VO LU M E 2 1 N O.

3 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2

the journal of
the asian arts society
of australia

TAASA Review

c o n t en t s
Volume 21 No. 3 September 2012

Editorial

TAAS A RE VI E W

Josefa Green, Editor

THE NATS OF M YA N MAR

THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC.

Abn 64093697537 Vol. 21 No. 3, September 2012
ISSN 1037.6674

Sally Bamford

SCU LPT URE W OR K S HO P S O F A N G KOR : T WO R E C E NT E XCAVATION S IN C A M B ODIA

Martin Polkinghorne

10

F RO M CA MEL GIRTH TO C ON TE M PORARY GO W N: P LY- S P LIT ARTI ST E RROLL PIR E S

Carole Douglas

12

ACTS OF DEVOTION BALINESE MANDALAS

Joanna Barrkman

des i gn / l ayou t

14

BUDDHIST TREASURES IN MONGOLIA

pr i n t i ng

Jackie Menzies

John Fisher Printing

16

DIVINE WORLDS : INDIAN PAINTING AT THE NGA

Melanie Eastburn

18

RESE AR CH ING B U RMA : T H E AU S TRALIAN N ATIONAL U N I V E RS IT Y LIB RARY

Charlotte Galloway

20

FOCUS ON INDI A AT T H E 2 0 1 2 S YDN E Y F ILM F E STIVAL

Jim Masselos

22

B OO K REVIEW: T H E D E L H I C O R O N AT I O N D U R B A R S

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

Narayani Gupta

No claim for loss or damage will be acknowledged by TAASA

24

B OO K REVIEW: S AC R E D S I T E S O F B U R M A

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

Pamela Gutman

or omit any article or advertisements submitted and require

26

IN T HE PUBLIC DOM AIN: A B U R M E S E B U D D H A AT T H E M aitland R e g ional A rt Gallery

or liabilities that may arise from material published.

Cheryl Farrell

All reasonable efforts have been made to trace copyright holders.

Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134

e d i to rIAL email: editorial@taasa.org.au

General editor, Josefa Green

publ i c at i ons c omm i t t ee

Josefa Green (convenor) Tina Burge

Melanie Eastburn Sandra Forbes
Charlotte Galloway Jim Masselos Ann Proctor
Sabrina Snow Christina Sumner
Ingo Voss, VossDesign

Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc.

PO Box 996 Potts Point NSW 2011
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TAASA Review is published quarterly and is distributed to members
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submissions of articles, notes and reviews on Asian visual and
performing arts. All articles are refereed. Additional copies and
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27

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TAA S A M E M B E RS H I P RAT E S

Merry Pearson

28

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TAAS A Membe r s D i a ry: S E P T E M B E R - N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 2

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WHATS ON IN AU STRALIA AN D OV ERS EA S : S E P T E M B E R - N OV E M B E R 2 0 1 2

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Valley of Saints, women take their wares to a boaters market, Kashmir, still from film.
Courtesy Sydney Film Festival. See pp20-21.

A fu ll Ind ex o f arti c les publ ished in TA A S A R e vi e w s ince i t s beg i nn i ngs

i n 1991 is availab le on the TAASA web s i te , www. ta a sa . o rg. au

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TAA S A c o mm i t t ee

E DITORIAL

Gill Gr een President

Josefa Green, Editor

Art historian specialising in Cambodian culture

CHRI STIN A SUMNE R V ice President

Principal Curator, Design and Society,

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
A NN GU ILD TREASURER

Former Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK)

Dy An dr easen SECRETARY

Has a special interest in Japanese haiku and tanka poetry

Hwe i-fe n cheah

Visiting Fellow, School of Cultural Inquiry, Australian

National University.
JO CE LYN CHEY

Visiting Professor, Department of Chinese Studies,

University of Sydney; former diplomat
Matt Cox

Study Room Co-ordinator, Art Gallery of New South

Wales, with a particular interest in Islamic Art of
Southeast Asia
Charlott e Gallo way

Lecturer Asian Art History and Curatorial Studies,

Australian National University, with a special interest
in the Buddhist Art of Myanmar
Jo sefa Gr een

General editor of TAASA Review. Collector of Chinese

ceramics, with long-standing interest in East Asian
art as student and traveller
MIN-JUNG KIM

Curator of Asian Arts & Design at the Powerhouse Museum

ANN PROC TOR

Art historian with a particular interest in Vietnam

Yuk i e Sato

Former Vice President of the Oriental Ceramic Society of

the Philippines with wide-ranging interest in Asian art
and culture
SA B RIN A SN OW

Has a long association with the Art Gallery of New South

Wales and a particular interest in the arts of China
Todd Sund er man

Former Asian antique dealer, with a particular interest

in Tibetan furniture
Mar g ar et White

Former President and Advisor of the Friends of Museums,

Singapore, with special interest in Southeast Asian art,
ceramics and textiles
Ho n. Au ditor

Rosenfeld Kant and Co

s t a t e r ep r esen t a t i ves
Australian Capital Territory
Ro byn Maxwe ll

Visiting Fellow in Art History, ANU;

Senior Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia
Queensland
Russe ll Stor er

Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art,

Queensland Art Gallery
South Australia
James Benne tt

Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia

Victoria
Carol Cains

Curator Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria International

Burma has been in the spot light in recent

times, with Aung San Suu Kyis Nobel Peace
Prize and the current seemingly rapid opening
up of the country. Many TAASA members
have already visited or are planning to visit
Burma, so will hopefully find a number of
articles on Burma in this issue of interest.
Sally Bamford shares the result of her research
into a less well known aspect of Burmese
spiritual life: a belief in the nats or guardian
spirits that evolved from ancestor worship and
a belief in supernatural forces residing in the
landscape. Illustrated by her own photos, she
paints a vivid picture of how a belief in nats
still permeates Burmese society, as evidenced
by the many shrines and images found
throughout the countryside and in homes and
businesses as well as Buddhist temples.
Art historical research on Burma has been
impeded due to political upheaval from the
1950s and restricted access to information
in the second half of the 20th century. This
makes collections of research material such
as, in this case, that of Burmese specialist
Dr David Pfanner donated to the Menzies
Library at the Australian National University,
all the more valuable. Charlotte Galloway has
waded through this collection to give us some
interesting insights into the kind of information,
sometimes off beat, such collections can offer.
Three shorter pieces provide further differing
perspectives on Burma. Our regular feature, In
the Public Domain presents a lovely Mandalay
style marble Buddha at the Maitland Regional
Art Gallery by curator Cheryl Farrell. Pamela
Gutman reviews a 2011 publication Sacred Sites
of Burma by Donald Stadtner, while Merry
Pearson reviews a Burmese produced DVD
of songs in the Mahagita, Burmese classical
music tradition, featuring Yuri Takahashi as
singer and Mahagita musician Ye Naing Linn.
Just a note on terminology in relation to
Burma. Alert readers will notice that some
authors in this issue have used the current UN
recognised terminology for Burma, namely
Myanmar, Yangon and Bagan, as against
the older style Burma, Rangoon and Pagan.
This is a very sensitive issue and there are
arguments for both approaches. My editorial
approach has therefore been to allow each
author to adopt the terminology they prefer.
This September issue also offers a range
of Indian related topics. Melanie Eastburn
previews an NGA exhibition Divine Worlds
starting 1 September which is the first
exhibition dedicated to the NGAs own

extensive Indian painting collection. TAASA

is organising a members event to view this
exhibition in Canberra, together with a major
contemporary Chinese portrait exhibition at
the National Portrait Gallery (see Members
Diary on p 29).
Textile enthusiasts will enjoy Carole Douglas
fascinating account of the life and work of
contemporary ply-split braider Erroll Pires,
who is also co-ordinator of textiles at the
National Institute for Design at Ahmedabad.
Cineastes will enjoy Jim Masselos lively
take on this years Focus on India films at the
2012 Sydney Film Festival. Finally, Narayani
Guptas erudite review of the latest publication
from the Alkazi Collection of Photography,
Power and Resistance: The Delhi Coronation
Durbars, allows the TAASA Review to dip again
into this wonderful archive of 19th and early
20th century South Asian photography.
Following his recent presentation at the
University of Sydney, Im delighted that
Martin Polkinghorne has been able to
report in this issue on the outcome of recent
excavations led by the Angkor Research
Program of the University of Sydney at
Angkor, Cambodia. He points out that up
until now, the manufacturing methods and
activities of the artists who made the great
Angkor sandstone and bronze sculptures
have been unknown. For the first time, these
excavations have focused on two sculpture
ateliers at Angkor, with fascinating results
such as the discovery of a bronze workshop,
the first of its kind, not only in Cambodia but
in Southeast Asia.
Two final contributors will be familiar to
TAASA Review readers and both present
articles with a Buddhist theme, though in
entirely different contexts. Joanna Barrkman
discusses the use of cosmic mandala designs
in Balinese devotional art. Jackie Menzies
offers us a tantalizing preview of her current
research on Mongolian Buddhist art, in
preparation for a proposed major exhibition
at the AGNSW on this subject next year.
On p28 you will find a report on TAASAs
2012 AGM where new TAASA Committee
members Charlotte Galloway, Susan Scollay,
Todd Sunderman and Margaret White were
welcomed, and outgoing members of the
Committee Sandra Forbes, Philip Courtenay
and Lucie Folan, were heartily thanked for
their contribution to TAASA. Sandra Forbes
remains a member of the TAASA Publications
Committee.

T H E N AT S O F M Y A N M AR
Sally Bamford

Typical roadside nat shrine between Mt Popa and Bagan. The sign at left warns people
not to cut down the trees lest they offend the nats. Sally Bamford 2012

lthough it is estimated that around

90% of Myanmar (Burmese) people are
Buddhist, many retain an ancient belief in the
nats, guardian spirits that have evolved from
ancestor worship and a belief in supernatural
forces resident in features of the landscape. In
the complex spiritual framework of Myanmar
life, which also has space for astrology,
divination, alchemy and other spiritual
practices, the nats are believed to have
hegemony over their area - be that a home,
road, field, village, river or mountain - and
are often feared for the harm they may cause
if not correctly acknowledged and appeased
with offerings. Appeasing the nats ensures
the health and well-being of ones family and
community, safe passage through the territory
governed by a particular nat, or the success of
a planned venture. Belief in the nats is common
to all sections of Myanmar society, and their
shrines may be seen in homes and businesses,
attached to prominent trees, guarding roads
and on the outskirts of villages.

The colourful creation legends of the nats have

afforded artists the opportunity to portray
them in a wide variety of artistic contexts.
Their images range from crudely carved and
painted figures to beautifully worked statues
combining the talents of master wood carvers,
goldsmiths and jewellers. While most nat
images are three-dimensional, they are also
commonly found in relief carvings decorating
pagodas and monasteries, are depicted in
paintings, textiles, ceramic plaques, metalwork
and tattoos, and are also made as puppets.

nat from its fellows. This practice appears

to have its roots in the traditional costumes
worn by professional nat kadaw, the spirit
mediums who channel nats at festivals held
in their honour, as recorded by the Governor
of Myawadi in 1805 (Temple 1906).

