingthenatsisbelievedto stem from the ancient tradition – stillpracticedtoday–ofconstructingaminiaturehouse to appease a tree-nat whose home islostwhenitstreeisfelledforhouse-building(Maung Htin Aung 1962). This notion ofspirits inhabiting trees is reflected in thecreation legends of many well-known nats,such asMinMahagiri and his sister, Shwe-myet-nha, who were burned alive by theKingofTagaung,Myanmar’sancientcapital.Theirspiritstookupresidenceinatree,butasanyonewhowalkedinitsshadowwaskilled,theKinghad ituprootedand thrown in theriver.ItfloateddownstreamtoBagan,wherethetwonatsappearedinadreamoftheKingof Bagan, Thinlikyaung (r. 344-387CE)whorescuedthetree,hadcarvingsofMinMahagiriandShwe-myet-nhamadefromitswood,andinstalled them in a shrine onMtPopa, thusbeginning the long traditionofpatronageofapantheonofThirty-SevenparticularnatsbyMyanmarroyalty.

Tree-spirit nats are illustrated on one of theglazed brick plaques depicting Jataka taleswhich decorate the 11th century ShwezigonpagodaatNyaungU,nearBagan.Basedonitslocation,itmaybeidentifiedasanillustration

of theRukkhadhamma Jataka. In this tale, theBuddhahadcometo lifeasa tree-spirit inaHimalayanforest,andadvisedhiskinsfolktotakeuptheirabodesinthesurroundingtrees.Thosewhodidnotheedhisadviceandchosetodwellingianttreesgrowinginopenspaces,wereuprootedandflungtothegroundbyamightytempest,whiletheinterlacedtreesinthe forestwithstood themight of the storm.When telling the tale, the Buddha unfoldedthetruthinthestanza:

‘United,forest-like,shouldkinsfolkstand;Thestormo’erthrowsthesolitarytree.’(Chalmers1895)

OntheShwezigonplaque,theBuddhaisthetree-spiritappearingontheright,identifiablebyhiscrown,while thepoor tree-spiritwhotook up residence in the solitary tree sitsastride his former home, nowuprooted andthrowntotheground.

ItisnotuncommontofindnatimageryplacedwithinthegroundsofMyanmarpagodas,asthenatsareconceptuallyapartofMyanmarBuddhism, where nats and humans areboth a class of being engaged in the cycleof multiple rebirth. In Myanmar Buddhistcosmology,thirty-oneplanesofexistencearedivided into three spheres. The first, kama-loka, includeshells,animals,ghosts,demons,and the human and nat worlds, alongwithsix lower deva abodes. Above kama-loka aresixteen planes of rupa-loka, where the devasretain a measure of corporeality, then thefour planes of arupa-loka, where there is no

4

A

t H E N a t S o F M Y a N M a r

SallyBamford

TA A S A R E V I E w V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 3

tYPiCalroadSidENatSHriNEBEtWEENMtPoPaaNdBaGaN.THE SIgN AT LEFT wARNS PEOPLE

NOT TO CUT DOwN THE TREES LEST THEy OFFEND THE NATS. © SALLy BAMFORD 2012

5TA A S A R E V I E w V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 3

corporeality (Spiro 1978). The nats Po SinTaungandPwaSinTaung(GrandfatherandGrandmother Elephant Mountain) occupyanicheset into the innerwallof theYadanaMan Aung Pagoda at Nyaungshwe.Thesetwostatuesaretypicaloflate19th/early20thcenturynatimages,beingcarvedfromwood,depictedintraditionalcostumeandwiththeirfeatureshighlightedinpaintorgilt.ThetieredcrownoftheGrandfatheridentifieshisstatusasaLord,inthiscaseof‘ElephantMountain’.The stance of the Grandmother – leaningslightlyforwardwithonehandlooselybyherside–isaconventionalattitudeofobeisancetotheking,asmanynatsreceivedtheirfiefbyroyaldecree.Statuesliketheseweremadeinworkshopswhoseartistsspecialisedinamotifgroup known as nari pan, which includedBuddha images, human beings and nats inhumanform(Moilanen&Ozhegov1999).

Probably the most visible nat in MyanmarartisThagyamin,Sakka inPali, inhisroleasthe protector of Buddhism. In this context,his image is commonly seenwithin pagodaand monastery precincts, incorporated intoarchitecturalordecorativefeaturesbesideoraboveadoorwayorinanattitudeofhomagetoaBuddhaimage.Asanat-sawordevanat,Thagyaminpresidesasalordoverthesecondlevel of nat rwa, perhaps more familiarlyknowntoBuddhistsasTavatimsaheaven.

Thagyamin is conventionally portrayedwearing elements of royal costume, usuallyincluding a tiered crown, ornate jewelleryand a yin-hlwan, the long front piece withflaringlappetsshowninafoldingmanuscriptillustrating sumptuary dress from KingThibaw’s court in the 1880s. Historically,Thagyamin always appeared in full royalceremonialdressintraditionalpuppettheatre,whereas human actors portraying royaltywere limited to symbolic attributes. Today,Thagyaminpuppetsarestillportrayedinfullceremonialdress,anenduringreminderofthesplendour of the royal court and a populartouristsouvenir.

Theuseofnat-sawimageryinartisticcontextsremainedtheprerogativeofMyanmarroyaltyuntil its abrupt demise in 1885, accountingfor the common occurrence of these imageswithin the many religious foundationscommissioned as acts ofmerit byMyanmarkings.Nat-saw imagerywas included in thedecorativeschemaofpagodasfromatleastthe13thcentury;theThambulapagodaatBaganfeatures a stucco decoration over its archeddoorway in the formof awingednatfigurestandingona three-headednaga.Theuseoftheroyalyin-hlwanandtieredcrownisfoundonsandstone imagesofThagyamindatedto

the 17th century, while by the 19th century,nat-sawimageswereconventionallycarvedinhieratic,formalposturesofadoration.

In stark contrast, more naturalistic poses arefoundincarvingsofnon-devanats,whichareusually portrayed in narrative scenes relatedto their creation legend, often alongsidecarvingsofJatakatales.Anelaboratelycarvedscreenwascreatedinthe1920stodecoratetheentrancetotheHalloftheBuddha’sFootprintattheShwedagonPagodainYangon,featuringthestoryofMaMeiUandthenatShwebyinNyidaw, also known as the younger ofthe Taungbyon Brothers. A soldier of KingAnawrahta in the 11th century, Shwebyin

Nyidawwas executedby theKing – therebybecominganat– for failing to contributehisshareofbrickstothebuildingofapagoda.Hehadfallenin lovewithMaMeiU,avirtuouswife andweaverwho spurnedhis advances.Asanat, angeredatbeing refused,he sent atigertodragherawaywhileshesatatherloom(UTunAungChain&UTheinHlaing1996).

While all the nats are essentially guardianspirits, they can be deemed to fall withinthreecategoriesrelatingtotheirorigin:asanancestor or nature spirit; as a deva nat suchas Thagyamin, or as a human – sometimesmythical – who has become a nat aftermeetingaviolentorunexpecteddeath.Today,

aStatUEoFtHaGYaMiNHoldiNGHiSidENtiFYiNGCoNCH IS gIVEN A TOUCH-UP

AT THE SHwEDAgON PAgODA, yANgON. © SALLy BAMFORD 2012

6 TA A S A R E V I E w V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 3

the two foremostplaces to seeassembliesofvarious nats are at Mt Popa, the site of animportantshrine,whileanotherpantheonofancientnatsmaybeseenintheirownshrineswithin the Shwezigon pagoda compound.The Shwezigon sculptures clearly referencethenats’originsasnaturespiritsbydepictingthem as anthropomorphised supernaturals,while the majority of imagery found at MtPopaismore‘human’inappearance.

Two important nat images found at theShwezigonpagodaarethefatherandsonShweMyo Zin and Shwe Zaga, sea-spirits knowncollectively as ‘Son onemonth older than theFather’, who were summoned by the Kingto takeup residenceat thePagodaandact asguardiansofBuddhism.AsShweZagaarrivedonemonthearlier,hewasgivenahigherpositionin theshrine thanhis father. In thesemassive,squat figures seated in ardhaparyankasana, theposeofroyalease, it isevident that theartistsconceivedthesenatswithnaturespiritoriginsassemi-humaninappearance.

In a photo published in 1915 of a statue ofShweNabe,anatwhocan take the formofa

woman or a naga, her supernatural origin isexpressedbygivingherasemi-humanfacewitha distinctly serpent-like cast, featuring slittedeyesandaprotrudinglowerface(Brown1915).Amoremodern imageofShweNabe,housedinamajornatshrineatMtPopa,illustrateshownat imagery has evolved. While both statueshave exactly the same stance, wear a nagaheaddressandgraspanagainbothhands,themorerecentstatueatMtPopaseems,toWesterneyes,tohavetheratherblandappearanceofadepartmentstoremannequin.Here,herhieraticposture and frozen features demonstrate heragelessness and supernatural origin, whileher naga ‘nature’ is further illustrated by hershimmering green longyi, clearly patterned toshowthescalesofaserpent.

Therearefewknownanddocumentedearlyexamples of nat imagery, and many olderexamples have disappeared into privatecollections,theirstoriesunrecordedandtheirprovenance lost to art historians. Those stillextant inMyanmar are of course revered asrepresentationsofthespiritstheyembody,andremainaninvaluableresourcetohistoriansofMyanmarartandculture.

Sally Bamford first visited Myanmar in 1995 and

completed her art history Honours thesis on the ‘art

of the nat’ in 2011. She is planning to undertake a

PhD on the history and representation of the nats in

Myanmar material culture.

rEFErENCESBrown, Rg. 1915. ‘The Taungbyon Festival’, Journal of the Royal

Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, plate XVII.

Chalmers, R (Trans.) & Cowell EB (ed.) 1895. The Jataka Vol. 1,

sacred-texts.com, viewed 24 June 2012, http://www.sacred-texts.

com/bud/j1/j1077.htm

Hudson, B & Lustig, T. 2008. ‘Communities of the past: A new

view of the old walls and hydraulic system at Sriksetra, Myanmar

(Burma)’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 39(2), pp. 269-296.

Maung Htin Aung, 1962. Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism,

Oxford University Press, London.

Moilanen I & Ozhegov SS. 1999. Mirrored in Wood: Burmese Art

and Architecture, white Lotus Press, Bangkok.

Spiro, M. 1978. Burmese Supernaturalism, ISHI, Philadelphia.

Temple, RC. 1906. ‘A Native Account of the Thirty-Seven Nats’,

The Indian Antiquary 1906, pp. 217-227.

U Tun Aung Chain & U Thein Hlaing. 1996. Shwedagon,

The Universities Press, yangon.

trEE-SPiritNatS,MOULDED DECORATION ON gLAzED BRICk PLAQUE ILLUSTRATINg THE

RukkhAdhAMMA JATAkA AT THE SHwEzIgON PAgODA, NyAUNg U. © SALLy BAMFORD 2012

aNAT-SAwFiGUrESitUatEdaBoVEadoorWaYataMoNaStErY,

SALAy. © SALLy BAMFORD 2012


he sculpture of Angkor is universallyrecognised as among the greatest

creations of human genius. AngkorianobjectsarerepresentedineverymajorpubliccollectionofartincludingmanyinAustralia.The artists of Angkor rendered sculpturesin sandstone and bronze distinguishedby precision of execution and the classiccanons of beauty: proportional balance andrealism. Yet the methods of manufactureandtheactivitiesof theteamsofartistswhocreated these works are unknown. For thefirst time in Southeast Asia, excavation hasbeenconductedatAngkor focussingon twosculptureworkshopsoperatingacrossatleastfourcenturies.

Inpartduetoabsenceofartistsinthewrittenrecord,medievalateliersandtheirtechniqueshavenotbeentheprimaryfocusofanymajorstudy of Southeast Asian material culture.At Angkor we do not know the names ofindividuals who crafted the superlativesculptures, even when the quality of thework was exceptional. The few epigraphicreferences to artists tend to single outpersonalities of the administrative elitewhowere conferred ceremonial titles associatedwith their control or leadership of thesegroups(seeCœdès1951:3–24).Thosestudieswhich have addressed artists have by andlargefocussedonbas-reliefsandarchitecturalornamentation, and then only on a handfulofmonuments.GeorgeGroslier(1921–1923:206–208)studied thenumerouspilastersofAngkorWat, theBayonandBanteayChmarandconcludedthatmorethanoneartistmusthaveworkedonthesameobjectatanygiventime.At theTerrace of theLeperKing, B.-P.Groslier(1969:29-30)discernedartisanswhoroughly chiselled compositional layouts andmore meticulous sculptors who renderedfacialfeaturesandbodies.

Fundedby theAustralianResearchCouncil,an international multi-disciplinary projectledby theAngkorResearchProgramofTheUniversity of Sydney involved excavationsconducted at the location of two sculptureateliers in late 2011andearly2012.Thefirstworkshop,locatedjustwestofthe9thcenturyBakongtemplewasafocusofartisticactivityinthe’early’AngkoriancapitalofHariharālaya.FrenchconservatorMauriceGlaizeoriginallydiscoveredthesitein1943duringexplorationof the outer Bakong enclosure when heidentifiedtwo2.4metretallrough-hewnand

unfinished triadfigures. In the1990sduringa time of civil instability, these sculptureswererepatriatedtotheAngkorConservationDepotandidentificationofextensiveamountsofsandstonechipsandadditionalunfinishedsculptures demarcated the site as a possiblecentreofsculpturemanufacture.

Consisting of two large mounds either sideof thewestern axis roadof theBakong, twoassociated‘occupationmounds’,andasmallpond,excavationhasconfirmedthat thesitewasindeedthelocationofanateliersheltered

by at least one large building. Numerouscharacteristic artefacts including iron andstool tools for themanufacture of sculpturewere also discovered. The ‘stone’ toolsincludedlow-firedclaypermeatedwithsmallabrasivepebbles,probablyusedfor‘sanding’sculptures and small ‘river’ stones used forpolishing. The stones possess ‘scratchwear’consistentwithbeingrubbedonsandstone.

Aroadcutthroughthecentreofthesouthernmound sometime in the early 20th centuryprovided the team with an opportunity to

T

S C U l P t U r E W o r K S H o P S o F a N G Ko r : t W o r E C E N t E XC a V at i o N S i N C a M B o d i a

MartinPolkinghorneEXaMiNiNGtHEUNdErSidEoFUNFiNiSHEdSCUlPtUrE,BAkONg SCULPTURE wORkSHOP,

ANgkOR, CAMBODIA. PHOTO: MARTIN POLkINgHORNE

tHirtY-FiVEMEtrESECtioNatBaKoNGSCUlPtUrEWorKSHoP,ANgkOR. PHOTO: MARTIN POLkINgHORNE


obtaina35metrecrosssectionofthemound.This long trench exposed many layers ofworking surfaces for sculpture productionand the foundations of a building made oflaterite aligned east-west with the westernaxis of Bakong temple. The style of thebuilding ‘modenature’ is consistent withmid-late 9th century constructions andthe workshop appears to have been activeduring this period. The superstructure waspresumably built in wood and is attestedby large quantities of elaborately decoratedglazedstonewarerooftiles.Additionally,oneof themostsignificantartefacts isashardofChinese imported TangDynasty Xingwhitewaredating to themid-late9th century,oneofonlytwopiecesofthisceramicwarefoundat Angkor. The site is currently occupiedby a small ‘traditional’ smithing workshopsuggesting a tantalising, but difficult tosubstantiate link to the Angkorian craft ofsculpturemakingand toolmaintenance thatlogicallyoccurredatthesite.

The second excavation phase of the projectfocussed on an Angkorian period atelier inthe heart of King Jayavarman VII’s greatwalled city of Angkor Thom. ConservatorHenriMarchal speculated about the area asa workshop as early as the 1920s (Marchal1926: 310). Discovery of a workshop forlead roof tiles (Pottier 1997) and unfinishedsandstonesculptureprovidefurtherevidencethat the site was the centre of artisticproduction. The workshop is located on anarea of approximately 1000m2 between fourmonuments: Preah Palilay, Tep Prenam, theRoyal Terraces and the Royal Palace. Theentire site is scatteredwith small sandstonechips believed to be the result of carving

sandstone sculpture. Excavation revealedin-situ sandstone debitage, an unfinishedsculpture,ironandstonetoolsandadditionalevidenceofabronzesculptureworkshop.

