04 Aug07 Aug 2019
Southeast Asian Art and Architecture
Stephen Murphy
Image: Buddha from Borobudur, 9th century, Java, Indonesia
This series is an exploration of the art, architecture, archaeology and history of some of Southeast Asia’s most prominent cultures. It begins with two lectures specifically focusing on Thailand and its reception of early Buddhist and Hindu concepts. In doing so, these lectures provide two case studies of how Southeast Asian cultures of the first millennium CE, adopted and adapted Hindu and Buddhist concepts to suit their own needs and practices. At the same time, they will illustrate how the arrival of these Indic religions acted as catalysts that transformed the societies they encountered. The third lecture explores the crucial role of maritime trade and connectivity in the transmission of Hindu and Buddhist concepts throughout the region. It does so by discussing some of the major ports and maritime kingdoms of Southeast Asia and their pivotal roles in the history of Buddhism in particular. The final lecture moves forward in time to discuss the Buddhist kingdoms that arose in the second millennium CE in Mainland Southeast Asia. Building on the cultures that came before them, they developed into some of the region’s most powerful and effervescent societies.
Duration -
August 4, 5, 6, 7, 2019
Timing: 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Fees
Rs. 3,000 (For a 50% student discount, write to info@jp-india.org)
Registrations Closed
Stephen A. Murphy is Senior Curator for Southeast Asia at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, and curator-in-charge for the Tang Shipwreck Gallery. He holds a PhD from the Department of History of Art and Archaeology, SOAS, University of London (2010). He specializes in the art and archaeology of early Buddhism and Hinduism in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Malaysia from the 7th to 9th centuries and looks at trade and connections between Southeast Asian cultures and the wider world of Tang China, India and beyond. Recently he has co-curated Raffles in Southeast Asia: Revisiting the Scholar and Statesmen, jointly organized with the British Museum and Angkor: Exploring Cambodia’s Sacred City, presenting masterpieces of the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts, Paris.