Two pairs of protective spirit figures, found

at the ancient Myanmar city of Sriksetra, are
dated to as early as the 5th century (Hudson &
Lustig 2008). Made of iron a metal believed
to have protective properties these figures
attest to a long tradition of representing
protective guardian spirits in Myanmar art.
Pagodas dated to the 13th century show that
by this time, the nats were fully integrated
into the corpus of art created for Buddhist
merit making. Elements of royal regalia have
conventionally been employed by artists to
distinguish nats of the deva (or deity) class
from as early as the 17th century.

The practice of placating the nats is believed

to stem from the ancient tradition still
practiced today of constructing a miniature
house to appease a tree-nat whose home is
lost when its tree is felled for house-building
(Maung Htin Aung 1962). This notion of
spirits inhabiting trees is reflected in the
creation legends of many well-known nats,
such as Min Mahagiri and his sister, Shwemyet-nha, who were burned alive by the
King of Tagaung, Myanmars ancient capital.
Their spirits took up residence in a tree, but as
anyone who walked in its shadow was killed,
the King had it uprooted and thrown in the
river. It floated downstream to Bagan, where
the two nats appeared in a dream of the King
of Bagan, Thinlikyaung (r. 344-387 CE) who
rescued the tree, had carvings of Min Mahagiri
and Shwe-myet-nha made from its wood, and
installed them in a shrine on Mt Popa, thus
beginning the long tradition of patronage of
a pantheon of Thirty-Seven particular nats by
Myanmar royalty.

Nat imagery since the late 20th century has

evolved to portray each nat as an ageless
and more humanised being, with props
and costumes used to represent elements of
their creation story, or to distinguish each

Tree-spirit nats are illustrated on one of the

glazed brick plaques depicting Jataka tales
which decorate the 11th century Shwezigon
pagoda at Nyaung U, near Bagan. Based on its
location, it may be identified as an illustration

of the Rukkhadhamma Jataka. In this tale, the

Buddha had come to life as a tree-spirit in a
Himalayan forest, and advised his kinsfolk to
take up their abodes in the surrounding trees.
Those who did not heed his advice and chose
to dwell in giant trees growing in open spaces,
were uprooted and flung to the ground by a
mighty tempest, while the interlaced trees in
the forest withstood the might of the storm.
When telling the tale, the Buddha unfolded
the truth in the stanza:
United, forest-like, should kinsfolk stand;
The storm oerthrows the solitary tree.
(Chalmers 1895)
On the Shwezigon plaque, the Buddha is the
tree-spirit appearing on the right, identifiable
by his crown, while the poor tree-spirit who
took up residence in the solitary tree sits
astride his former home, now uprooted and
thrown to the ground.
It is not uncommon to find nat imagery placed
within the grounds of Myanmar pagodas, as
the nats are conceptually a part of Myanmar
Buddhism, where nats and humans are
both a class of being engaged in the cycle
of multiple rebirth. In Myanmar Buddhist
cosmology, thirty-one planes of existence are
divided into three spheres. The first, kamaloka, includes hells, animals, ghosts, demons,
and the human and nat worlds, along with
six lower deva abodes. Above kama-loka are
sixteen planes of rupa-loka, where the devas
retain a measure of corporeality, then the
four planes of arupa-loka, where there is no

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

A statue of Thagyamin holding his identifying conch is given a touch-up

at the Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon. Sally Bamford 2012

corporeality (Spiro 1978). The nats Po Sin

Taung and Pwa Sin Taung (Grandfather and
Grandmother Elephant Mountain) occupy
a niche set into the inner wall of the Yadana
Man Aung Pagoda at Nyaungshwe.These
two statues are typical of late 19th /early 20th
century nat images, being carved from wood,
depicted in traditional costume and with their
features highlighted in paint or gilt. The tiered
crown of the Grandfather identifies his status
as a Lord, in this case of Elephant Mountain.
The stance of the Grandmother leaning
slightly forward with one hand loosely by her
side is a conventional attitude of obeisance
to the king, as many nats received their fief by
royal decree. Statues like these were made in
workshops whose artists specialised in a motif
group known as nari pan, which included
Buddha images, human beings and nats in
human form (Moilanen & Ozhegov 1999).
Probably the most visible nat in Myanmar
art is Thagyamin, Sakka in Pali, in his role as
the protector of Buddhism. In this context,
his image is commonly seen within pagoda
and monastery precincts, incorporated into
architectural or decorative features beside or
above a doorway or in an attitude of homage
to a Buddha image. As a nat-saw or deva nat,
Thagyamin presides as a lord over the second
level of nat rwa, perhaps more familiarly
known to Buddhists as Tavatimsa heaven.
Thagyamin is conventionally portrayed
wearing elements of royal costume, usually
including a tiered crown, ornate jewellery
and a yin-hlwan, the long front piece with
flaring lappets shown in a folding manuscript
illustrating sumptuary dress from King
Thibaws court in the 1880s. Historically,
Thagyamin always appeared in full royal
ceremonial dress in traditional puppet theatre,
whereas human actors portraying royalty
were limited to symbolic attributes. Today,
Thagyamin puppets are still portrayed in full
ceremonial dress, an enduring reminder of the
splendour of the royal court and a popular
tourist souvenir.
The use of nat-saw imagery in artistic contexts
remained the prerogative of Myanmar royalty
until its abrupt demise in 1885, accounting
for the common occurrence of these images
within the many religious foundations
commissioned as acts of merit by Myanmar
kings. Nat-saw imagery was included in the
decorative schema of pagodas from at least the
13th century; the Thambula pagoda at Bagan
features a stucco decoration over its arched
doorway in the form of a winged nat figure
standing on a three-headed naga. The use of
the royal yin-hlwan and tiered crown is found
on sandstone images of Thagyamin dated to