ThediscoveryofabronzeworkshopjustoutsidethewallsoftheRoyalPalaceoftheAngkoriankings is thefirst of its kind inCambodia andSoutheastAsia.Onetrenchincludedabellows-type structure made from reused laterite andsandstoneblockssealedwithstuccoandresin.ThebellowsisuniqueinKhmerarchaeologyandpresents a considerable interpretive challengebecause of its unusual formand composition.Conceivably it was activatedwith some kindofwoodendevicethatmovedaflexibleanimalskin up and down from the top of the stonecourses to deliver pressurised air into thehearthorfurnacechamber.Wasteproductsandmaterialsofmetalproductionincludingbloomwaste,sprues,vents,acrucible, treeresin,andclay moulds in conjunction with unfinishedsandstonesculptureandchipdebitagesuggeststhatalliedartswereworkingside-by-side.

Considerable amounts of small bronze, ironand lead fragments, and slag are logicallywaste products of a metal workshop. Somepieces can be plausibly related to specificaspects of the sculpture making process.For example small cylindrical iron pins arearguably fixtures or ‘chaplets’ that held theclay core and outer mould apart duringcasting. SomeAngkorian bronze images arecreated with wrought iron armature and itis understandable that much iron has beenfoundinthetesttrenches.Smallandnarrowcylindricalrodsofbronzecanbe interpretedasspruesorrunnerstointake/outtakemoltenmetal to/from the mould. Some short and

flatwastebronzeandleadmaybe‘flashings’,metalthatrunsbetweenthehalvesorvalvesof a piecemould. Small spherical fragmentsofironslagfoundbywetsievingarepossiblytheresultofprimarysmithing.

Droplets of solidified slag were producedduringsmithingasslagwasexpelledfromironbloomduringforging.Otherformsofslagandvitreous waste products were recovered fromnumerous trenches.Different typesof slagarethe result of refining different metals usingdifferent techniques and are distinguished bytheir colour, density, morphology and size.Sometrenchescontainedremainsofinvestmentmouldsusedintheprocessofmakingsculptureswiththe‘lost-wax’method.Investmentmouldsareblack/greyontheinnersurfaceswhichwereincontactwiththecastmetal,andorange/redindicating oxidisation or firing on the outersurface.Consistentwiththeproductionprocesswhere moulds are broken open to recoverthe casting, identification of the objects is notpossible. Excavated tree resins could possiblybeaddedtobees’waxasamaterialformakingthe‘lost-wax’mould,asa‘flux’todecreasethetemperature required to melt metal, or as atemporaryadhesive toaffixdifferentelementsofsculpturesduringthecraftingprocess,orasanagentinfoilgilding.

The project has identified large quantities ofearthenware and glazed stoneware ceramicsfromlocalandinternationalkilns.Thesitewasthelocationofconcentratedactivitycontinuingin some form to a least the 16th century.Quantities of imported trade-ware fromThailand, Vietnam, possibly Myanmar, andespeciallyChinasuggestacosmopolitansocietywithsizeableinterestsininternationaltrade.

’BElloWS-tYPE’StrUCtUrE,ANgkOR THOM SCULPTURE wORkSHOP, ANgkOR. PHOTO: MARTIN POLkINgHORNE

SaCrEddEPoSit,LEAD ALLOy TURTLE REPLETE wITH

QUARTz CRySTALS, ANgkOR THOM SCULPTURE wORkSHOP,

ANgkOR. PHOTO: MARTIN POLkINgHORNE


UNFiNiSHEdSaNdStoNESCUlPtUrEoFStaNdiNGFoUr-arMEdViSHNU (HEADLESS, FACE DOwN), ANgkOR THOM SCULPTURE wORkSHOP, ANgkOR. PHOTO: MARTIN POLkINgHORNE

Notable ceramic artefacts can be identifiedas Song dynasty ‘mercury jars’. Thepresence of ‘mercury jars’ in the context ofmetal working and bronze manufacture isparticularlysignificantasmercurywasusedin a specialised form of sculpture gilding.Mercury gilding is the process wherebymercury is mixed with gold to make anamalgamthatisappliedtothesurfaceofthesculpture.The sculpture is thenheatedandthemercuryevaporatesandleavesbehindathincoatingofgoldgilding.

To make sculpture smooth, burnishingis typically required where the sculpturesurface is rubbedwith a hard implement oraverysmoothstone.Burnishingshapesandcompacts the metal grains, increasing thereflectivityofthesculpture.Itispossiblethatthestoneandsmoothedceramic tools foundduring this excavation were used for thepurposeofburnishing.

The Angkor Thom workshop yielded twospecial artefacts in the form of ‘foundationdeposits’. Underneath the northern stonecoursing of the ‘bellows’, a lead turtleapproximately20cminlengthwasretrieved.Inside the turtle were over 85 crystalsappearingtobequartz.Theturtlewaslikelyaritualdepositandactedtosanctifytheobjectsmadeusingthe‘bellows’.Thisandanalogousritual deposits found in the south library ofthe Bayon and at the Terrace of Leper Kingcan perhaps be associated with Kurma, theturtleavatarofVishnu.

KurmaiscommonlyillustratedinAngkorianiconography as the ‘pivot’ in the famous‘ChurningoftheSeaofMilk’story,masterfullyand strikingly depicted in bas-relief at thesoutheastgalleryofAngkorWat.Interestingly,five unfinished sandstone sculptures at theAngkor Thom site can be identified as four-armedstandingVishnus,suggestingapossiblereligious designation for the workshop. Thesecond ‘foundation deposit’ was a vessel ofunidentified composition (likely some kindof alloy covered in resin) full of the remainsofriceandsesameseeds.Thedeposithasnotbeen fully opened. Considerable additionaldocumentaryandanalyticalwork is requiredasaresultofthisexcavation.Stone,metalandother artefacts sampled from the excavationwillundergofurtheranalysisinthelaboratoriesofprojectcollaborators.

When looking at the celebrated corpusof Angkorian art, custodians, visitorsand scholars consistently ask the samequestion: how were these works created?Until now the answer is very partial. Thisproject, the first study of workshop sites inSoutheast Asia is beginning to connect thesculptural masterpieces of Khmer cultureto the processes and social context of theirmanufacture. In addition to elaborating onthe qualities and elements of theAngkorianiconographic repertoire, the focus is on theactionsofthe“anonymous”medievalKhmerpeople who created its magnificent art.Although the excavatedworkshops indicatecentralisedproduction, theydonotpreclude

theexistenceofadditionalperipheralartisticcentres or temporary workshops. Thepresence of large infrastructure, elaboratebuildings, considerable production waste,rare imported ceramics, extraordinary ritualdeposits,andproximitytopalacecompoundssuggest that these workshops were of greatimportance to the kings of Angkor whodevotedconsiderableresourcesandreligiousinvestmentinimagesoftheGods.

Dr Martin Polkinghorne is an Australian Research

Council Postdoctoral Fellow and Director of The

University of Sydney Robert Christie Research Centre

in Siem Reap. The author wishes to acknowledge

funding from the Australian Research Council and

the generous collaboration of The Authority for the

Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region

of Siem Reap (APSARA), the Freer/Sackler galleries of

Asian Art, l’Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO),

and excavation volunteers and participants.

rEFErENCESCœdès, g. 1951. Inscriptions du Cambodge III. EFEO, Paris.

groslier, B.-P. 1969. “Angkor. The Terrace of the Leper king”, Nokor

khmer 1: 18 – 33.

groslier, g. 1921 – 1923. Étude sur la psychologie de l’artisan

Cambodgien. Arts et archéologie khmers; revue des recherches sur

les arts, les monuments et l’ethnographie du Cambodge, depuis les

origines jusqu’à nos jours 1(2): 205 – 220.

Marchal, H. 1926. “ Notes sur le Palais Royal d’Angkor Thom” ,

in Arts et archéologie khmers; revue des recherches sur les arts, les

monuments et l’ethnographie du Cambodge, depuis les origines

jusqu’à nos jours 2(3): 303 – 328.

Pottier, C. 1997. “ Nouvelles données sur les couvertures en plomb

à Angkor ”, BEFEO 84, pp. 181 – 220.


nmyfirsttriptoKachchhinnorthwesternIndia, well before the earthquake and

anyrealknowledgeonmypartoftraditionalformsofweaving,IstoppedthecarinwhichIwastravellingbetweenBhujandMandvi.Asuddenflashofblackandwhitemovementinasmallblueconcretesheltercaughtmyeye:I recently came across the transparency thatholds this memory. I did not know it then,butIhadcapturedarareimageofanelderlyMarwar Megwhal weaver creating a ply–split camel girth, locally called tang, usingdesi(localraw)woolandgoathair.Andasittranspires in the interconnectedness of life,I later learned thathe is anuncleofKharadweaverTejsiDhanawithwhomIhaveworkedforseveralyearsandwhohimself is rapidlybecomingamasterofply–splitbraiding–anancient and traditional technique that useshand-spun fibres to create camel girths andother animal regalia. Practiced mainly innorthwestern India, ply–split involves onetwisted cord being passed through anothertwisted cord or cords, splitting the plies ofthe latter cords. Designs are formed by thecoloursofthecordandtheorderofsplitting.

In 2004 I came across camel girths in adifferent incarnation when I met ErrollPires, contemporary ply–split braider andcoordinatoroftextilesattheNationalInstituteforDesign(NID)inAhmedabad.Erroll’sofficeoverflowedwithaprofusionofyarnsbraidedinto extraordinary forms – living testamenttoalifededicatedtoasingleartformanditsendlesspossibilities.Afewwell–worncamelgirthshunginamongstthechaosofcreativity;their presence a powerful link between thecontemporaryandthetraditionalandaquietacknowledgement of the inspiration behindErroll’swork.Iwatchedfascinatedasthelongthumbnailsthatgivehimsuchcontroloverhisworkdeftlymanipulatedmultiple threads. IsensedhismeditativestateandrealisedIwaswatchingthefinelyhonedskillsofamasterinhisownright.

Born on 1 December 1951 and the middleoffive children,ErrollPireswasdestined towork with yarns. His first textile memoriesare of hismother knittingwoollen sweatersforthefamily,hisalreadylongarmsassistingher to open the hanks of wool quickly. Hesometimes wonders if that early contact‘wove’thefibresinextricablyintohissystem.ThefamilyalsolivedbesideatextilemillandErrollwouldclimbthetallestneemtreetosee

whatlayoverthewall.Later,whenhemadea few visits inside thewalls with a friend’sfather who worked in the weaving section,hewasexposedtomassproduction,tonoisyloomsandtogreatvolumesofwovencloth.

In 1970 Erroll enrolled at NID on thesuggestion of a family friend. A passionatebeliever in woman as the original creator,Erroll’s curt response to being asked hisfather’s occupation during the admissionprocess was ‘Why don’t you ask what mymotherdoes?’Hegraduatedin1975and,afteranine-yeargapwhenheworkedinthetextileandleathergarments industry,hereturnedtoNIDrestlesstoengageinresearch.WhenoneofhiscolleaguessuggestedhelookcloselyataparticularpieceinNID’stextilecollectionitmarkedthebeginningofhis long journey inquestofcamelgirths.

Meetings arenever by chance.Hismother’suntimely death prompted him to go to thedeserttodealwithhisgriefandinJaisalmerhe met his guru, ply–split master ShriIshwar Singh Bhatti. Erroll attributes hishealing process to the techniques of ply–splitbraidingandtothemomentwhen‘…Iinterlacedmymind and soul into a passionforbeautifulbraids’.Erroll’s life’sworkwasborn. For several years over several visits,hestudiedwithhisguru,ShriIshwarSingh,who instilled in his young student’s mindtheabsoluteprerequisite formastery–dailypractice. Since then there has rarely been adaywhenErrolldoesnotfollowthemaster’spath.Evenonthedayofthe2001earthquakethat rocked Ahmedabad, the set of cottoncords with which he was practicing helped

himtomaintainasenseofcalm.

InSeptember2011,ontheeveofhisretirementandwiththeencouragementofadearfriend,Erroll’scollectionwasliberatedfromhisofficeand put on public display in the exhibition‘Ply–SplitBraidingandBeyond’.Dedicatedtohismother,theworksareanexpressionoflifeandasourceofwonder.Fromcamelgirths,tocrazywigs,tohissignature‘containersofjoy’andhisrenownedseamlessgownsitwasthepublic’sfirstopportunitytoseetheentiretyofoneperson’soutputandtheoutsideworld’sfirst glimpse of what is destined to becomethe largest piece of ply-split braiding evercreated–abraidedvessellargeenoughfortheartisthimself toclimbinto.Whilesheepandgoatfibresarethetraditionalmaterials,Errolluses a variety of threads, some ofwhich hetiedyes, includingcotton,silkandlinen.Hecontinually experiments with the techniqueand combines tradition and modernity tocreate unique works that adorn, clothe anddecorate.Hislatestworks,theonlyseamlessbraided garments in existence, reflect hisfavourite quote taken from the late PeterCollingwood: ‘Thesimpleappearsonlyafterthecomplexhasbeenexhausted’.

‘And’Iaskhim‘whytheswitchfromErroltoErrolsan to Erroll?’He explains that hewasnamed after the actor Errol Flynn, Errolsanwasgiftedtohimbythewell-knownJapaneseweaver Junichi Arai and Erroll is the postretirementversion.InIndiancricketlanguagethisisknownasone’s‘secondinnings’,hencethe double L.With wry humour Erroll alsopointsoutthatthedoubleLcouldrefertohislongwalkinglegs!

O

F r o M C a M E l G i r t H t o C o N t E M P o r a r Y G o W N: P lY – S P l i t a r t i S t E r r o l l P i r E S

CaroleDouglas

NEVEraNidlEdiGit:ErrollPirESiNNidoFFiCE.IMAgE COURTESy © NID 2011


Now retired, Erroll Pires with ‘all the timein theworld’, isworking inhisAhmedabadstudio on his ‘ibraid design’ with singlekhadithreadstwistedintocords forply–splitbraiding incorporating denim waste yarn,plentiful inAhmedabad and in accordwithhis ‘no waste’ philosophy. His future plansinvolve more travel – he is representingGujaratinManchesteratBraids2012,the2nd

international braiding conference andAustraliaisalonghelddream,spendingmoretimewithhiscamera,offeringworkshops,andhetoyswiththeideaofwritingabook.Errollis currently settinguphis ‘Cameluseum’ foreverything relating to camels, an animal hefinds fascinating and the basis of his nickname at school – ‘unth’ – which obviouslyrelatestohisgreatheightandunhurriedgait.

Camelgirthswillnodoubthaveamajorvoiceinthemuseum’snarrative.

TAASA member Carole Douglas, exhibiting artist

and writer, has an almost 20 year history of travel

to India where she works on special projects with

traditional artisans and leads regular tours. See:

www.desert-traditions.com and Carole’s blog at:

http://desert-traditions.blogspot.com/

SEaMlESSGoWN,NATURAL FIBRES IN NATURAL SETTINg. IMAgE COURTESy © ERROLL PIRES PotoFJoY,COTTON THREAD wITH wOODEN ‘BEADS’. IMAgE COURTESy © ERROLL PIRES


rt remains an integral part of religiouspractice and ritual in Bali. Creative

production in Bali is often underpinned bya devotional quality. Hinduism has beeninfluentialinBalisincethefirstcenturyCEandwas later reinforced through theestablishmentof aHindu colony by the JavaneseMajapahitKingdom during the 14th century. BalineseHinduismhoweverisauniqueamalgamationofmainstreamHinduismwithpre-existinganimistbeliefs and consequently, recitation of Vedicscriptures and veneration of Hindu Gods arepracticedalongsideBalineseancestorworship.

Balinese culture venerates ancestors, godsanddemonswithofferingsofartandmaterialculture in the form of paintings, carvings,performances, literature, poetry, gamelanmusicandshadowtheatredemonstratinganabiding awareness of the unseen upper andlowerworlds.