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

the 17th century, while by the 19th century,

nat-saw images were conventionally carved in
hieratic, formal postures of adoration.
In stark contrast, more naturalistic poses are
found in carvings of non-deva nats, which are
usually portrayed in narrative scenes related
to their creation legend, often alongside
carvings of Jataka tales. An elaborately carved
screen was created in the 1920s to decorate the
entrance to the Hall of the Buddhas Footprint
at the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, featuring
the story of Ma Mei U and the nat Shwebyin
Nyidaw, also known as the younger of
the Taungbyon Brothers. A soldier of King
Anawrahta in the 11th century, Shwebyin

Nyidaw was executed by the King thereby

becoming a nat for failing to contribute his
share of bricks to the building of a pagoda. He
had fallen in love with Ma Mei U, a virtuous
wife and weaver who spurned his advances.
As a nat, angered at being refused, he sent a
tiger to drag her away while she sat at her loom
(U Tun Aung Chain & U Thein Hlaing 1996).
While all the nats are essentially guardian
spirits, they can be deemed to fall within
three categories relating to their origin: as an
ancestor or nature spirit; as a deva nat such
as Thagyamin, or as a human sometimes
mythical who has become a nat after
meeting a violent or unexpected death. Today,

Tree-spirit nats, moulded decoration on glazed brick plaque illustrating the

A nat-saw figure situated above a doorway at a monastery,

Rukkhadhamma Jataka at the Shwezigon Pagoda, Nyaung U. Sally Bamford 2012

Salay. Sally Bamford 2012

the two foremost places to see assemblies of

various nats are at Mt Popa, the site of an
important shrine, while another pantheon of
ancient nats may be seen in their own shrines
within the Shwezigon pagoda compound.
The Shwezigon sculptures clearly reference
the nats origins as nature spirits by depicting
them as anthropomorphised supernaturals,
while the majority of imagery found at Mt
Popa is more human in appearance.
Two important nat images found at the
Shwezigon pagoda are the father and son Shwe
Myo Zin and Shwe Zaga, sea-spirits known
collectively as Son one month older than the
Father, who were summoned by the King
to take up residence at the Pagoda and act as
guardians of Buddhism. As Shwe Zaga arrived
one month earlier, he was given a higher position
in the shrine than his father. In these massive,
squat figures seated in ardhaparyankasana, the
pose of royal ease, it is evident that the artists
conceived these nats with nature spirit origins
as semi-human in appearance.
In a photo published in 1915 of a statue of
Shwe Nabe, a nat who can take the form of a

woman or a naga, her supernatural origin is

expressed by giving her a semi-human face with
a distinctly serpent-like cast, featuring slitted
eyes and a protruding lower face (Brown 1915).
A more modern image of Shwe Nabe, housed
in a major nat shrine at Mt Popa, illustrates how
nat imagery has evolved. While both statues
have exactly the same stance, wear a naga
headdress and grasp a naga in both hands, the
more recent statue at Mt Popa seems, to Western
eyes, to have the rather bland appearance of a
department store mannequin. Here, her hieratic
posture and frozen features demonstrate her
agelessness and supernatural origin, while
her naga nature is further illustrated by her
shimmering green longyi, clearly patterned to
show the scales of a serpent.

Sally Bamford first visited Myanmar in 1995 and

There are few known and documented early

examples of nat imagery, and many older
examples have disappeared into private
collections, their stories unrecorded and their
provenance lost to art historians. Those still
extant in Myanmar are of course revered as
representations of the spirits they embody, and
remain an invaluable resource to historians of
Myanmar art and culture.

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

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.

REFERENCES
Brown, 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.

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.

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

S C U L P T U R E W OR K S H O P S O F A N G K OR : T W O R E C E N T E X C A V ATIO N S I N C A M B ODIA
Martin Polkinghorne

EXAMINING THE UNDERSIDE OF UNFINISHED SCULPTURE, BAKONG SCULPTURE WORKSHOP,

ANGKOR, CAMBODIA. PHOTO: MARTIN POLKINGHORNE

he sculpture of Angkor is universally

recognised as among the greatest
creations of human genius. Angkorian
objects are represented in every major public
collection of art including many in Australia.
The artists of Angkor rendered sculptures
in sandstone and bronze distinguished
by precision of execution and the classic
canons of beauty: proportional balance and
realism. Yet the methods of manufacture
and the activities of the teams of artists who
created these works are unknown. For the
first time in Southeast Asia, excavation has
been conducted at Angkor focussing on two
sculpture workshops operating across at least
four centuries.
In part due to absence of artists in the written
record, medieval ateliers and their techniques
have not been the primary focus of any major
study of Southeast Asian material culture.
At Angkor we do not know the names of
individuals who crafted the superlative
sculptures, even when the quality of the
work was exceptional. The few epigraphic
references to artists tend to single out
personalities of the administrative elite who
were conferred ceremonial titles associated
with their control or leadership of these
groups (see Cds 1951: 3 24). Those studies
which have addressed artists have by and
large focussed on bas-reliefs and architectural
ornamentation, and then only on a handful
of monuments. George Groslier (1921 1923:
206 208) studied the numerous pilasters of
Angkor Wat, the Bayon and Banteay Chmar
and concluded that more than one artist must
have worked on the same object at any given
time. At the Terrace of the Leper King, B.-P.
Groslier (1969: 29 - 30) discerned artisans who
roughly chiselled compositional layouts and
more meticulous sculptors who rendered
facial features and bodies.