One of the most distinctive features of Baliis the daily activity of making devotionalofferings. Women deftly cut, fold and plaithand-cutcoconut,sugarorlontarpalmfrondswhich they then intricately fasten togetherwith small bamboo pins.At theirmost basicthese small woven offerings are embellishedwithflowers,cookedriceandsticksofsmokingincense. Strikingly beautiful and ephemeral,the devotion inherent in their preparationunderpins their significance and function.Knownascanangorbantenthesesmallofferingsarevisibleeverydayacross the islandofBaliwheretheyarefreshlymadedaily.

The word banten is derived from the wordenten, which means ‘to wake up; to beconscious’. In making and offering bantentheBalinesepeopleremainconsciousofanddevotedtothepantheonofgodsanddemonsthattheybelieveguidetheirlives.

ThedevotionalpracticesoftheBalinesehaveevolved from a belief in the existence ofthree worlds: the upper worlds of the gods(swah), the middle world of humans (bwah)andthelowerworldbeneaththeearth(bhur).Withinthecontextofthethreeworlds,bantenofferingsaremadeinthemiddleworld–thatis the world that humans inhabit - and aregiven to please both the Gods of the upperworldandthedemonsofthelowerworld.

Offeringsknownascharuorsegehan,aremadewiththeaimoffeedingordeflectingthelow

spirits.Theselow,demonicspirits,calledleyakandbhutakalaareconstantlypresent,awaitingtostrikeandcausedisorder.Thewordbhuta,a Sanskrit term, signifies the gross elementsofthebody,whilstthetermkalais‘time’andalso ‘fate’ (Eiseman, 1990:227). It is believedthat such spiritsparticularly like todwell atintersections and at entrances. To preventsuch unwanted spirits entering householdcompounds,a‘doubleentry’doorwayisoftenused in Bali designed to prevent kala, whocannot see or turn sideways, from entering.Bhoma(depictedasafacewithbulgingeyes)are also strategically located in rafters andabove entrances to deflect bad spirits fromentering compounds and temples. From aBalineseperspective,bhutakala represent thedark side of existence, both on the macrouniversallevelandmicroindividuallevel.

Themacrouniverse (BuanaAgung) and themicrouniverse(BuanaAlit)areencapsulatedinBalinesedevotionalartinacosmicmandaladesign which is layered in symbolism. Inits most complex form it is called the nawasangamandala (nawaand sanga refer to thenumber9 inSanskrit languageandJavaneselanguage respectively).Themandaladepictseach god and their dominion over theirrespective cardinal point. The gods are alsoattributed with specific weapons, sacredmantra, colours and days of the week. Itis believed that significant temple sitesacross Bali are amacro interpretation of themandala,alignedgeographicallytotheeightdirectional points. In themicrocosmic form,the mandala is applied to the human bodywith each directional point (and thereforegod) corresponding with a specific humanorgan,withtheexceptionofShivawhohasnoattributedlocationinthehumanbody.

A variation of the cosmic mandala isobvious in theceremonialmortarandpestleillustratedinthisarticle,carvedfromvolcanicrock fromKarangasemRegency inEastBali,whichfeaturesafive-pointedstar.Itwasused,possiblyinatemplecontext,tomasticatethethree essential ‘betel’ ingredients that areroutinely placed in offerings to theGods.Asliverofbetelnut(areca),somelimepowderand betel leaf are pounded together forthe purpose of chewing; their ceremonialsignificanceisalsoalignedtothethreeHinduGods–Brahma,VishnuandShiva.Redisthecolour of Brahma (the colour of areca nut);black(inthis instancedarkgreen,thecolour

of the betel leaf) is associated with Vishnuandlimeiswhite,thecolourassociatedwithShiva.Oncepounded, thispaste isplacedinofferingsoralternatively,thenutandlimeiswrapped within the betel leaf before beingplacedontotheoffering(Eiseman1990:217)

Eachofthefivepetalsonthemortarisincisedwith Balinese calligraphy, askara, attributedto the four Gods of the cardinal points -Vishnu(north);Brahma(south)Iswara(east)andMahadewa (west).Thefifth character isShiva themost reveredHindudeity in Bali.It is unusual to relegate Shiva to one of thefive petals, however, the functional cavityintowhichthepestleentersandgrindsformsthecentralpointforthisobject.Theancestralform carved into the pestle handle neatlydemonstrates both the inter-changeabilityandco-existenceofHinduandanimistbeliefsystemsinBali.

A more complex eight-pointed cosmicmandala is evident in the ulap, a simplecloth commonly hung from buildings andentrances.Theseubiquitousclothsarehungasadevotionalpracticeandinvitethepresenceof and protection from the gods insidedwellings, be they residences, businesses ortemples. Ulap are hand-drawn with ink oncotton cloth; before they are drawn priestschantmantrastoensurethattheyareimbuedwith protective qualities. Ulap are left todisintegrate over time and although theirphysical form is ephemeral they retain thepowerinvestedinthembytheircreator.

Thispengider,ortalismaniccloth,isacomplexand contemporary depiction of the cosmicmandala.Finelyhanddrawn,inastylewhichfeatures traditional Balinese iconographyandelementsofEuropeanrealism, itdepictsthe pantheon of Hindu gods each in his

A

a C t S o F d E V o t i o N - B a l i N E S E M a N d a l a S

JoannaBarrkman

taliSMaNiCClotH(peNgIDeR), I k. MARSHANA, 1993,

BALI, INDONESIA, POLyESTER COTTON AND BLACk PIgMENT,

93.0 X 93.5 CM; gIFT OF MICHAEL ABBOTT AO QC THROUgH THE

ART gALLERy OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA FOUNDATION 2011. DONATED

THROUgH THE AUSTRALIAN gOVERNMENT'S CULTURAL gIFTS

PROgRAM, ART gALLERy OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA


directional location. An elegant Sanskritand Balinese askara inscription on this clothidentifies itashavingbeenusedaspartofaTawur Agung Panca Bali Krama ceremonythat occurs every decade as part of thecentennial ceremonial cycleEkaDesaRudrawhich occurs at Besakih, mother temple ofBalionthesacredMountAgunginnortheastBali.(Bennett,J.2011:54-55)

The pengider was used in a ritual aimedat purifying the world from disturbinginfluences and ensuring cosmic harmony.This includes blood sacrifices intended forthebhuta kala, part of a series of ceremoniesthat aim to maintain balance between theforcesoflightanddark.Thenotionofcosmicequilibriumandprotectionisconveyedinthemandala,drawnintheformofaneight-petalpadma,orlotus,atwhosecentreappearsShivaand the ancient Indian swastika symbol. Theauspiciousswastikarepresents theenergyofthe universe,which rotates clockwise in theHindutradition(Bennett,J.2011:54-55).

Works such as this ceiling painting entitledGarudaisattackedbytheGodsofEightDirectionsare further evidence of the use of the sacredmandala in artistic production to reinforceawareness of the ever-present gods. ThispaintingwascollectedfromtheancestortemplePura Dadia in Kamasan village, KlungkungRegencybyAustraliananthropologist,AnthonyForge in 1972-3. It is based on the Apidawa,theHinducreationstorythatisaprologueforthegreatHinduepic, theMahabharata. In theApidawa story Garuda stole the tirta amerta(waterofimmortality)fromthegodstorescuehismotherfrombondage,evokingthewrathofthegodswhoattackedhim.

In this temple painting the Garuda, whosurvived the forceful attack of the godsdue

to his great power, is located in the centralposition usually reserved for the god Shiva.The weapons of the Gods used to attackthe Garuda are each associatedwith one ofthe eight compass points and are thereforeindicativeofeachgodfromthatdirection.Avajra belongs to Iswara, the god of the east,dupa (incense) belongs to Mahesora of thesoutheast, Brahamawields a danda (staff) inthe south and so on. This painting featuresmany naga pasa (arrows), the weapon ofMahadewa, the god of thewest.Naga pasaareparticularlyusefulastheyareabletoaltertheirdirectioninmid-flight.

Imagery based on nawa sanga mandala isenshrined in theBalinesecreativerepertoire,fromsimplebantenofferingstosophisticatedtemplepaintings. Theuse of suchmandalas

in Balinese art serves as a reminder of thecontinuous presence of the gods in themacrocosmic(BuanaAgung)andmicrocosmic(Buana Alit) worlds, for whom devotionalpracticesoccurseveraltimesdaily.

Joanna Barrkman is Senior Technical Advisor for

Cultural Heritage Projects, Timor Aid, Timor-Leste.

rEFErENCESBennett, J. 2011. Beneath the winds: Masterpieces of Southeast Asian

art from the Art Gallery of South Australia, Thames and Hudson.

Eiseman, F.B. Jr. 1990. Bali Sekala and Niskala, Periplus Editions

Ltd, Hong kong (2005 edition).

MortaraNdPEStlE,DATE UNkNOwN, kARANgASEM, BALI,

INDONESIA, 150 (H) X 141MM (w), MUSEUM AND ART gALLERy

NORTHERN TERRITORy COLLECTION, SEA 03691.01 & .02.

PHOTOgRAPH By REgIS MARTIN

gARUDA ATTACKeD BY THe gODS OF THe DIReCTIONS, I NyOMAN DOgOL (1876 – 1965), kLUNgkUNg, BALI, INDONESIA, C. 1920,

PIgMENT ON COTTON, 1700 (H) X1290MM (w), AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM COLLECTION. PHOTOgRAPH By EMMA FURNO


ithin the collections of the museumsand temples of Ulaanbaatar, capital

of the People’s Republic of Mongolia, aresplendidBuddhist paintings, sculptures andtextilesthattestifytoapowerfulandwealthytradition, despite so much being destroyedin theextensivesackingsofmonasteriesandtemples during the Communist repressionofBuddhismduringthe1930s.TheBuddhistartextanttodayprovidestantalisinginsightsinto the complex interrelationships betweenthekhans(territorialchieftains)ofMongolia,the Dalai Lamas of Tibet, and the ManchuemperorsofQingChina(1644-1912).TheartdemonstratesaMongoliannuancedextensionof the iconography and styles of TibetanBuddhism, particularly that of the Gelugschool, the largest of the four main Tibetanschools of Buddhism, and the one towhichthe Dalai Lamas belong. This article looksbrieflyatthreeofthegreatartistictraditionsofMongolianBuddhistart,namelygiltbronzes,thangkasandsilkappliqués.

One of the great figures of MongolianBuddhism, politically and artistically, wasZanabazar (1636-1723), an extraordinarygenius admired not only for his talent as asculptor but for his erudition, his writings,and for his invention of a new Mongolianscriptknownassoyombo,whichwasdesignedtotransliterateTibetantermsandnamesintoMongolian.PoliticallyheisfamousasthefirstMongoliantoheadtheBuddhistestablishmentinMongolia, in a position newly created atthe urging of various khans, including his

father,aleaderoftheKhalkhatribe,whowereconcernedatthegrowingpoweroftheDalaiLamasofTibetoverMongolianaffairs.

From the 1200s when the Mongols had firstinvadedTibetandadoptedTibetanBuddhism,ithadbeenTibetanlamaswhowerethespiritualleaders of Mongolia, but the Mongoliansincreasingly desired a Mongolian as theirspiritual leader.Henceat theyouthful ageoffive,Zanabazarwasselectedasholderof thenewtitleofLivingBuddha(Mongolian:BogdGegen; Tibetan: Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu).Once he had achieved this recognition, hewenttoTibetin1649tostudywiththeGelugschool of Tibetan Buddhism where he mettheFifthDalaiLama (1617–82),an influentialleaderacrosstheBuddhistrealmswithinTibet,MongoliaandQingChina.

Itwas in Tibet that Zanabazar undoubtedlylearnt his sculptural skills as well. Some ofthe most sublimely elegant and gracefulgilt bronze images of Vajrayana Buddhismare attributed to him or his workshop.Illustrated is one fromhis famous set of theFiveTranscendentBuddhas,Vairochana,whousuallyholdscentreplaceinanygroupingoftheFiveBuddhas.This superlative imageofVairochana, seated in the diamond posture,holdshishandsinthevajramudraorgesturespecific to him inwhich the index finger ofhis left hand is clasped by his right hand,signifyingtheunityofallthingsinthecontextofultimatereality.Thedeity,richlybejewelled,sitsonadoublelotusbasewherethehandling

of the rows of petals is a feature unique toZanabazarsculptures.Theelegantfluidityofthelithebodyisindebtedtothestylecreatedby the Nepalese master Aniko (1245-1306)whohadestablishedworkshopsinBeijingattheinvitationofKublaiKhan,MongolleaderoftheChineseYuandynasty(1279-1368),andinitiated a new style adopted by craftsmenwithMongolpatrons.Thesoftlyglowingmattsurface is a distinctive feature ofMongolianBuddhist bronzes. Many of Zanabazar’ssculpturesareondisplayintheChoijinLamaTempleMuseum, erected between 1904 and1908inhonouroftheEighthBogdGegen.

ThetimewhenZanbazarlivedcoincidedwiththe growing power of the Manchus, whose

W

B U d d H i S t t r E a S U r E S i N M o N G o l i a

JackieMenziesGUHYaSadHaNaHaYaGriVa, T.TSEND (DATES UNkNOwN),

1800S, PATCHwORk OF SILkS wITH gOLD COUCHINg

AND EMBROIDERy; 283.5 X 202 CM. zANABAzAR FINE

ARTS MUSEUM, ULAANBAATAR. PHOTO: FELICITy JENkINS

oFFEriNGSoFtHEFiVEGEMS, ARTIST UNkNOwN, 1900S, THANgkA, MINERAL PIgMENTS ON CLOTH, 108 X 250 CM. zANABAzAR FINE ARTS MUSEUM, ULAANBAATAR. PHOTO: FELICITy JENkINS


powerextendedindirectlythroughBuddhisminto territories other than the Chinese onestheyhadconquered.In1691,followingattackson the Khalkha Mongols by the ZungharMongolsfurtherwest,ZanabazarsurrenderedKhalkhaterritorytotheManchusinexchangeforprotectionfromtheZunghars.Thusbeganthe long period of Manchu domination ofMongolia, one not entirely antagonistic, fortheQingemperorsweredevoutfollowersofTibetanBuddhism,andasearlyintheirreignas 1652 had invited the fifth Dalai Lama toBeijing, recognising that he was their mostpowerfulallyincementingtheircontroloverbothTibetandMongolia.

Zanabazar became closely associated withtheKangxiEmperor(r.1661–1722),becominghis teacher, or guru, from 1691 until thelatter’sdeath.ProofofManchupowerwithinMongoliawasthat theManchuemperors, inconsultation with the Dalai Lamas, becameresponsible for the appointment of theBogdGegen, from the Third through to theEighthBogdGegen (1870-1924), afterwhosedeath theMongolian People’s Republicwasestablished.TheonlyBogdGegenswhowereMongolswere the first and second; the restwereTibetans.

ParalleltoZanabazar’sadoptionfromTibetofthetraditionsofgiltbronzeBuddhistimages,was theMongolian adoption of the Tibetantradition of thangka painting. Thangkas arereligious pictures/images, often gouache oncotton, framed with vibrantly coloured silkbands, andusuallywith a protective veil sothe picture is not damaged when rolled upfor storage and transport. Most survivingthangkasinMongoliadatefromthelate19thcentury. Invariably the subject comes fromthe extensive repertoire of the VajrayanaBuddhismsynonymouswithTibet ina stylerelatedtothatofCentralTibetanpainting.

The tradition of luxury textiles, whetherwoven, embroidered or appliqué, has beenstrongamongst thepeoplesofTibet,CentralAsia and China. These were long used tocreate religious images that had greaterprestigethantheirpaintedcounterparts,andwere commissioned by lamas and royaltyto impress and accrue religious merit. TheChinese emperors presented the high lamasandprincesofMongoliawithboltsofsilkandbrocade thatwere used to clothe lamas anddeities, and make canopies and appliqués,a uniquely Mongolian feature being theaddition of gems such as coral, pearls andturquoise(Berger&Bartholomew1995:84).