unfinished triad figures. In the 1990s during

a time of civil instability, these sculptures
were repatriated to the Angkor Conservation
Depot and identification of extensive amounts
of sandstone chips and additional unfinished
sculptures demarcated the site as a possible
centre of sculpture manufacture.
Consisting of two large mounds either side
of the western axis road of the Bakong, two
associated occupation mounds, and a small
pond, excavation has confirmed that the site
was indeed the location of an atelier sheltered

by at least one large building. Numerous

characteristic artefacts including iron and
stool tools for the manufacture of sculpture
were also discovered. The stone tools
included low-fired clay permeated with small
abrasive pebbles, probably used for sanding
sculptures and small river stones used for
polishing. The stones possess scratch wear
consistent with being rubbed on sandstone.
A road cut through the centre of the southern
mound sometime in the early 20th century
provided the team with an opportunity to

Funded by the Australian Research Council,

an international multi-disciplinary project
led by the Angkor Research Program of The
University of Sydney involved excavations
conducted at the location of two sculpture
ateliers in late 2011 and early 2012. The first
workshop, located just west of the 9th century
Bakong temple was a focus of artistic activity in
the early Angkorian capital of Hariharlaya.
French conservator Maurice Glaize originally
discovered the site in 1943 during exploration
of the outer Bakong enclosure when he
identified two 2.4 metre tall rough-hewn and
THIRTY-FIVE METRE SECTION AT BAKONG SCULPTURE WORKSHOP, ANGKOR. PHOTO: MARTIN POLKINGHORNE

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

SACRED DEPOSIT, LEAD ALLOY TURTLE REPLETE WITH

QUARTZ CRYSTALS, ANGKOR THOM SCULPTURE WORKSHOP,
BELLOWS-TYPE STRUCTURE, ANGKOR THOM SCULPTURE WORKSHOP, ANGKOR. PHOTO: MARTIN POLKINGHORNE

obtain a 35 metre cross section of the mound.

This long trench exposed many layers of
working surfaces for sculpture production
and the foundations of a building made of
laterite aligned east-west with the western
axis of Bakong temple. The style of the
building modenature is consistent with
mid-late 9th century constructions and
the workshop appears to have been active
during this period. The superstructure was
presumably built in wood and is attested
by large quantities of elaborately decorated
glazed stoneware roof tiles. Additionally, one
of the most significant artefacts is a shard of
Chinese imported Tang Dynasty Xing white
ware dating to the mid-late 9th century, one
of only two pieces of this ceramic ware found
at Angkor. The site is currently occupied
by a small traditional smithing workshop
suggesting a tantalising, but difficult to
substantiate link to the Angkorian craft of
sculpture making and tool maintenance that
logically occurred at the site.
The second excavation phase of the project
focussed on an Angkorian period atelier in
the heart of King Jayavarman VIIs great
walled city of Angkor Thom. Conservator
Henri Marchal speculated about the area as
a workshop as early as the 1920s (Marchal
1926: 310). Discovery of a workshop for
lead roof tiles (Pottier 1997) and unfinished
sandstone sculpture provide further evidence
that the site was the centre of artistic
production. The workshop is located on an
area of approximately 1000m2 between four
monuments: Preah Palilay, Tep Prenam, the
Royal Terraces and the Royal Palace. The
entire site is scattered with small sandstone
chips believed to be the result of carving

sandstone sculpture. Excavation revealed

in-situ sandstone debitage, an unfinished
sculpture, iron and stone tools and additional
evidence of a bronze sculpture workshop.
The discovery of a bronze workshop just outside
the walls of the Royal Palace of the Angkorian
kings is the first of its kind in Cambodia and
Southeast Asia. One trench included a bellowstype structure made from reused laterite and
sandstone blocks sealed with stucco and resin.
The bellows is unique in Khmer archaeology and
presents a considerable interpretive challenge
because of its unusual form and composition.
Conceivably it was activated with some kind
of wooden device that moved a flexible animal
skin up and down from the top of the stone
courses to deliver pressurised air into the
hearth or furnace chamber. Waste products and
materials of metal production including bloom
waste, sprues, vents, a crucible, tree resin, and
clay moulds in conjunction with unfinished
sandstone sculpture and chip debitage suggests
that allied arts were working side-by-side.
Considerable amounts of small bronze, iron
and lead fragments, and slag are logically
waste products of a metal workshop. Some
pieces can be plausibly related to specific
aspects of the sculpture making process.
For example small cylindrical iron pins are
arguably fixtures or chaplets that held the
clay core and outer mould apart during
casting. Some Angkorian bronze images are
created with wrought iron armature and it
is understandable that much iron has been
found in the test trenches. Small and narrow
cylindrical rods of bronze can be interpreted
as sprues or runners to intake/outtake molten
metal to/from the mould. Some short and

ANGKOR. PHOTO: MARTIN POLKINGHORNE

flat waste bronze and lead may be flashings,

metal that runs between the halves or valves
of a piece mould. Small spherical fragments
of iron slag found by wet sieving are possibly
the result of primary smithing.
Droplets of solidified slag were produced
during smithing as slag was expelled from iron
bloom during forging. Other forms of slag and
vitreous waste products were recovered from
numerous trenches. Different types of slag are
the result of refining different metals using
different techniques and are distinguished by
their colour, density, morphology and size.
Some trenches contained remains of investment
moulds used in the process of making sculptures
with the lost-wax method. Investment moulds
are black/grey on the inner surfaces which were
in contact with the cast metal, and orange/red
indicating oxidisation or firing on the outer
surface. Consistent with the production process
where moulds are broken open to recover
the casting, identification of the objects is not
possible. Excavated tree resins could possibly
be added to bees wax as a material for making
the lost-wax mould, as a flux to decrease the
temperature required to melt metal, or as a
temporary adhesive to affix different elements
of sculptures during the crafting process, or as
an agent in foil gilding.
The project has identified large quantities of
earthenware and glazed stoneware ceramics
from local and international kilns. The site was
the location of concentrated activity continuing
in some form to a least the 16th century.
Quantities of imported trade-ware from
Thailand, Vietnam, possibly Myanmar, and
especially China suggest a cosmopolitan society
with sizeable interests in international trade.

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

UNFINISHED SANDSTONE SCULPTURE OF STANDING FOUR-ARMED VISHNU (HEADLESS, FACE DOWN), ANGKOR THOM SCULPTURE WORKSHOP, ANGKOR. PHOTO: MARTIN POLKINGHORNE

Notable ceramic artefacts can be identified

as Song dynasty mercury jars. The
presence of mercury jars in the context of
metal working and bronze manufacture is
particularly significant as mercury was used
in a specialised form of sculpture gilding.
Mercury gilding is the process whereby
mercury is mixed with gold to make an
amalgam that is applied to the surface of the
sculpture. The sculpture is then heated and
the mercury evaporates and leaves behind a
thin coating of gold gilding.
To make sculpture smooth, burnishing
is typically required where the sculpture
surface is rubbed with a hard implement or
a very smooth stone. Burnishing shapes and
compacts the metal grains, increasing the
reflectivity of the sculpture. It is possible that
the stone and smoothed ceramic tools found
during this excavation were used for the
purpose of burnishing.
The Angkor Thom workshop yielded two
special artefacts in the form of foundation
deposits. Underneath the northern stone
coursing of the bellows, a lead turtle
approximately 20cm in length was retrieved.
Inside the turtle were over 85 crystals
appearing to be quartz. The turtle was likely a
ritual deposit and acted to sanctify the objects
made using the bellows. This and analogous
ritual deposits found in the south library of
the Bayon and at the Terrace of Leper King
can perhaps be associated with Kurma, the
turtle avatar of Vishnu.

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

Kurma is commonly illustrated in Angkorian

iconography as the pivot in the famous
Churning of the Sea of Milk story, masterfully
and strikingly depicted in bas-relief at the
southeast gallery of Angkor Wat. Interestingly,
five unfinished sandstone sculptures at the
Angkor Thom site can be identified as fourarmed standing Vishnus, suggesting a possible
religious designation for the workshop. The
second foundation deposit was a vessel of
unidentified composition (likely some kind
of alloy covered in resin) full of the remains
of rice and sesame seeds. The deposit has not
been fully opened. Considerable additional
documentary and analytical work is required
as a result of this excavation. Stone, metal and
other artefacts sampled from the excavation
will undergo further analysis in the laboratories
of project collaborators.

the existence of additional peripheral artistic

centres or temporary workshops. The
presence of large infrastructure, elaborate
buildings, considerable production waste,
rare imported ceramics, extraordinary ritual
deposits, and proximity to palace compounds
suggest that these workshops were of great
importance to the kings of Angkor who
devoted considerable resources and religious
investment in images of the Gods.
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, lEcole Franaise dExtrme-Orient (EFEO),

When looking at the celebrated corpus

of Angkorian art, custodians, visitors
and scholars consistently ask the same
question: how were these works created?
Until now the answer is very partial. This
project, the first study of workshop sites in
Southeast Asia is beginning to connect the
sculptural masterpieces of Khmer culture
to the processes and social context of their
manufacture. In addition to elaborating on
the qualities and elements of the Angkorian
iconographic repertoire, the focus is on the
actions of the anonymous medieval Khmer
people who created its magnificent art.
Although the excavated workshops indicate
centralised production, they do not preclude

and excavation volunteers and participants.

REFERENCES
Cds, 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. tude sur la psychologie de lartisan
Cambodgien. Arts et archologie khmers; revue des recherches sur
les arts, les monuments et lethnographie du Cambodge, depuis les
origines jusqu nos jours 1(2): 205 220.
Marchal, H. 1926. Notes sur le Palais Royal dAngkor Thom ,
in Arts et archologie khmers; revue des recherches sur les arts, les
monuments et lethnographie du Cambodge, depuis les origines
jusqu nos jours 2(3): 303 328.
Pottier, C. 1997. Nouvelles donnes sur les couvertures en plomb
Angkor , BEFEO 84, pp. 181 220.

F RO M C A M E L G IRT H TO C O N T E M P ORAR Y G O W N : P L Y S P LIT ARTI S T E RROLL P IR E S

Carole Douglas
Never an idle digit: Erroll Pires in NID office. Image courtesy NID 2011

n my first trip to Kachchh in northwestern

India, well before the earthquake and
any real knowledge on my part of traditional
forms of weaving, I stopped the car in which
I was travelling between Bhuj and Mandvi. A
sudden flash of black and white movement in
a small blue concrete shelter caught my eye:
I recently came across the transparency that
holds this memory. I did not know it then,
but I had captured a rare image of an elderly
Marwar Megwhal weaver creating a ply
split camel girth, locally called tang, using
desi (local raw) wool and goat hair. And as it
transpires in the interconnectedness of life,
I later learned that he is an uncle of Kharad
weaver Tejsi Dhana with whom I have worked
for several years and who himself is rapidly
becoming a master of plysplit braiding an
ancient and traditional technique that uses
hand-spun fibres to create camel girths and
other animal regalia. Practiced mainly in
northwestern India, plysplit involves one
twisted cord being passed through another
twisted cord or cords, splitting the plies of
the latter cords. Designs are formed by the
colours of the cord and the order of splitting.