Illustratedisalargepatchworksilkappliquédepicting Hayagriva, the Horse-Necked

wrathful Tantric deity,who was very popularin Mongolia where hewas conflatedwith localhorse gods. This imagefollows precisely theiconography for themystic, incantation formof the deity presentedin the Three HundredIcons,aTibetan-languagexylograph printed inBeijing in the Qianlongperiod (1736-95) andwidely disseminatedthroughout Mongolia(Berger &Bartholomew1995: 234). He has sixarms, most of his handscarry weapons, exceptfor his upper left handwithwhichhemakesthekaranamudratoexorcizedemons. His eight feettramplewrithingdemonsofdifferentcolours.Eachof Hayagriva’s threeheads has three glaringeyes, a gapingmouth ofsharpfangs,andacrownof skulls surmounted bya horse’s head against abackdrop of his flamingredhair.Hewearsatigerskin around his waist,whilehisredbodyisaccessorisedwithwhitescarvestippedwithwish-fulfillingjewelsandagarlandofseveredheads.

From the 1800s, more innovative paintingsappearintheBuddhistrepertoire,suchastheOfferings of the FiveGems thangkahoused inthe FineArts Museum in Ulaanbaatar. Fivelively dakini, goddesses who rhythmically‘dance in the sky’ amongst auspicious, lushflowers, personify the ‘offerings of the fivesenses’(Sktpancha-kamaguna).Theleftfigureissight:herinsigniaisamirror,representingconsciousness.Theluteheldbythenextfigurerepresentsthesenseofsound.Theconchshellfull of perfume, held by the central figure,represents the faculty of smell. Second fromtheright,thefigureholdsabowloffreshfruitinherlefthand,representingthesenseoftaste,whilethedakinionthefarright,enjoyingthetactile sensuality of the silk scarves swirlingaroundher,representstouch.

Although the viewer’s eye is drawn tothe graceful figures, the actual topic of thepaintingrelatestothefriezeofsmallerfiguresalongthebottom.Thesearefiveofthesevenprecious jewels that appear at the birth of a

chakravartin,or universalmonarch.Depictedherefromlefttoright,arethewheel(chakra),the precious jewel or wish-granting gem(in Sanskrit chintamani), the white elephant,the precious horse, and the general. Thewhole painting is imbued with a lightnessand joy that foreshadows new directions inMongolianart.

Jackie Menzies, Head Curator of Asian Art at the Art

gallery of New South wales, has been researching

Mongolian Buddhist art for a proposed exhibition.

rEFErENCESBerger, Patricia. 1994. ‘Preserving the nation: the political uses of

Tantric art in China’, pp 89–123 in Marsha weidner et al. (ed).

Latter days of the law, images of Chinese Buddhism 850–1850,

Spencer Museum of Art, The University of kansas & Honolulu,

University of Hawaii Press

Berger, Patricia & Terese Tse Bartholomew. 1995. Mongolia,

the legacy of Chinggis khan, London & New york, Thames and

Hudson, in association with the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Powers, John. 1995. Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, Snow Lion

Publications, New york

Rossabi, Morris. 1975. China and Inner Asia, from 1368 to the

present day, Thames and Hudson, London

Tsultem, N. 1986. development of the Mongolian National Style

Painting ,Mongol Zurag’ in brief, State Publishing House, Ulan-bator.

VairoCHaNa, gILT BRONzE, 1636-1723, , HT 71.5 CM . zANABAzAR

FINE ARTS MUSEUM, ULAANBAATAR. PHOTO: FELICITy JENkINS


n September 2012, the National Galleryof Australia (NGA) will present Divine

worlds, an exhibition of Indian paintingfrom the Gallery’s diverse collection. Theexhibition includes paintings from the Jain,Hindu, Islamic and Sikh traditions of India,rangingfromintricatemanuscriptpagesandpainted photographs to hunting scenes anddevotionalimagesonagrandscale.

Half of the exhibition is devoted to theGallery’s collectionof19thand20thcenturypichhavai painted cotton shrine hangings.MadeindevotiontotheHindugodKrishna,anavatarofVishnu,pichhavaiaredisplayedasbackdropsfortempleshrinestocommemorateseasonal festivalsandevents fromthe lifeofKrishna. Included in the show are pichhavaiassociated with the Autumn Moon (Sharadpurnima) celebrations, the Festival ofNanda(Nandamahotsava) andthe MountainofFoodfestival(Annakutautsava).

The Gallery’s pichhavai for the Festival of theCattle (Gopashtami) is particularly delightful. Itshowsblue-skinnedKrishnastandingonalotusandsurroundedbycowscharmedbyhisfluteplaying.Thesweet-facedcattlewearheaddressesof peacock feathers and garlands around theirnecks.Towardsthebaseoftheimagetinycalvescan be seen suckling.Above, six pairs of godsand goddesses watch from celestial vehicles.AmongthecouplesareShivaandParvati(Uma)withthebullNandi,IndraandIndraniwiththedivinewhiteelephantAiravata,andfour-headedBrahmawithSarasvati(orBrahmini)andHamsathegoose.TheFestivaloftheCattletakesplaceinautumnandmarksKrishna’sgraduationfromboycalfherdertogrowncowherd(gopa).

OndisplayforthefirsttimeisthemagnificentKrishna’sdivineplay(Krishnalila)fortheannualpilgrimage of Vraja (Vraja yatra). In the formof a map, the pichhavai depicts importantmoments from Krishna’s life. At differentpointsontheimage,throughwhichwindstheYamunaRiver,Krishnaisshownasaninfant,a playful child, a flirtatious youngman andaprotectivehero.Krishna’sfamousliftingofMount Govardhan to shelter villagers andcattle from the torrents sent by an enragedIndraisamongtheeventsrepresented.

Theplacesmappedare importantpilgrimagedestinationsincentralIndia’sVrajaregionforthe Pushti Marg (Path of grace) or VallabhasectofHinduism.Suchpaintingsaredisplayedduring the annual Vraja pilgrimage festival.Devoteesunable to travelcanattainreligiousmerit by viewing the images and taking amentalratherthanphysicaljourney.(ForafullaccountofthispaintingseeLucieFolan’sarticleinTAASAReview volume16,no.4,December2007).Krishna’sdivineplay (Krishna lila) isoneoffourmap-likepaintingsintheDivineworldsexhibition.TherearealsotwoJainpilgrimagepaintings (tirthapata) andaRajput landscapeimagedepictingaregalhunt.

JainismbeganinIndiainthe6thcenturyBCE(at much the same time as Buddhism) andteaches non-violence in thought and action(ahimsa). Adherents revere 24 enlightenedbeings or Jinas. One of the Jain maps is anearly19thcenturytemplewallpanelshowingthesacredlocationswheretwoJinasachievedenlightenment – the temple complex ofShatrunjayaandMountGirnar.Theothertirthapata, painted on cloth in 1897–98, is over 3.5

metresinheightanddepictsShatrunjaya.LiketheKrishnalila,thesedetailedpaintingsallowthedevout to accruemerit equivalent to thatgainedbytravellingthepilgrimagepath.ThereareanumberofJainpaintingsintheexhibitionincluding the earliest paintings in the show,manuscriptpagesfromaround1465.

Renderedinsplendiddetail,MaharanaJawanSinghhuntingisaspectacularlylargepaintingoncloth,probably created toadornapalaceor tent. In contrast to pilgrimage images, itshowstheRajputrulerMaharanaJawanSinghandhisparty at various stagesof ahuntingexpedition in the countryside surroundingUdaipur, thecapitalof theMewarkingdom.Hunting was a popular pastime of India’srulers and representations of pursuits forma significant genre in Indian court art. TheRajputandMughalcourtsincludedateliersofpainters,partofwhoserolewastodocumenttheexploitsofrulers,andtherebytheirpowerandimportance.

Jawan Singh, who can be identified byhis golden halo, ruled Mewar from 1828until 1838. He appears nine times in thepicture in which successive events areillustrated simultaneously, and fromvarious perspectives and viewpoints. Thepresentationofmultiplemomentsintimeinasinglepaintingwasacommonlyuseddevicein Indian painting. Proceedings depicted inthisimageinclude:avisittoavillageinwhichanantelopeissacrificedbeforetheMaharanawho is seated beneath a tree; scenes of thelivelyencampment;theking’svisittoaHindutemple; a ceremonial gathering (darbar) in aredtentjustabovethecentreofthepainting,

I

diViNEWorldS:iNdiaNPaiNtiNGattHENGa

MelanieEastburn

tHEMoNKKalaKaWitHtHEGodiNdra,PAgE FROM A JAIN MANUSCRIPT, LATE 15TH CENTURy, INDIA.

PAINT, INk AND gOLD ON PAPER. COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL gALLERy OF AUSTRALIA, 1994


andantelopehunting.MonumentalpaintingsonclothbegantobecommissionedbyMewarrulersduringthereignofMaharanaSangramSinghII(r.1710–34)approximately100yearsbeforethispaintingwasmade.

Aconsiderablysmallerimagefromabout1720records Sangram Singh II himself huntingboar in the dust pink desert of the Udaipursummer. Its landscape is in marked contrastto theverdant setting inwhich JawanSingh’sadventure takes place. The reign of SangramSingh coincided with one of the last stableperiods inMewarhistory.TheHinduRajputs,whosename translates toSonsofKings,havehad a strong presence in north-western Indiasince the 9th century. With a reputation asfierce warriors, the Rajputs were one of thefew groups to retain their independence andincreaseprosperityinthefaceofregularMusliminvasions.Theyheldontotheirautonomyforalmost a century following the establishmentof theMughal Empire in 1526, finally joiningforcesin1615ratherthanbesubsumed.

While there are very fewMughal paintingsintheGallery’scollection,thereisafinepagefromamanuscriptoftheBaburnamaorBookof Babur (c.1590). Painted by BishanDas (c.1570–1650), the page shows a young PrinceBabur(1483–1530),thefirstMughalemperor,returning to his birthplace of Andijanfollowinghisfather’sdeath.BaburconqueredDelhi andAgra in 1526 and established thedynasty thatwenton to rulemuchof India.TheGallery’spage is fromoneof anumberof Baburnama manuscripts created duringthe reign of Babur’s grandsonAkbar (1542–1605). It was under Akbar that art becamea central focus of the courts of the Mughalempire. Akbar is renowned for his interestinreligiousdiversity,andforhispassionfor

the arts, especially manuscript painting. Hewas also a savvy strategistwho invested informingallianceswithIndia’sexistingrulerstoincreasetheempire’spower.

A later Mughal work in Divine worlds is afascinatingcompositionshowingtheEmperorMuhammad Shah hunting with falcons(1720–30).Dramaticallydividedbythecentralzigzagging river, the painting shows on onesidethreemembersoftheEmperor’shuntingparty and on the other, hiding amongst thetrees, five women whose musical gatheringhas been disturbed by the emperor’s arrival.Muhammad Shah, shownwith a blue horse,ruledIndiafrom1719untilhisdeathin1748.Hunting with falcons, the Emperor’s righthandisappropriatelygloved,asisthatofoneof his attendants. All three men are dressedinhuntinggreen,a shade thatdominates thepicture.Theparasol,flagsandtrumpetsoftheimperial entourage accompanying the huntcanbeenseen in thedistanceunder thedarksky. Known as rangila ‘the pleasure lover’,MuhammadShahwasasupporteroftheartsandoversawaresurgenceinsupportforcourtpaintingwhichhadsufferedinthewakeofthedissolution of the imperial atelier under theemperorAurangzeb (r. 1658–1707).However,Muhammad Shah’s brief revival of MughalpaintingwasseverelyhamperedbythesackingofDelhibyNadirShahofIranin1739.

A large proportion of theGallery’s paintingcollectionwasagiftfromBritishtwinsThomasand Robert Gayer-Anderson who collectedIndianpaintingsintheearly20thcentury.In1954,thecollectionwasdividedbetweentheVictoria andAlbertMuseum inLondonandtheCommonwealthofAustralia.Astherewasno national art gallery (the Gallery openedto the public in 1982), the National Library

of Australia held the gift until its transferto theGallery in 1991.Comprising over 200paintings and drawings, the works are ofvaried quality but include somemarvellouspictures. Among them are lively souvenirimages made for visitors to the KalighattempleofKali,theHindugoddessoftimeandchange,inthesecondhalfofthe19thcentury.Unfashionable in the 1950s but now muchappreciated and enjoyed, Kalighat paintingsofKali,Shiva,Ganesha,thebabyKrishnaandother Hindu deities are displayed inDivineworlds.AlsofromtheGayer-Andersongift isacuriousportraitofGuruNanak(1469–1539),thefounderofthemonotheisticSikhreligion,dressed in a magnificent patchwork robe.A selection of miniatures from the Gayer-Anderson collectionwas shown in the 1999travellingexhibitionAstreamofstories.

Divineworlds is the first exhibition dedicatedto the National Gallery of Australia’s broadcollectionofIndianpaintings–fromtheminutetothemassive.Richinrange,styleandjoyousimagery,DivineworldscanbeseenattheNGAfrom1Septemberuntil11November2012.

Melanie Eastburn is Curator of Asian art at the

National gallery of Australia.

rEFErENCESMichael Brand. 1995. The vision of kings: art and experience in

India, National gallery of Australia, Canberra

kalyan krishna and kay Talwar. 2007. In Adoration of krishna:

Pichhwais of Shrinathji, Tapi Collection, garden Silk Mills Ltd Surat, India

Anne McDonald and Bronwyn Campbell. 1998, A stream of

stories: Indian miniatures from the National Gallery of Australia,

National gallery of Australia, Canberra.

Pratapaditya Pal. 1995. The Peaceful Liberators, Jain Art from India,

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

MaPoFJaiNSaCrEdSitESHatrUNJaYa,PILgRIMAgE

PAINTINg (TIRTHA PATA), 1897–98, INDIA. OPAQUE wATERCOLOUR.

COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL gALLERy OF AUSTRALIA, 2005

tHEEMPErorMUHaMMadSHaHHUNtiNG,C.1730, INDIA. NATURAL PIgMENTS, gOLD, 26.8 X 39.8 CM.

COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL gALLERy OF AUSTRALIA, PURCHASED 1992


r E S E a r C H i N G B U r M a : t H E a U S t r a l i a N N at i o N a l U N i V E r S i t Y l i B r a r Y

CharlotteGalloway

urmesearthaslongbeenthepoorrelationof Asian art historical research. Political

upheaval fromthe1950ssawaccess toBurmabecomedifficultformany,rightthroughtothelate1990s.Someintrepidscholarsdidmanageto undertake research in Burma during thistime, one of the most notable being TAASAmember,DrPamelaGutman,whoreceivedherPhD from theAustralian National University(ANU)in1976onthesubjectofAncientArakan.Asaccessbecamealittleeasierinthelate1990s,otherAustraliansalsotookupthechallengeofresearchinginthisfascinatingcountryincludingDr Bob Hudson (University of Sydney) whoworked on his archaeology PhD in Burma,and I followed the Burma interest in my arthistoryPhDatANU,withmostofmyresearchundertakenintheearly2000s.

Within the small but now quite rapidlyexpandingareaofBurmastudies,knowledgesharingbyexpertswithfirsthandknowledgesuchasPamGutmanandothers in thefieldis essential and appreciated. Many Burmaresources languish in libraries, not throughany fault of those entrustedwith their care,but through the imperatives of allocatingresources inwhat isdeterminedas themosteffectiveway. Invariably thismeans smallerspecialist collections must wait their turnbefore they are properly catalogued, andthereforemademorewidelyavailable.

While more material is becoming availableonlineeveryday, therearestillmanybooks,magazinesandephemerathatremainhiddenin library stores, waiting for the interestedresearcherandlibrarianwithasparemomentto trawl through what can be a dauntingpileofuncataloguedmaterial. It is the latterwhich has prompted this article. Recently, acollectionofBurmesematerial has found itsway to the surface atANU. DrAmy Chan,Southeast Asian specialist at the MenziesLibrary, involved students from the AsiaPacific Learning Community in preparing adisplayof someof thismaterial in the foyerof the Library from May to August 2012.An interesting mix of journals, books andephemera in English and Burmese from the1950s-1980s,theymakefascinatingreading!ItistimelytoreviewthiscollectionofBurmeserelatedmaterialasBurmaisnowsoprominentontheinternationalagenda.

It is probably little known that the ANUlibrary had a formal arrangement with the

UniversityCentralLibrary inRangoon fromthe 1960s to the 1980s. Books published inBurma,inEnglishandBurmese,weresenttoANU for inclusion in the library collection.For local researchers, the ANU collectionwas complemented by the National Libraryof Australia’s own holdings of Burmarelated material. Canberra’s resourceswere significantly enhanced by the NLA’sacquisition of the Gordon Luce collectionin 1980 (Gosling 1996). Luce remains thepreeminent figure in the study of Burma’shistoricalartandarchitecture.

ThecollectionthathasrecentlycometolightatANUwasdonatedbyDrDavidPfanner.DrPfanner completedhis PhD in 1962 throughCornell University, on Burmese village life.HespenttimeinRangoonwiththeRangoon-HopkinsCentre forSoutheastAsianStudies,andlatercametoANU.Hehassinceretiredin Canberra. The material is diverse, andincludes magazines from Burma – forexample, editions of the Guardian (Burma’sNationalMagazine-incomplete,1955-1970s),MyanmarTodayandTheLightof theDhamma,pamphlets on Buddhist studies, and otherephemera.Rathertypically,thereisarandomelementtothisacademiccollection,reflectingparticular research interests, and simply,materialthatcamehisway.

While such items may seemminor in mostresearchcontexts,inBurmastudiestheyhaveaparticularlysignificantrole.Asinformationservicesbecamemorerestrictedinthesecondhalf of the 20th century, changes to historicsites and the movement of sculptures andother artefacts oftenwent unreported in themore usual forums of archaeological or art

historical publications. Often tucked awaywithin the collection’s newspapers andpopular magazines are passing referencesto temples and artefacts. To reconstructwhen objects went ‘missing’ from locations,for example, may rely on searching thesenewsitemstotrytofinda‘beforeandafter’pointwhenan imagewas reportedasbeingseen there. This is quite a different researchapproach than for some other SoutheastAsian countrieswhere there has been a lessinterrupted period of in-country historicalresearch,andlesspoliticalinterference.

Going through the journals brings someinterestingarthistoricalmaterialtolight.TheLightoftheDhammaissuesfeatureaserieson‘ShrinesofBurma’.Iwasparticularlytakenbythedescriptionof the ‘SoolayPagoda’ (Sule)inRangoon:

…todayagoldenislandofpeaceintheheartof Rangoon and a most important shrine.Youmeltoutofthebusytrafficatthebase,takeoffyourshoes,climbtotheplatformandfeelyouareindeed“uponholyground”.ForwhenyouhavemountedthefewstepstothePagodaplatform,hereatonceisacloisteredpeace,cool,quiet,acalmasprofoundasonewouldwish.’(UOhnGhine1954:6).

The accompanying photo, taken on a ‘closeholiday’doesindeedshowatranquilislandinthemiddleofthecity–acontrasttomyownexperiencesofvisitingthissignificantpagodawhichcanonlybedescribedasvisuallydense,busyandalive.Thepreviouseditionfeaturedthe Kaba Aye pagoda and describes how aHolyManaskedSayaHtay,adevoutlayman,toimplorePrimeMinisterUNutobuildthepagodaandhaveitcompletedby1952:‘Great

B

CoVEriMaGESoFEditioNSoFtHEGUardiaNMaGaZiNE,1955-1970S, BURMA. PHOTO: CHARLOTTE gALLOwAy


buildingswouldgrowuparound the siteofthepagoda.Ifthisweredone,therewouldbePeaceinthecountryandPeaceintheworld.’(UOhnGhine 1953:44).No time framewasgiven for the realisation of this prophecy.OthertemplescoveredintheseriesincludetheShway Sandaw, Prome (Shwesandaw, Pyay)andthepagodasofPagan,andMandalay.Theaccompanyingimagesareofstronghistoricalinterest aswe trace the changes tomany oftheseimportantbuildings.

The Guardian carried articles on a broadrange of topics, from business and politicalmatters to literature and cultural affairs. Theadvertisements alone offer an insight intodailylifeduringtheperiodandtheavailabilityof ‘modern’products– fromPelikan inkandimported aerated fruit-flavoured water to‘French’coffeeandhairblackener.IntheMay1960editionthereisafeaturearticleon‘Chinmemorystones’byHerbertWehrly,aFulbrightscholar.This refers tomemorial stoneswhichwere placed in a prominent location neara village, and served as a place to visit andreflectonthedeceased’slife.Hedescribestheintricate carvings on these memorial stones,which include depictions of ‘enemies andanimals killed by the deceased’, a tribute totheirpastexploits(Wehrly1960:13).

In July 1969, the Guardian’s regular column‘Campus Writing’ recounts Katherine BaThike’s trip with fellow university studentsfromRangoonalongthe‘touristcorridor’–Inle,Taunggyi,Pindaya,Meiktila,Popa,Pagan.ShemakessometantalizingremarksaboutPagan:‘Wherever Iwent, Iwasheld spell-boundbytheexquisitestatuesandstatuettessculpturedoutofwoodandstone.Smallershrinesofjadeandglazedpotterywereequallybreathtaking’.AttheAnandatemple:‘Itwasatinymuseumbuilt in the premises ofAnanda pagoda but

it held treasures galore. There were earthenpots, images engraved in wood, figurines ofancientPaganprincesses, anda slabof stonewhichhadnumerousfiguresofLordBuddhachiselledoutofit’(BaThike1969:15).Sadly,wehavetowonderwherethesethingsarenow.

Libraries are often talked of as being out offashion. Yet we should remember that noteverything is available at our fingertips.The tangible nature of books and ephemeraoffer an additional experience that a screencannotconvey.HandlingthemagazinesinthePfanner collection is participating in a livedexperience. Seeing the images on the realpage engages us with a particular momentin history. This all adds an extra element tounderstanding the past that goes beyondjustknowledge.A lot isbeingwrittenaboutBurmarightnow,andalotmoreistocome.Intherush,Iamsuremuchofthedetailwillbemissed.Forthosewhohavethetimeandtheinterest,aslowmeanderthroughthepagesofthese popular publications has the potentialtoofferusaveryspecialwayofappreciatingmuchofBurma’srecentcultural‘history’.

Dr Charlotte galloway lectures in Asian art history

and curatorial studies at the Australian National

University, Canberra.

rEFErENCESBa Thike, katherine. 1969. ‘Days to Remember’ in The guardian,

vol 16(7): 12-19.

gosling, Andrew. 1996. ‘Burma and Beyond: The Luce Collection

at the National library of Australia’ in National Library of Australia

News, vol. 6 (13); pp 3–5.

U Ohn ghine. 1953. ‘Shrines of Burma No 4. The kaba Aye,

“The world Peace Pagoda”’ in The Light of the dhamma, vol.1(4);

pp 44-46.

‘Shrines of Burma No: 5 The Sooley Pagoda, The Light of the

Dhamma Vol.2 No 1 1954:6-7.

wehrly, Herbert. 1960. ‘Chin Memory Stones’ in The guardian,

vol.7(5): 13-17.

To register your interest, reserve a place or for further information contact Ray Boniface

PO Box U237 University of Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia

p: +61 2 4228 3887 m: 0409 927 129e: [email protected]

ABN 21 071 079 859 Lic No TAG1747

H E R I TA G E D E S T I N AT I O N SN AT U R E • B U I L D I N G S • P E O P L E • T R A V E L L E R S

CAMBODIA: ANGKOR WAT AND BEYOND

ISAN: THAILAND’S ANCIENT KHMER CONNECTION

INSIDE BURMA: THE ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE

29 October – 15 November 2012Angkor’s timeless grandeur is unmissable. Yet

Cambodia offers a host of other important cultural and travel experiences: outstanding ancient, vernacular and French colonial architecture;

spectacular riverine environments; a revitalising urban capital in Phnom Penh; interesting cuisine and beautiful countryside. Gill Green, President

of TAASA, art historian and author specialising in Cambodian culture; and Darryl Collins, prominent Australian expatriate university lecturer, museum curator, and author who has lived and worked in Cambodia for over twenty years, have designed and co-host this longstanding annual program.

Land Only cost per person twinshare ex Phnom Penh $4600

07 February – 25 February 2013Isan is the least visited part of Thailand. But this

north-eastern region has a distinctive identity and, in many ways, is the Kingdom’s heartland. Here

older Thai customs remain more intact and sites of historical and archaeological significance abound. Darryl Collins and Gill Green (see above) expertly host this new journey which includes spectacular Khmer temples such as Prasat Phimai, Phanom

Rung (reputed to be the blueprint for Angkor Wat) and Prasat Meung Tam. We cross the mighty

Mekong into Laos to explore Wat Phu Champasak before concluding in Vientiane and magical

Luang Prabang.Land Only cost per person

twinshare ex Bangkok $4500

15 February – 06 March 2013Burma is undergoing unprecedented change and

publicity. Few people have immersed themselves as deeply here as TAASA contributor Dr Bob Hudson. His longstanding annual Burma program features

extended stays in medieval Mrauk U, capital of the lost ancient kingdom of Arakan (now

Rakhine State) and Bagan, rivalling Angkor Wat as Southeast Asia’s richest archaeological precinct.

Exciting experiences in Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay and a private cruise down the mighty Ayeyarwady

are also included. Limited places available.Land Only cost per person

twinshare ex Yangon $3990

SUlEPaGoda,1954, RANgOON, FROM LIGhT OF ThE dhAMMA VOL 2 (1). PHOTO: CHARLOTTE gALLOwAy


heSydneyFilmFestivalusuallycoincideswith a first touch ofwinter that freezes

uptheQueen’sbirthdayweekend.Coldandfilms become synonymous for regulars attheFestivalespeciallygiventhechillydowndraughts in thegloriousbutcavernousStateTheatre.As for the films, festival goers buya subscription to pre-selected films whichincludes films in the official competition, ormaketheirownselectionandcreatetheirownmini-festival.

Redressing years of neglect the festival thisyear focused on Indian films, though onlyone made it into the subscription series.Anotherfourwerespreadthroughoutthe12day marathon. The pickings varied. Of thetworetrospectives,oneofferedBertolucciandtheotherwasforthosewithreconditeAsianinterests–incultmoviesfromJapanesestudio,Nikkatsu.Therewasnothing fromKorea, inpast years a powerhouse of quality cinema.FromHongKong/ChinacameASimpleLife,agentlestoryaboutafamilyservantwhomovesintoagedcare.IthadatouchofthehumanismthatunderscoresmanyfineAsianfilms.Andthere was a USA/China documentary, AiWeiwei:NeverSorryabout thebattlebetweenartandstatecontrol.

Otherwise the field as far as Asia wasconcernedwaslargelylefttoIndiabutnottoBollywoodfilms: therewere no singing anddancing epics of the sort that have becomefamiliar in recent years. Therewas howeverone epic, Gangs of Wasseypur, but it hadlittle connection with mass Hindi cinema- both the producer Vikram Malhotra andthe director Anurag Kashyap are outsidersto Bollywood. Their film is about opposedcriminalgangsandrivalriesrunningthroughgenerations.Thetwothree-hourfilmsweren’ttheendurancetest Ihadexpected.ThestoryofgangsinJharkhandstateineasternIndiaastheyworkedoutthelogicoftheirlineagesandtheir community affiliations was absorbing,andtheconfidenceandsweepofthenarrativewere breathtaking. The opening sequencewhenagangmachinegunsthehomeofarivalleaderwasatourdeforce:theviolentattack-virtuallyamilitarybattle–hadanimportantfilmicfunctioninframingwhatwastooccupythenextsixhoursandinbringingthethreadstogetherattheend.

Thefilmisconfronting–someoftheaudienceleft during peaks of violence. What made

the confrontation betweenfilmand audienceso intense is the amoralworld of the gangs.Virtuallyeveryone in thefilmisananti-hero:there are no characters to identifywith – allare flawed, as unlikable and as capable ofextremeviolence,asanyoftheothers.Withoutredeeming heroes the concludingmessage isthatexploitationandtheassertionofforcewillcontinue: even if one generation is killed off,the nextwill continue on similar trajectories.Hereisnooptimisticvisionandnocatharsis;nohumanismnorredressofsocial injustice.Thefilmtakesahardlookatrealities,specificallyatcriminalityinaresource-scarceregion,andindoingsoprovidesapowerfulmetaphorforthestateofthenation.

Gangs is a cinematic coup and was one ofthe films in Sydney’s Official Competition:the first Indian film so chosen, though theindependentJurydidnotawarditthePrize.Ithasalsobeen recognisedelsewhere,beingincludedintheDirectors’FortnightatCannes,butalsotherefailedtoscoreaprize.

While Bollywood deals with dreams, thealternate Indian cinema -of which Gangs isa prime example - deals with present dayrealities. Other films of similar ilk did notcome to Sydney though they are causing astir in India.Among them isGandu, which,judging by the reviews and the trailer,

pushes in lustrous black and white at theboundaries between art and pornography.Though virtually banned in India it hashad worldwide internet circulation and hasgarneredappreciativecommentfromoutsidecritics.Howevertherewasmorethanenoughrealism in other Indian films at Sydney tocompensateforwhatwasmissing.

Anand Patwardhan, a veteran independentdirectorfromMumbai,wasattheFestivaltointroducehisdocumentary,JaiBhimComrade.All his films are long and detailed and thiswasnoexception,clockinginat195minutes.As always with his work some of it wasrepetitiveandmighthavebeenfurtheredited.Butthedeepinsightsheachievesthroughhisinterviewing and recording techniques andhiscommittedandprobingintelligencerepaythelongueurs.

JaiBhimComrade follows theconsequenceofriotsthatbrokeoutinaMumbaislumin1997whenDalits(formerUntouchables)protestedagainst the desecration of a statue of theirleader, Dr Bhim Ambedkar, the eminentjurist who chaired India’s constitutionaldrafting committee after Independence.Police fire caused the death of ten unarmedDalitdemonstratorsanda fewdays lateranactivistpoetandsinger,VilasGhogre,killedhimself in protest overwhat hadhappened.

T

F O C U S O N I N D I A a t t H E 2 0 1 2 S Y d N E Y F i l M F E S t i V a l

JimMasselos

gANgS OF wASSeYpUR,NAwAzUDDIN SIDDIQIU PLAyS FAIzAL kHAN,STILL FROM FILM. COURTESy SyDNEy FILM FESTIVAL


PatwardhanexploresGhogre’sdeathusinghistapedballadsongstocounterpointinterviewswith relatives of the victims.Over the yearshe continued to shoot in the slum until thefalse charges against the demonstratorswere dismissed and their families achievedsome closure, justice of sorts but a decadeand a half late. Only then did Patwardhancomplete his film. Stories of repression andresistance in India are unfortunately all toocommon but they have added poignancyhere through Patwardhan’s use of Ghogre’ssongs, themselvespart of an incredible timeofliteraryfloweringamongstDalits.

LikeothersinFocusthefilmstronglycritiquesreligion.Inthe1950sDalitsenmassefollowedDr Ambedkar and abandoned Hinduism.Literally millions converted to Buddhism,a process still going on. They chose a strictatheisticformofBuddhism,rationalandnon-religious, denying deities, superstitions andsupernatural symbols, entities or forces. ForthemBuddhismisawayofliving,apath,ratherthan religious escapism through worship ofdeities.TheforceofDalitatheisticrationalismfeaturespowerfullyintheinterviews,asdoesoppositiontoBrahmanicalHinduism.

Asatiricfilm,Deool(‘TheTemple’)islikewiseconcernedwith religious excesses in a storyabout a herdsman who saw the deity, LordDatta, emerging from a fig tree. The newsspread through the village and into thesurrounding region. Inevitably the placebecameapilgrimagespot,agrandiosetemplewasconstructedforLordDattaandthevillagemintedmoneyoutof the influxofdevotees.Thevillagers though soon found they couldnot handle the consequences of what wasbeingdoneinthenameofLordDatta.

The film is a study of village life, of howreligion affected it and how some villagersmanaged to escape the commercial andpoliticalmanipulationchangingtheirlives.ItisnothoweverafrontalattackonreligionbutonexcessescausedinthenameofreligionanditisabouthowLordDattaisfreedfrombeingexploited. In the process we are presentedwithhumourthatisconfident,probing,evensardonic andwith some idyllic moments ofpastoralbeautyandpastoralpeace.Thefilmcomes fromMaharashtra, the state ofwhichMumbaiisthecapital,anddemonstratesthatnotonlyBollywoodfilmsarebeingmade intheregion.Itislikelytobethesourceofmoresuchfilms, justasBengal continues tomakeitsownstyleoffilm,distinctivelyapartfromBollywood’sflamboyance.