In 2004 I came across camel girths in a

different incarnation when I met Erroll
Pires, contemporary plysplit braider and
coordinator of textiles at the National Institute
for Design (NID) in Ahmedabad. Errolls office
overflowed with a profusion of yarns braided
into extraordinary forms living testament
to a life dedicated to a single art form and its
endless possibilities. A few wellworn camel
girths hung in amongst the chaos of creativity;
their presence a powerful link between the
contemporary and the traditional and a quiet
acknowledgement of the inspiration behind
Errolls work. I watched fascinated as the long
thumbnails that give him such control over his
work deftly manipulated multiple threads. I
sensed his meditative state and realised I was
watching the finely honed skills of a master in
his own right.
Born on 1 December 1951 and the middle
of five children, Erroll Pires was destined to
work with yarns. His first textile memories
are of his mother knitting woollen sweaters
for the family, his already long arms assisting
her to open the hanks of wool quickly. He
sometimes wonders if that early contact
wove the fibres inextricably into his system.
The family also lived beside a textile mill and
Erroll would climb the tallest neem tree to see

10

what lay over the wall. Later, when he made

a few visits inside the walls with a friends
father who worked in the weaving section,
he was exposed to mass production, to noisy
looms and to great volumes of woven cloth.
In 1970 Erroll enrolled at NID on the
suggestion of a family friend. A passionate
believer in woman as the original creator,
Errolls curt response to being asked his
fathers occupation during the admission
process was Why dont you ask what my
mother does? He graduated in 1975 and, after
a nine-year gap when he worked in the textile
and leather garments industry, he returned to
NID restless to engage in research. When one
of his colleagues suggested he look closely at
a particular piece in NIDs textile collection it
marked the beginning of his long journey in
quest of camel girths.
Meetings are never by chance. His mothers
untimely death prompted him to go to the
desert to deal with his grief and in Jaisalmer
he met his guru, plysplit master Shri
Ishwar Singh Bhatti. Erroll attributes his
healing process to the techniques of ply
split braiding and to the moment when I
interlaced my mind and soul into a passion
for beautiful braids. Errolls lifes work was
born. For several years over several visits,
he studied with his guru, Shri Ishwar Singh,
who instilled in his young students mind
the absolute prerequisite for mastery daily
practice. Since then there has rarely been a
day when Erroll does not follow the masters
path. Even on the day of the 2001earthquake
that rocked Ahmedabad, the set of cotton
cords with which he was practicing helped

him to maintain a sense of calm.

In September 2011, on the eve of his retirement
and with the encouragement of a dear friend,
Errolls collection was liberated from his office
and put on public display in the exhibition
PlySplit Braiding and Beyond. Dedicated to
his mother, the works are an expression of life
and a source of wonder. From camel girths, to
crazy wigs, to his signature containers of joy
and his renowned seamless gowns it was the
publics first opportunity to see the entirety of
one persons output and the outside worlds
first glimpse of what is destined to become
the largest piece of ply-split braiding ever
created a braided vessel large enough for the
artist himself to climb into. While sheep and
goat fibres are the traditional materials, Erroll
uses a variety of threads, some of which he
tie dyes, including cotton, silk and linen. He
continually experiments with the technique
and combines tradition and modernity to
create unique works that adorn, clothe and
decorate. His latest works, the only seamless
braided garments in existence, reflect his
favourite quote taken from the late Peter
Collingwood: The simple appears only after
the complex has been exhausted.
And I ask him why the switch from Errol to
Errolsan to Erroll? He explains that he was
named after the actor Errol Flynn, Errolsan
was gifted to him by the well-known Japanese
weaver Junichi Arai and Erroll is the post
retirement version. In Indian cricket language
this is known as ones second innings, hence
the double L. With wry humour Erroll also
points out that the double L could refer to his
long walking legs!

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

Seamless gown, natural fibres in natural setting. Image courtesy Erroll Pires

Now retired, Erroll Pires with all the time

in the world, is working in his Ahmedabad
studio on his ibraid design with single
khadi threads twisted into cords for plysplit
braiding incorporating denim waste yarn,
plentiful in Ahmedabad and in accord with
his no waste philosophy. His future plans
involve more travel he is representing
Gujarat in Manchester at Braids 2012, the 2nd

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

Pot of Joy, cotton thread with wooden beads. Image courtesy Erroll Pires

international braiding conference and

Australia is a long held dream, spending more
time with his camera, offering workshops, and
he toys with the idea of writing a book. Erroll
is currently setting up his Cameluseum for
everything relating to camels, an animal he
finds fascinating and the basis of his nick
name at school unth which obviously
relates to his great height and unhurried gait.

Camel girths will no doubt have a major voice

in the museums narrative.
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 Caroles blog at:
http://desert-traditions.blogspot.com/

11

A C T S O F D E V OTIO N - B ALI N E S E M A N DALA S

Talismanic cloth (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

Joanna Barrkman

Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation 2011. Donated

through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts
Program, Art Gallery of South Australia

rt remains an integral part of religious

practice and ritual in Bali. Creative
production in Bali is often underpinned by
a devotional quality. Hinduism has been
influential in Bali since the first century CE and
was later reinforced through the establishment
of a Hindu colony by the Javanese Majapahit
Kingdom during the 14th century. Balinese
Hinduism however is a unique amalgamation of
mainstream Hinduism with pre-existing animist
beliefs and consequently, recitation of Vedic
scriptures and veneration of Hindu Gods are
practiced alongside Balinese ancestor worship.