One such, The Sound of Old Rooms (Kokkho-Poth), provides perspective into the life of a

Bengalipoet,Sarthak.SandeepRay,thesonofIndia’sgreatestfilmmaker,SatyajitRay,shotthefilmover20yearsandsoisabletotraceSarthak from student to publishedpoet andontomarriedhouseholder.Asahusbandhislifeismuchasitwaswhenhewasastudent.He lives in the same household and amongmuch the samepeople–andheevensleepsin the samebed.Throughhimwe see someofthetraumasofthecreativepersonalityandshare his doubts as he worries about whathas happened to his earlypoetic inspirationand we see him immersed in the exciteddiscussions that feature so much in Bengaliintellectuallife.

ThefinalfilmintheFocusprogramimmediatelystruck the right chords. Valley of Saints isthe story of Gulzar who decides to leavehis lakeside village in Kashmir for a betterlife outside. His plans are thwarted by theimpositionofcurfewinnearbySrinagar.Ashewaitstogetouthemeets,andinevitablyfallsinlovewith,Asifa,whoisinvestigatingpollutioninthelake.Whilegovernmentagenciesenforcethe closureof the city the couplemanage fora time to create their own space, their ownworld.Whatfollowsisadelicateminimallovestoryhandledwithasensitivitythatmadethefilmstandoutat the festivalandpresumablyearned it its award at the Sundance FilmFestival in theUSA. Thefilm shows concernfor environmental issues, has some stunningphotographyandpresentsprevailingreligiousand political issues while avoiding the

temptationtoindulgeinpolemics.Finally,theachievementofdirectorMusaSyeedshouldbenotedfortheexcellentperformancesheevokesfrom his two non-professional leads, GulzarBhatandNeelofarHamid.

Focus on India had distinct triumphs. Thatso many of the Festival audience chose nottosee thefilms isamatterofconcern in thecontext of Australia’s Asian literacy. Alsoconcerning was the exclusion of Bollywoodfilms – they are a genre that surely requirescineaste attention.What emerges fromwhatwedidseeisacinemaofbravery.Thefilmsdonothesitatetotakeupcontentioustopicsandconfrontkeyissuesinpresent-dayIndia.Thisis cinema of commitment and engagementand it is cinema that believes it can haveaffect,thatitcanhaveinfluence.Cinemaneednot preclude activist involvement, and neednotonlybeescapist.Thatthefilmscarrytheircommitmentsoskilfullyandconveyitintruecinematicmodesisanaddedbonus.

Jim Masselos has recently edited The Great Empires

of Asia (Thames and Hudson) and co-authored

Bombay Then and Mumbai Now (Rolli). His co-

authored Beato’s delhi: 1857 and Beyond with

Narayani gupta, has just been reprinted by Penguin

Viking India.

JAI BHIM COMRADe, INDIAN POLICE, STILL FROM FILM. COURTESy SyDNEy FILM FESTIVAL


B o o K r E V i E W: T H E D E L H I C O R O N AT I O N D U R B A R S

NarayaniGupta

Powerandresistance:thedelhiCoronation

durbars

Julie E. Codell (ed)

The Alkazi Collection of Photography in association

with Mapin Publishing, 2012

245 pp, 138 images, catalogue of photographs,

bibliography, index.

RRP: AUS$75 (hardcover)

A dust-coloured sandstone obelisk standsin adusty expanse innorthDelhi,with theinscription:

Hereonthe12thdayofDecember1911HisImperialMajestyKingGeorgeVEmperorofIndiaAccompaniedbytheQueenEmpressInsolemnDurbarAnnouncedinpersontothegovernors,PrincesandpeoplesofIndiaHiscoronationcelebratedinEnglandOnthe22nddayofJune1911AndreceivedfromthemTheirdutifulhomageandallegiance

TheOzymandiascelebratedinthisinscriptionhasnotbeenreducedto‘twovastandtrunklesslegsofstone’butcanbeseenimmortalisedinafinemarblestatuestandingafewyardsaway.SculptedbyCharlesSargeantJaggerinGeorgeV’slifetime(Jaggerdiedattheageof49,andthe statue was completed by William ReidDick),itstoodattheeasternendofKingsway(since renamedRajpath), the central vista oftheNewDelhibuiltafterGeorgeVannouncedattheDurbarthatthecapitalofBritishIndiawas to bemoved fromCalcutta toDelhi. In1967thestatuewasshifted,alongwiththoseofotherBritishworthies,withunintendedirony,to theCoronationMemorial field, fenced offandcalledaPark.

The inscription and themotley collection ofstatues cry out for interpretation. In India,undesignatedspacesarequicklyappropriated–fordecades,thepeopleofBurari,thenearbyvillage, have used Coronation Park as aconvenientcentralpointofa trackforhorse-cart races, and set up tented enclosures forwedding celebrations. Children from theneighbouringschoolwanderaround,andtheodd tourist arrives to tick off yet another ofthe‘sights’ofDelhi.Thereareplansafootforalargepark,withaninterpretationcentrethatwilldemystifythisspace.Untilthatbecomesa reality, JulieCodell’sbookwill standasanexcellent interpretation of one of Britain’smostquirkyinventedtraditions,the“Durbar’.

After the 1857 Uprising, the East IndiaCompany was ordered to hand over thegovernment of its Indian territories to theBritishCrown. Ina self-denying spirit, theyswore off further conquests, and till 1947the map of India was an untidy one, withcurly-edged swathes of territory ruled bythe British monarch, interspersed with thestatesofover600princes(neverreferredtoaskings)‘protected’bytheCrown.

Whenin1877QueenVictoriawasproclaimed‘EmpressofIndia’,shewasatoncetherulerof large territories and the feudal overlordof the princes. One way to proclaim thisdual role was to gather together ‘loyalsubjects’ and princes for a well-publiciseddisplay of ‘dutiful homage and allegiance’.

Hencetheideaofthe‘durbar’:thePersian/Urduworddurbarmeansacourtora levee.Reminiscent of Henry VIII’s Field of theCloth of Gold, and of the army camps ofMughal rulers, tented cities were overlaidon 80 squaremiles in northDelhi, the landofsevenvillagesvacatedoftheirinhabitants,tocreate‘civilisationoutofbarrenness’(sic!).ThissitewasusedforthreeDurbars:in1877whenVictoriawasproclaimedKaiser-e-Hind(EmpressofIndia);in1903tocommemorateher son Edward’s coronation and, in 1911,thatofhergrandsonGeorgeV.

Victoria took her role as Empress veryseriously but could not visit her subjects.BothEdwardandGeorgemade journeys toIndiawhileheirs-apparent,andGeorgecame

H.H.tHENiZaM’SElEPHaNt,DELHI CORONATION DURBAR 1903, RAJA DEEN DAyAL & SONS,

SILVER gELATIN PRINT, 263 X 197 MM. COURTESy ALkAzI COLLECTION OF PHOTOgRAPHy


again,withQueenMary,tomarkhisaccessiontothethrone.Statuesineverycityandtown,framedphotographs,coinsandstamps,madethemonarch’s facefamiliar toIndians,but itwas50yearsafterthelastDurbar,andinverydifferentcircumstances,thatQueenElizabethIIvisitedIndia.

What were ephemeral celebrations lastinga little over a week – since there were nomonumentalremains,barthesolitaryobelisk–havebecomepermanentlyetchedinhistorybecause they were portrayed by artists,photographers, film-makers. Last year, thecentenary of the grandest, that of 1911,wasmarkedbyexhibitionsandpublications.ThisbeautifullyproducedbookistheonlyonetodiscussallthreeDurbars.Alltheillustrationshavebeendrawnfromtheimpressivearchivesof the Alkazi Collection of Photography inDelhi. Edited by Julie Codell, distinguishedarthistorian, ithascontributionsbyherandeightotherscholars.

JimMasselos’essaysetsthecontext:Lytton’sill-timed Durbar of 1877 set against thebackground of awidespread famine; that of1903 set againstCurzon’sunpopularitywithBritish officials, and the 1911 celebration,held in a time of drought as well as robustIndian opposition, when a section of thenationalistmovementwasbecomingradical.The extravaganzas appear as ‘an archaicconvention that failed to confront theproblems of governance along rational andmodernlines’(p202).

Text-booksforthisperiodconcentrateonthenationalist movement in British India. Thevalueof this book is that it givesus a vividsensenotonlyof theViceroysandKing,butalso of the princes. If Commander-in-ChiefKitchener’ssnubtoCurzon(Fig.104onpage154, though the incident is not explained inthetext)castashadowover1903,theBarodaprince’sdiscourtesytotheKingdidthesamefor 1911. There are superb photographs oftheprinces,oftenmore thanone (so thatwecan decide whether they had visibly agedbetween 1877 and 1903, or 1903 and 1911)and our attention is drawn to their notionof appropriate costume – the British wouldhavelikedthemtocarrythecontentsoftheirjewellerycasketson theirpersons,butmanyprinces,educatedinthespecialcollegessetupforthembythegovernment,preferredtobeinmilitaryuniformandBritishboots.

Iwish it hadbeenpossible to convey in thecaptions some sense of them as rulers – theBegums of Bhopal were remarkable womenwho changed the face of their state, thedefiantrulerofBarodasetuponeofthebest

universitiesinIndia,andHyderabadruledbytheNizamwasamodelofgoodgovernanceand city-planning. Benjamin Cohen andDeepali Dewan’s essays describe how in1903 Deen Dayal, the famous photographerofHyderabad,usedphotography to suggestthat theNizam,rather thanCurzon,wasthemost important personage in theDurbar. In1911, the Nizam’s son was likewise able toconveythisimpression,ashiselephantswerefarmoremagnificentthanthehorseonwhichtheKinghadchosentoride.

TheDurbarsweremiraclesofmicro-planningby the civilians and the army, a felicitouscombination of bandobast and jugaad. Thefirst, a word very popular with the British,meantmeticulousarrangements; the second,which we Indians use all the time, impliesthe chaos that prevails almost till the end,whensuddenlyeveryonegivesthematterfullattentionandaperfectshowisputon(ifyouhave seen thefilm ‘MonsoonWedding’, youwillunderstand).Hierarchywas thebasisofall arrangements – hierarchy in gun-salutes,medals,locationoftents,thesequenceoftheprocession... Forminutiae (egWho paid fortheKing’sIndiancrown?Answer:theIndiantax-payer), you will have to look elsewhere– theanswersare inSunilRamanandRohitAgarwal’s Delhi Durbar 1911: The CompleteStory(RoliBooks,Delhi,2012).

Therewere two components to theDurbars:the ceremonies in the amphitheatre, andthe long processions that wended theirway through the city. The chosen routesdeliberately linked the Mughal Fort andcitywith thenorthernRidgebeyond, sacredbecause the British forces had camped thereinthetensesummerof1858(essaybyJames

Ryan with Nicola Thomas). The elementof order – both in the processions and thesomewhat passive spectators – and themajesty of monumental architecture andthe vast expanses, are conveyed repeatedly.The only thing we miss is the mini-Indiacreatedbytheprinces’camps,andthecolour- the crowdsdescribed by a schoolboy fromParramatta as ‘a monstrous hive of multi-colouredbees’(page 199) -which appears sovividly inthe luminouspaintingsof1903byMortimerMenpes,anAustralian-bornBritishartist,describedbySaloniMathur.

As George V leaves Delhi on 16 December1911 for a well-earned holiday (to shoottigers in Nepal) Chris Pinney takes us ona brilliant journey to show that the cameradid not merely capture views of order andhierarchyandthesenseoftheunityofIndiathat Curzon claimed was an outcome ofhis Durbar. It could also pick up scenes ofIndianautonomy,andlater,oftheirresistanceto colonial policies of law and order. On 9December1911inDelhitheKingwasatapolotournament, and in South Africa a lawyercalledMohandasGandhiwasurgingfellow-Indianstocontributetothefaminerelieffund.Twentyyearslaterthetwoweretomeet–notat aDurbar but inBuckinghamPalace.AndthereinliestheanswertowhytheDurbarof1911wasthelastone.

Narayani gupta retired as professor of history at

Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She is presently a

consultant with the Indian National Trust for Culture

and Artistic Heritage. Her interests are urban history

and architectural conservation.

StatEENtrY,GEorGEVoNHorSEBaCK,1911, E. BROOkS, CENTRAL NEwS AgENCy STAFF PHOTOgRAPHERS,

SILVER gELATIN PRINT, 112 X 159 MM. COURTESy ALkAzI COLLECTION OF PHOTOgRAPHy


SacredSitesofBurma:MythandFolklorein

anEvolvingSpiritualrealm

Donald M. Stadtner, River Books, Bangkok 2011

348 pp. Maps, illustrations, bibliography.

RRP: 995 Baht (AUS$30), paperback

Thisisanidealbookforthosemakingarepeatvisit to Burma, especially those discerningtravellerswantingadetailed introduction tocontemporary Burma’s spiritual and artisticheritage.ArthistorianDonaldStadtnertakesabroad,overarchingviewofBurma’smyths,distinguishing major ethnic and regionaldifferences. He attempts, as successfully asone can, to trace the origins of thesemythsand their major manifestations over thecenturies.Whileothershave studiedaspectsofthesemyths,StadtneristhefirsttodiscussandtocompilethemasawholeandthebookcontainsmuchofinteresttoBurmaspecialists.

Over400excellentcolourphotographs,takenbyhimandPaisarnPiemmattawat, illustratenot only the major monuments usuallyvisitedbyforeignersbutalsothoseimportantto the Burmese pilgrim. They includemanyillustrations of folk art – paintings andsculptures relating to local traditions of agreat many sacred sites, subjects generallyneglectedordismissedinpublicationsdealingwith“high”art.IndeedStadtnertellsusthathe consulted local tourism operators whosebusesandtruckstakepilgrimstositeswhichpromisetofulfil“theaspirationsofapeople”,and found that his lists largely tallied withtheirs.A successful sacred site, he says,will

inspire people to believe that their heartfeltprayersandpreciousmaterialdonationswilladvance theirongoingneeds in this life andeventhenext,andmustembodypower,hopeandsanctity.

Inthewide-rangingintroduction,hediscussestheroleofsacredsites,howtheyevolvedand,sometimes, how they fell into neglect. Thethree most successful sites today, the ShweDagon,thegoldenrockKyaik-hti-koandtheMahamunitempleinMandalayalldevelopedhundreds of years after the Pagan period(11th-13th centuries), although the traditionssurroundingthemtakethembacktothetimeoftheBuddha.ThesethreesitesareconnectedbytheirmythslinkingthemtotheBuddha,hisrelics,andthepowerthattheywerebelievedto grant to the kings who patronised them.Even after the British largely destroyed theclose connection betweenChurch and State,their importance continued right throughto the post-colonial period, when politicalleaders saw themselves as successors to theearlierkings.

It is interesting that certain sites recentlypatronised by powerful, but now deposed,members of the previous government arecurrently shunned. Former Secretary 1,Lt. General Khin Nyunt, had supportedthe long-neglected Alodawpyi temple atPagan, reinterpreting its origin myths andencouragingpilgrimstodonatetofulfiltheirwishessosuccessfullythatthetemplewasthefirstinPagantoinstallairconditioning.Afterhis downfall, however, it became associatedwithbadluck.

Chapters on Rangoon, the Mon country,MagweandProme,thesitesoftheBuddha’sapocryphal visit to Upper Burma, Pagan,and the later Burmese kingdoms includingMandalay and Amarapura, Inle Lake andRakhine(Arakan)Statefollow.

The Rangoon section examines thedevelopmentof theShwedagonmythwhichinvolvedtwoMonbrotherswhotravelledtoIndia, where the Buddha himself presentedthem with the hair relics now believed tobe enshrined there.Other sites later becameincorporatedintothistradition.TheRangoonsection also includes the history of the city,and especially its colonial heyday. Non-Buddhist sacred sites then appeared: theBaghdadiJewishsynagogue,thetombofthe

lastMughalemperorwhodiedthereinexile,Anglican and Catholic cathedrals and theHinduGaneshatemple.

In the Mon chapter the sacred hair motifencounteredattheShwedagontakesdifferentand often confusing forms, with the relicbeing received by merchants or hermits, orevenmagicallydiscoveredinaruinedpagodaby the king. The traditions of minoritiesoften become intertwined with those of thedominantgroup,reflectingchangesinthelocalpolitical situation. Stadtner has recognisedKarenelementsinthemythssurroundingtheGoldenRock,andobserveshowtheShansinthe InleLake regionabsorbedbothBurmeseand minority group traditions into theirmyths,whilesomeethnicgroupsformulatedpurelyindigenouslegends.InDanufolklore,for instance, a huge spider held a princesscaptiveuntilaDanuprincesunkanarrowintoits side, the incident now vividly portrayedwithinthefamousBuddhistPindayacaveinShanState.

Thisbookwouldbeidealtotakeonaleisurelytrip to Burma, to dip intowhile visiting themany sites it describes. Its reflections onreligion,power,politicalchangeandthewaythese are echoed in local beliefs will leadto an enhanced understanding of the leastunderstoodcountryinSoutheastAsia.

Pamela gutman is an Honorary Associate in the

Department of Art History and Film Studies at the

University of Sydney.

BooK rEViEW: S AC R E D S I T E S O F B U R M A

PamelaGutman


aitland Regional Art Gallery (MRAG)is located in themainstreetofMaitland

in the Hunter Valley of NSW. It is housedin two 100 year old structures integratedwith a new two level contemporary gallerybuilding, an awardwinning adaptive re-useofaheritagebuildingcompletedin2009.Theredevelopment has resulted in a spacious,light filled art gallery with 11 exhibitionspaces, café and shop and MRAG is nowone of the largest and most active regionalgalleriesinNSW.

MRAG is a collecting institution with morethan3000itemsinitscollection.Althoughitsmain focus is ‘works on paper’, theMRAGcollection is quite diverse and includessculptures, paintings and photographs,drawings and prints. It also includes sub-collections featuring historical photographsofMaitland,LesDarcymemorabilia,AfricanbronzesandAsianartworks.

ThesmallcollectionofAsianartworksintheMRAGistheresultofdonationsreceivedoverthe last seven years through the AustralianGovernment’sCulturalGiftsProgram(CGP).Giftssuchasthese,whichincludeourmarbleBurmeseBuddha,arecriticalinallowingustobuildourcollectioninarangeofdirections.

This large, seated Buddha was donated toMRAG in 2009. It was created around thelate 18th or early 19th century inMandalay,Myanmar (Burma) and is in the Mandalaystyle, a style of Burmese Buddhist imagerywhichdevelopedtowardtheendofthe18thcenturyandisstillseentodayinsculpturesoftheBuddhafromBurma.

In Buddhist iconography every Buddhaimparts a message, or depicts a significantmoment from the Buddha’s life, by way ofthe figure’s posture and hand gestures ormudra. Our Buddha is seated in the lotusposition,hisrightarmextendedstraightfromthe shoulder, with long fingers touching theground.Thisearthtouchinggesture,knownasthebhumisparshamudra, signifies themomentwhen the Buddha overcame all physical andspiritual obstacles to achieve Enlightenment.It became popular in Burma during theBagan (Pagan) period (1044 - 1287), a timewhenadistinctiveBurmesestyleofBuddhistsculpturedeveloped.ThebhumisparshamudrahassincebecomethemostcommonpositioninwhichtheBuddhaappearsinBurmeseartand

isparticularlyfavouredintheMandalaystyle.

The MRAG Buddha hasbeenlacqueredandgilded,with some lacquer wornaway on the Buddha’sright wrist and hand.This may have occurredthrough water beingpoured over the Buddhaby the faithful as a signof respect and devotion.Hiscolouredlacquerrobeis represented as a sheercovering and is drapedsimply from the leftshoulder and across thechest.ThisdiffersfromthetypicalMandalay style ofBuddhist sculpturewherethe robes are depictedmore heavily, with moreelaborate, draping foldsacrosstheshoulder.

The Buddha’s facialfeatures are somewhatchildlike with a small,sweet smile. His eyes arehalf open and slightlydowncast and there isa circular raised dot,the urna, between high arched eyebrows.Across the hairline is a plain narrow band,typical of theMandalay style, and the topoftheBuddha’shead is covered in small raisedcircles,denotingknottedcurls.Thecurlscirclethe raised ushnisha, the cranial bump thatsignifieswisdom,andthebulbousfinialabovetheushnisha isunadorned.Alsotypicalof theMandalay style are the elongated earlobeswhichcurvegentlytowardtheneckandtouchtheshoulders.Therearealsothreerollmarksontheneck,anotherauspicioussign.

Themarble sculpture comprises thebodyofthe Buddha and a simple lotus pedestal onwhichtheBuddhaisseated,whichiscommoninBurmeseBuddhist imagery.Thesculptureis inset into a red lacquered wooden baseinlaidwithsmallcolouredglasspieces.After attaining enlightenment, the first ofthethreegreat‘truths’whichBuddhataughtwas that ‘nothing is lost in the universe’.It is wonderful to know that, thanks to the

generous donation from our benefactor, thisBurmeseBuddhasculpturehasnotbeenlost,but will be cared for and displayed to thepublicasapartofMRAG’scustodianshipofthisbeautifulpiece.

The Burmese Buddha will be on display atMRAGinOctober2012.

Cheryl Farrell is the Collection Curator, Maitland

Regional Art gallery.

rEFErENCESDr. Richard M. Cooler, The art and culture of Burma, Part Three,

The Post Pagan Period - 14th To 20th Centuries. Available online

(14/6/2012): http://www.seasite.niu.edu/burmese/Cooler/

Chapter_4/Part3/post_pagan_period__part_3.htm

Sylvia Fraser-Lu, “Buddha images from Burma, Part 1: Sculptured

in stone”, Arts of Asia, January–February, 1981.

Meher McArthur, 2002. Reading Buddhist art: an illustrated guide

to Buddhist signs and symbols, Thames & Hudson London.

Jackie Menzies (ed), c2001. Buddha: radiant awakening, [Sydney]:

Art gallery of New South wales.

Philip Rawson, 1967.The Art of Southeast Asia, Thames and Hudson.

M

iN tHE PUBl iC doMaiN: A B U R M E S E B U D D H A AT T H E M A I T L A N D R E g I O N A L A R T g A L L E Ry

CherylFarrell BUrMESEBUddHa(LATE 18TH-19TH CENTURy), MARBLE, LACQUER, wOOD, PAINT AND gLASS,

94 X 67 X 43CM, DONATED TO THE MAITLAND REgIONAL ART gALLERy COLLECTION UNDER

THE AUSTRALIAN gOVERNMENT'S CULTURAL gIFTS PROgRAM, 2009


hat’s a nice girl from Tokyo, whonow lives in Sydney, doing fronting a

classical (Burmese) music band on a DVDmadeinMyanmar?

YuriTakahashiblamesitonjazz.Thatmightseem like quite a stretch, but Yuri says theloveof jazzshedevelopedduringher juniorhighschoolyearsopenedhertoappreciationofotherformsofmusic.Sowhenshearrivedin Yangon, Myanmar, in the early 1990sas a Burmese specialist with the Embassyof Japan, she found herself captivated byMahagita, Burmese classical music. BeforeshewastransferredtotheJapaneseconsulatein Sydney, she studied Burmese classicalsongs with the eminent musician Sein BoTint. And since arriving in Sydney, she hasbeenperformingfortheBurmesecommunity,notably with Thuang Tin, who also studiedwithSeinBoTint.

Her interest in things Burmese remainsprominentinherlifehereinAustralia.Shehasearned anMPhil degree inModern BurmeseIntellectual History from the University ofSydney, where she is now completing herPhDthesisinthesamefield.Andshesharesacommon desire to promote Burmese musicalheritage within that country with her fellowstudentinMyanmar,YeNaingLinn.HeisnowoneofthetopMahagitamusiciansinMyanmar,the leader of his Mingalar Hsaing EnsembleandthemusicaldirectorforthisDVD.

With the aim of promoting Mahagita, thetwo of them this year produced a DVD inMyanmar to pay a tribute to the Mahagitamaestro Pyone Cho (1878–1928). Yuri sangwithYeNaingLinn’sensemblefortheDVD.

The songs on the DVD include some byPyone Cho and some that Ye Naing Linnwroteinthemaestro’shonour.TheDVDwasfilmed in Januarybyanall-Burmesecrewinthe serenely beautiful setting of theMa SoeYeingBuddhistmonasteryinKyaiklat,atownin Ayeyarwaddy delta, from where PyoneCho originated and where Ye Naing Linn’sensembleisbased.ThemonasterywashappytohelpwiththeprojectbecausemanyofthesongsarerelatedtoBuddhism.

The DVD is not being distributedcommercially, its reputation is growingthrough word-of-mouth and some verypositivemediacoverage.Fromthebeginning

of March, more than 800 copies have beendistributed in Myanmar for the cost ofcopying.

AlthoughtheDVDistargetedattheBurmesedomestic audience, the overseas Burmesecommunity in places such as Sydney,Auckland,Singapore,LondonandTokyohavenowbeguntobeawareofit,andYuriisseekingacompanytoreproduceitwithtranslationforinternational distribution in the near future.ThereareseveralrecordingsofMahagitasongstargeting international audiences, but YuribelievesthisDVDoffersthefirstcombinationofthemusicwithimages.

InterestedreaderscanviewpartoftheDVDathttp://www.new-sky.info/YuRiTakahashi/YuriTakahashi_htm.html. Scroll down to theblackscreenandclickonthe‘play’icon.

For more information on the DVD ‘Tributeto Maestro Pyone Cho’ by Ye Naing Linn(Kyaiklat) & ‘Yuri’ (Yuri Takahashi), contactYuri Takahashi at [email protected], (02)9799-0290or0431471496.

Merry Pearson is a freelance writer and editor with an

interest in music of all kinds. For many years she was

on the committee of the Australian Institute of Eastern

Music and editor of their newsletter.

W

YUri ’ S BUrMESE dVd : a rEV iEW

MerryPearsonFroNtCoVEroFdVdtriBUtEtoMaEStroPYoNECHo.COVER DESIgN

By yE NAINg LINN (kyIkLAT) AND 'yURI' (yURI TAkAHASHI) © yURI TAkAHASHI


PERSIA IN DOUBLE BAY, SYDNEYLeighMackay

TAASA’SeventPersiainDoubleBay,scheduledfor 23 June, was an invitation to view thecollectionoflocalIranophile,FrancesBrown.Demand from members was so high thatFranceskindlytookthreegroupsthroughhercollectionovertheweekend.

Entering her apartment on a clear winterdaywaslikewalkingintoaPersianbazaar-except theviewfromthesunnyrooftopwasof Double Bay, not Isfahan, and the manydecorativeitemsdisplayedforourenjoymentincluded some rarer pieces than youwouldprobablyfindinmostIranianbazaarstoday.

Franceshadrecentlyreturnedfrom20years inLondonasavolunteerat theVictoria&AlbertMuseum. The V&A’s remarkable collection ofPersianandotherIslamicarthadinspiredhertotraveltoIran,sparkingherlongloveaffairwithallthingsPersian.Wesawsomeofthefruitsofthisloveaffair:aneclecticarrayofglass,ceramics,metalwork,carpetsandtextilescollectedduring15yearsofvisitingthebazaarsofIran’soldcitiessuchasTeheran,Isfahan,ShirazandYazd.

Amongst the many lovely items Francespassedaroundthegroup(helpedbyhersister,Sylvia)wereglazedbowlswithsophisticatedChinese-inspired blue-and-white patterns,whichcontrastedwithceramicsbearing folkmotifs, as well as tribal rugs and animaltrappings with their bold and colourfulgeometric designs. Amongst the interestingmetal artefacts was a relatively rare brass‘compass’ that showedMuslimworshippersthedirectionofMecca.

Francesexplainedthehistory,techniquesandmotifs of selected items, ranging over some

2,500 years from the Achaemenid dynastyof Cyrus and Darius to the glories of 16thcenturyIsfahanunderShahAbbas.

Interestingly,oneoftheoldestofthePersianrugs,aShirazi (Southwest Iran)onthefloor,wasacquirednotbyFrancesbutbyherparentswhenshewasagirl.AnIraniancarpetdealerarrivedattheirhouseontheNSWLiverpoolPlainsinthe1930sandassuredthefamilythattherugwould‘lastforever.’Hemayberight:Francessaysshestillwalksoniteveryday.

A TAASA VISIT TO THE WHITE RABBIT GALLERY, SYDNEY MinnieBiggs

On 25May, 36 TAASAmembersmet at theWhiteRabbitGalleryunder theaegisofGillGreen. We were led in three groups by thegallery’s excellent guides around the latesthangof theGallery’s contemporaryChineseartcollection.

The White Rabbit is one gallery where aguidereallymakesadifference.Notkeenonexplanations myself, nevertheless here they

TAASA’sAnnualGeneralMeetingfor2012washeldon15May2012intheMembers’BoardroomattheArtGalleryofNewSouthWales.GillGreen,PresidentofTAASA,wasintheChair,and25membersattended.

The Financial Report for the year ended31 December 2011 was presented byTreasurerAnnGuild,whonotedthatextraexpenditureduring2012hadbeenplannedfor,andwaschieflytheresultofcelebrationsofTAASA’s20thanniversary, inparticularthe publication of a special anniversaryissueoftheTAASAReview.Herreportwasreceivedandaccepted.

InherPresident’s report to themeeting,Gillnotedthatthe20thanniversarygold-coveredDecember2011issueoftheTAASAReviewwastheoutcomeofmorethanayear’splanning,withinputfromawiderangeofmembersandinstitutions (including welcome sponsorship

by the PowerhouseMuseum) and has beenhailedasaresoundingsuccess.TAASA’s20thanniversary party was held at the ShermanContemporaryArtFoundation inSydneybykindpermissionofDrGeneSherman;the150membersandfriendspresentwereparticularlydelighted that retiring AGNSW DirectorandfirstHonoraryLifeMember of TAASA,EdmundCapon,wasabletoattend.ThiswasalsotheoccasiontoannouncethewinnersofTAASA’sEssayPrizeforAsianartsstudents,aTAASAinitiativethisyeartoencourageanewgenerationofAsianartscholars.

The three-year appointment terms ofa number of members of the TAASACommittee of Management were due toexpire at this meeting. Philip Courtney,SandraForbesandLucieFolanhadadvisedthat they would not seek re-election, andwerethankedbytheChairandmeetingfortheir past contributions to TAASA.Hwei-

fe’nCheah,AnnProctorandSabrinaSnowofferedthemselvesforre-election,andwerere-elected unopposed. Charlotte GallowayandSusanScollay,twonewnomineesfortheCommittee, were also elected unopposedfor standard three-year terms. Matt Coxand Jocelyn Chey re-offered their servicesfor one year, and it was agreed that they,plusMargaretWhiteandToddSunderman,would be members of the Committee foroneyearuntilthenextAGM.ForthefulllistofcurrentTAASACommitteemembers,seeContentsPagethisissue.

ThemeetingalsoagreedthatHonoraryLifeMembership be awarded to Josefa Green,editor of the TAASA Review, in particularforherworkonthe20thanniversaryissue.It has been a very busy and extremelysatisfyingyearforTAASAandwehopethatwecontinuetogofromstrengthtostrength.

t a a S a’ s 2 0 1 2 a N N U a l G E N E r a l M E E t i N G

SandraForbes

r E C E N t t a a S a a C t i V i t i E S

PErSiaiNdoUBlEBaY, (L - R) FRANCES BROwN, SyLVIA CAMPBELL,

MARgARET AND LEIgH MACkAy. PHOTO gILL gREEN

TA A S A R E V I E w V O L U M E 2 1 N O . 3

29

t a a S a M E M B E r S ’ d i a r Y

SEPTEMBER – NOVEMBER 2012

Dr Michael Brand’s appointment asdirectoroftheArtGalleryofNSWhasbeencelebrated and commended in Australiaand overseas. TAASA members mightconsider themselves especially pleasedsincehebeganhiscareerinthevisualartsasanAsianspecialist.

Australian-born Brand, 54, did his thesisfor his PhD in art history from HarvardUniversity on pre-Mughal Indianarchitecture; he was curator of Asian artat the National Gallery of Australia from1988 to 1996; and as assistant director atthe QueenslandArt Gallery between 1996and 2000, he led the development of itsrenownedcollectionofAsia-Pacificart.Hiswife,TinaGomesBrand,whomhemetinhishometown,Canberra,wasborninMalaysiawithanIndianfamilybackground.

But there is no way anyone should, orcould,pigeonholeBrand intoaparticularcultural or geographical area of art. Ininterviews after his appointment, he hastalked enthusiastically about Americanand Latin American art, and the arts ofIslamic civilisations which have mostrecently been his focus as consultingdirectorof theAgaKhanMuseumunderconstructioninToronto.

From2005to2010,hewasdirectoroftheJ. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

His achievements there includedresolving claims by Italy and Greece forthe restitution of antiquities, bringingcontemporary and non-Western art intothe museum’s programs and creating itscentreforphotographs.Arriving in theAGNSW director’s officelateinJune,hehas,atthetimeofwriting,maintainedhispositionthatheisnotgoingtomakemajordecisionsorannouncementsuntil hehashad time toget toknow theGallery,itsstaffanditscontext.

“I think it’s reasonable to expect greatthings from him,” the director of NewYork’s Museum of Modern Art, GlennLowry, was quoted in The AustralianFinancialReview. “He’s an extraordinarilytalented, driven, thoughtful individualwho’llgivetheGalleryhisall.”

Jill Sykes is editor of Look magazine, Art gallery

Society of NSw.

d r M i C H a E l B r a N d

JillSykes

WHitEraBBitGallErY, (L - R) yVONNE TENPAS,

MOONyEEN ATkINSON. PHOTO gILL gREEN

Walkthrough of AGNSW Biennale Asian ExhibitsThursday 6 September,10.15 to 11.45 am: DrChyeLimHongwillbeconductingaspecialwalkthroughofAsianartists’exhibitsintheBiennaleattheAGNSWforTAASAmembers.$20includingcoffee/teaattheAGNSWCaféfrom10.15-10.45am.Numberslimited.Bookings: Hwei-fenCheahon0430585208oremail:[email protected]

TAASA Textile Study GroupWednesday 12 September, 6 – 8pm:Illustratedtalk:BatikDesignfromTraditionaltoContemporary,fromCrafttoArtbyThiennyLee.ThiennyisascholarandartistfromMalaysiawhoiscurrentlyundertakingaPhDonthevisualidentityanddressconstructionofStraitsChineseinBritishMalayainthe19thand20thcenturies.Venue: CuratorialCafé,PowerhouseMuseum,Sydney(enterviaMacarthurStreet).$5members;$10nonmembers.Lightsupperserved.RSVP by Saturday, 8 September to: [email protected]

Floor Talk: Regeneration & transformation of Asian Art at the NGV, MelbourneSaturday 27 Oct, 2–4pm TheredesignedAsianGalleriesattheNationalGalleryofVictoriaareopeninginOctoberandTAASAmembersareinvitedtoanexclusivewalkthrough.ThepermanentcollectiongalleriesonthefirstfloorhavebeenextensivelyrefurbishedandmanynewacquisitionswillbeondisplayalongsidefavouriteiconicworksfromtheAsiancollection.PleasejointheAsiancuratorsforawalkthrough,followedbyafternoontea.Guestsarealsowelcome.$20TAASAMembers;$24Guests(includesafternoontea)Meet:InformationDesk,GroundLevel,NGVInternationalCode:P12160;NGVBookings:86621555

TAASA Canberra EventSaturday 3 NovemberAnexpertguidedwalkthroughhasbeenorganisedfortwoexhibitionsinCanberra:DivineWorlds:IndianPaintingsattheNGAandGoFigure!ContemporaryChinesePortraitureattheNationalPortraitGallery.EnquiriestoCharlotteGallowayat:charlotte.galloway@anu.edu.au.Furtherdetailswillbeprovidedclosertothedate.

TAASA End of Year PartyTAASA’sendofyearpartywillbeheldonThursday29Novemberat6pm.Venueisstilltobefinalised,butpleaseputthisdateinyourdiary.

areworthwhile.Itisgreatlyenrichingtolearn,for example, that an exquisite 3D sculpturemadeentirely fromtwistedwire isbasedona traditional Chinese landscape, and that towalkbetweentheformsistoentertheancientpainting.Theshadowsofthissculptureonthewallresemblethepaintingaswell.

Not everywork of every artistmay equallyappeal,butattheWhiteRabbititcanbesaidthatevery piece is thought provoking, amusing,sometimes head spinning, expanding thevisitor’svisionandunderstandinginonewayoranother.NeverdoIsmileasmuchasattheWhite Rabbit. There is frequent reference toclassic calligraphy in this exhibition: brushstroke styles are rendered in a modern butrecognizable way, connecting the extremelycontemporarywiththerichnessofthepast.Adisplayofmetal toolsturnsouttobecarvedfromgranite,beautiful!

We gathered afterwards for deliciousdumplingsandawidevarietyofdelicateteas,andmysecretfavourite,somecheesybiscuitsmade from a family recipe of the founder,JudithNeilson.Alovelydayenjoyedbyall!


W H a t ’ S o N i N a U S t r a l i a a N d o V E r S E a S : S E P T E M B E R - N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2

A S E L E C T I V E R O U N D U P O F E X H I B I T I O N S A N D E V E N T S

CompiledbyTinaBurge

aCt

divineworlds:indianpaintings

National gallery of Australia, Canberra

1 September – 11 November 2012

DivineworldsbringstogetherpaintingsfromtheNGA’sIndiancollection,includingrecentacquisitions.Datingfromthe16thtothe20thcentury,thepaintingsrangefromexquisiteintimateminiaturestovasthuntingscenes,monumentalpilgrimagemapsandbrilliantlycoloureddevotionalshrinehangings.AnumberoflecturesandaseriesoffilmsareplannedfortheexhibitionincludinganoverviewoftheexhibitionbyMelanieEastburn,curatoroftheexhibitionandCurator,AsianArton11Septemberat12.45pm.

TherewillbeanIndianDancePerformanceon15Septemberat7.00pmandaseriesofprogramsforchildrenandmembers.

For more information about events, venues, prices and bookings go to: www.nga.gov.au/divineworlds

GoFigure!ContemporaryChinesePortraiture

National Portrait gallery

13 September 2012 – 17 February 2013

CuratedbyDrClaireRoberts,55workshavebeendrawnfromtheUliSiggcollection,acknowledgedasoneofthelargestandmostsignificantcollectionsofcontemporaryChineseartintheworld.1,463artworksfromthiscollectionhavebeendonatedtoHongKong’sM+Museum,whichwillopenin2017.

NSW

NipponJin

Japan Foundation, Sydney

31 August - 28 September 2012

Inaseriesofportraits,photographerJunichiTakahashiexploresthesubtledifferencebetween“Japaneseasseenbytherestoftheworld”and“JapaneseasseenbytheJapaneseinJapan”.TheexhibitionalsoincludesphotosfromthedisasteraffectedareasofJapan.

For further information go to: www.jpf.org.au

artsofasialectures-Semesterii

Art gallery of New South wales

to October 2012

ThesubjectofLovecontinuestobeexploredintheTuesdaylecturesatAGNSW.InSeptember,themessuchasTheTalesofIseinJapaneseArtandChineseScholars’obsessionwithrocksaresomeexamplesinthispopularlectureseries.

For further information go to: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/arts-asia-lecture-2012

alexandertheGreat:2000years

oftreasures

Australian Museum, Sydney

24 November 2012 - 28 April 2013

ThisexhibitionfeaturesthelargestcollectionoftreasuresevertocometoAustraliafromtheStateHermitageinStPetersburg,Russia.ExclusivetoSydney,theexhibitionincludesover400objectsfromclassicalantiquitythroughtothemodernagefrombothWesternandNon-Westernorigins,spanningaperiodofalmost2500years.

For further information go to: www.alexandersydney.com.au

GoFigure!ContemporaryChinesePortraiture

Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation

15 September – 1 December 2012

SeedetailsunderNationalPortraitGallery.SCAF’sexhibitionwilldrawondifferentworksfromthesamecontemporaryChineseartcollection.

ViCtoria

theWondersofancientMesopotamia

Melbourne Museum, Melbourne

4 May - 7 October 2012

TheWondersofAncientMesopotamiafocusesonthreeofthegreatcentresofancientcivilisation–Sumer,AssyriaandBabylon–bringingtheirrichhistorytolifethroughobjectsandmultimedia.Themesintheexhibitionincludepalacesandroyalpower,religiousbeliefsandrituals,burialpracticesandroyaltombs,andthemythsandlegendsthatsurroundancientMesopotamia.

Morethan170artefactsfromtheBritishMuseumrevealmanyaspectsofMesopotamianculture,frommassivecarvedstonereliefsdepictingscenesofbattlesandhuntingtogoldjewellery.

For further information go to: museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum

asianGalleries-re-opening

National gallery of Victoria, International, Melbourne

October 2012

InOctobertheNGVIwillopentherenovatedandexpandedAsianGalleries.ThecollectioncoverstheartsofEastAsia,SouthandSoutheastAsiafromthesecondmillenniumBCtothe21stcentury.Mediarepresentedincludepaintings,calligraphy,prints,bronzes,sculptures,ceramics,lacquer,jade,glass,furnitureandtextiles,video.TheAsiangallerieswillnowcomprise‘TheArtofChina’,‘TheArtofSouthandSoutheastAsia’,‘TheArtofJapan’and‘SpecialAsianExhibitions’.

Aseriesofeventswillcelebratethere-openingincludingaTAASAMembers'exclusiveintroductionandviewingoftheAsianGallerieson27October,2-4pm.

SeniorCuratorAsianArt,MaeAnnaPang,willgiveanintroductiontothenewChineseGalleryon17Octoberat12.30pmandon21Octoberat2.00pmshewillgiveatalkontheartsofChineseemperorsandscholars.

GoldCUPFOUND IN THE DEATH PIT OF THE ROyAL

TOMB OF QUEEN PUABI OF UR, C.2500 BC. By PERMISSION

OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM


For a brochure on any of the above tours, or to receive our quarterly newsletter

Bon Voyage, please phone:

(02) 9290 3856 or 1300 799 887 (outside Sydney metrop.), fax: (02) 9290 3857,

e-mail: [email protected]; www.alumnitravel.com.au

Organising study tours since 1989. Australia’s oldest independent study tour company.

Whether you want to study textiles in Laos or India, discover ethnic minorities in remote Viet

Nam or North Eastern India, if you seek to uncover the cultural complexities of the Caucasus, China,

Central Asia or Iran

TEXTILES AND MORE 2012During 2012 Alumni Travel is offering a number of textile based tours, which of course explore other aspects of the cultures and

communities in which the textiles flourish.

Carole Douglas has a 2 part tour India: Stitches in Time which travels across the subcontinent from Mumbai to Lucknow

(18 Oct – 8 Nov and 11 Nov – 1 Dec)

Gay Spies takes her annual tour, Laos: Textiles and other Treasures (25 Nov-18 Dec 2012), which will include the

That Luang Festival. The group size is limited to 8.

Rob Lovell explores cultural events in North East India including in the Nagaland Hornbill Festival (20 Nov – 5 Dec)

Steve McHardy visits Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim (01-17 Dec), three nations squeezed between the great powers of China

and India.

AND IN EARLY 2013Brian Brennan explores the new Tunisia and Algeria (4 - 23 Feb). Join Terry Bisley in Burma (11 Feb – 01 Mar). For new

insights try Simon Gentry’s Japan: Through the Torii Gate (8 - 27 April) or Frances Brown guiding you through Classic Iran

(13 Apr – 08 May). And Rob Lovell’s Remote and Rural Viet Nam (27 April – 17 May) visits the Khau Vai Love Market.

Lots more later in the year including Ethiopia, Turkey (east and west), Regional Japan, and Morocco

Check out our new website for details of these tours and lots more at www.alumnitravel.com.au.

JompetKuswidanantoandEkoNugroho

National gallery of Victoria International, Melbourne

18 October 2012 - 12 May 2013

JompetKuswidanantoandEkoNugrohoaremembersoftheartcommunityinYogyakarta,Indonesia.Jompetisaninstallationartist,whileNugrohoworksacrossdiversemedia;andtogethertheycreatepaintings,muralsandhandmadecomicbooks,contemporaryupdatesofthetraditionofshadowpuppettheatre,andcollaborationswithlocalcraftspeopletoproduceembroideries.

AseriesofeventsincludeafloortalkbyKellyGellatly,SeniorCurator,ContemporaryAustralianArt,NGVon13Octoberat11am.Theartistswillalsotalkon13Octoberat12.30pmand2.00pm.

For further information go to: www.ngv.vic.gov.au

iNtErNatioNal

USa

EnlightenedBeings:BuddhisminChinese

Painting

Freer gallery of Art, washington

1 September 2012 – 24 February 2013

Thisexhibitionfocusesonthefourmaincategoriesofenlightenedbeings:theBuddha,bodhisattvas,luohansandeccentricChanmonksandlineagemasters.14ofthe27worksdatetotheSong,YuanandearlyMingdynasties.

theallureofJapan

Boston Museum of Fine Arts

24 March – 31 December 2012

AfascinationforallthingsJapaneseswepttheUnitedStatesintheperiodaround1900.AninfluxofJapanesegoodsandemissariesintoAmericasparkedawaveofinterestinaforeigncultureonceseenasimpossiblyremote.ThisculturalmomentiscelebratedwitharichdisplayofrarelyexhibitedAmericanprints,posters,watercolors,anddecorativeartscomplementedbyaselectionfromtheMuseum’srenownedJapanesecollections.

designingNature:therinpaaesthetic

inJapaneseart

Metropolitan Museum of Art

May 26, 2012–January 13, 2013

Theexhibitionfeaturesmorethan100brilliantlyexecutedworksofartcreatedinJapanbytheRinpa-schoolartists.Highlighting

theschool'smostprominentproponents,thistwo-partpresentationtracesthedevelopmentoftheRinpaaestheticanddemonstrateshowitsstylecontinuedtoinfluenceartiststhroughoutthe19thand20thcenturies.

ChineseGardens-Pavilions,Studios,

retreats

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New york

18 August 2012 - 6 January 2013

ThisexhibitionexplorestherichinteractionsbetweenpictorialandgardenartsinChinaacrossmorethanonethousandyears.Ondisplayaremorethan60paintingsaswellasceramics,carvedbamboo,lacquerware,metalwork,textilesandseveralcontemporaryphotographs,alldrawnfromtheMetropolitanMuseum'spermanentcollections.

For more information go to: www.metmuseum.org

tHailaNd

QueenSirikitMuseumoftextiles,Bangkok

Ongoing

AnewmuseumintheRoyalPalaceenclosureinBangkokhasopenedtoexhibitthecostumesofHerMajestyQueenSirikit.DifferentexhibitsincludeHerMajesty’sdesignerensemblesmadefromhand-woventextilesproducedbymembersofSUPPORT,HerMajesty’scharitydedicatedtopreservingThaivillageweaving.Anotherexhibittellsthestoryofthecreationinthe1960sofanewnationaldressforThaiwomenthroughthepresentationofhistoriccourttextiles,archivalphotographsandfilmandmorethan30examplesfromtheQueen’spersonalcollection.

For more information go to: queensirikitmuseumoftextiles.org

SiNGaPorE

treasuresoftheagaKhanMuseum:

architectureinislamicarts

Asian Civilisations Museum

19 July 2012 - 28 October 2012

TheexhibitionincludespiecesfromthecollectionofPrinceKarimAgaKhanIV,spiritualleaderoftheIsmailiMuslimcommunity,coveringIran,India,Turkey,Syria,SpainandEgypt,overathousandyeartimespan.Itconsidersbothreligiousandsecularconceptsofspaceandcontextualphotographsserveasabackgroundtoartisticworks.

For further information go to: www.acm.org.sg

review 21-3-2012 september

Documents

australia post

result of material

potts point nsw

courtesy sydney film

burmese buddha

po box

additional copies

boaters market