Balinese culture venerates ancestors, gods

and demons with offerings of art and material
culture in the form of paintings, carvings,
performances, literature, poetry, gamelan
music and shadow theatre demonstrating an
abiding awareness of the unseen upper and
lower worlds.
One of the most distinctive features of Bali
is the daily activity of making devotional
offerings. Women deftly cut, fold and plait
hand-cut coconut, sugar or lontar palm fronds
which they then intricately fasten together
with small bamboo pins. At their most basic
these small woven offerings are embellished
with flowers, cooked rice and sticks of smoking
incense. Strikingly beautiful and ephemeral,
the devotion inherent in their preparation
underpins their significance and function.
Known as canang or banten these small offerings
are visible every day across the island of Bali
where they are freshly made daily.
The word banten is derived from the word
enten, which means to wake up; to be
conscious. In making and offering banten
the Balinese people remain conscious of and
devoted to the pantheon of gods and demons
that they believe guide their lives.
The devotional practices of the Balinese have
evolved from a belief in the existence of
three worlds: the upper worlds of the gods
(swah), the middle world of humans (bwah)
and the lower world beneath the earth (bhur).
Within the context of the three worlds, banten
offerings are made in the middle world that
is the world that humans inhabit - and are
given to please both the Gods of the upper
world and the demons of the lower world.
Offerings known as charu or segehan, are made
with the aim of feeding or deflecting the low

12

spirits. These low, demonic spirits, called leyak

and bhuta kala are constantly present, awaiting
to strike and cause disorder. The word bhuta,
a Sanskrit term, signifies the gross elements
of the body, whilst the term kala is time and
also fate (Eiseman, 1990:227). It is believed
that such spirits particularly like to dwell at
intersections and at entrances. To prevent
such unwanted spirits entering household
compounds, a double entry doorway is often
used in Bali designed to prevent kala, who
cannot see or turn sideways, from entering.
Bhoma (depicted as a face with bulging eyes)
are also strategically located in rafters and
above entrances to deflect bad spirits from
entering compounds and temples. From a
Balinese perspective, bhuta kala represent the
dark side of existence, both on the macro
universal level and micro individual level.
The macro universe (Buana Agung) and the
micro universe (Buana Alit) are encapsulated
in Balinese devotional art in a cosmic mandala
design which is layered in symbolism. In
its most complex form it is called the nawa
sanga mandala (nawa and sanga refer to the
number 9 in Sanskrit language and Javanese
language respectively). The mandala depicts
each god and their dominion over their
respective cardinal point. The gods are also
attributed with specific weapons, sacred
mantra, colours and days of the week. It
is believed that significant temple sites
across Bali are a macro interpretation of the
mandala, aligned geographically to the eight
directional points. In the microcosmic form,
the mandala is applied to the human body
with each directional point (and therefore
god) corresponding with a specific human
organ, with the exception of Shiva who has no
attributed location in the human body.
A variation of the cosmic mandala is
obvious in the ceremonial mortar and pestle
illustrated in this article, carved from volcanic
rock from Karangasem Regency in East Bali,
which features a five-pointed star. It was used,
possibly in a temple context, to masticate the
three essential betel ingredients that are
routinely placed in offerings to the Gods. A
sliver of betel nut (areca), some lime powder
and betel leaf are pounded together for
the purpose of chewing; their ceremonial
significance is also aligned to the three Hindu
Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Red is the
colour of Brahma (the colour of areca nut);
black (in this instance dark green, the colour

of the betel leaf) is associated with Vishnu

and lime is white, the colour associated with
Shiva. Once pounded, this paste is placed in
offerings or alternatively, the nut and lime is
wrapped within the betel leaf before being
placed onto the offering (Eiseman 1990:217)
Each of the five petals on the mortar is incised
with Balinese calligraphy, askara, attributed
to the four Gods of the cardinal points Vishnu (north); Brahma (south) Iswara (east)
and Mahadewa (west). The fifth character is
Shiva the most revered Hindu deity in Bali.
It is unusual to relegate Shiva to one of the
five petals, however, the functional cavity
into which the pestle enters and grinds forms
the central point for this object. The ancestral
form carved into the pestle handle neatly
demonstrates both the inter-changeability
and co-existence of Hindu and animist belief
systems in Bali.
A more complex eight-pointed cosmic
mandala is evident in the ulap, a simple
cloth commonly hung from buildings and
entrances. These ubiquitous cloths are hung as
a devotional practice and invite the presence
of and protection from the gods inside
dwellings, be they residences, businesses or
temples. Ulap are hand-drawn with ink on
cotton cloth; before they are drawn priests
chant mantras to ensure that they are imbued
with protective qualities. Ulap are left to
disintegrate over time and although their
physical form is ephemeral they retain the
power invested in them by their creator.
This pengider, or talismanic cloth, is a complex
and contemporary depiction of the cosmic
mandala. Finely hand drawn, in a style which
features traditional Balinese iconography
and elements of European realism, it depicts
the pantheon of Hindu gods each in his

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

Mortar and pestle, date unknown, Karangasem, Bali,

Indonesia, 150 (h) x 141mm (w), Museum and Art Gallery
Northern Territory collection, SEA 03691.01 & .02.

GARUDA ATTACKED BY THE GODS OF THE DIRECTIONS, I NYOMAN DOGOL (1876 1965), KLUNGKUNG, BALI, INDONESIA, C. 1920,

Photograph by Regis Martin

PIGMENT ON COTTON, 1700 (H) X1290MM (W), AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM COLLECTION. PHOTOGRAPH BY EMMA FURNO

directional location. An elegant Sanskrit

and Balinese askara inscription on this cloth
identifies it as having been used as part of a
Tawur Agung Panca Bali Krama ceremony
that occurs every decade as part of the
centennial ceremonial cycle Eka Desa Rudra
which occurs at Besakih, mother temple of
Bali on the sacred Mount Agung in northeast
Bali. (Bennett, J. 2011: 54-55)
The pengider was used in a ritual aimed
at purifying the world from disturbing
influences and ensuring cosmic harmony.
This includes blood sacrifices intended for
the bhuta kala, part of a series of ceremonies
that aim to maintain balance between the
forces of light and dark. The notion of cosmic
equilibrium and protection is conveyed in the
mandala, drawn in the form of an eight-petal
padma, or lotus, at whose centre appears Shiva
and the ancient Indian swastika symbol. The
auspicious swastika represents the energy of
the universe, which rotates clockwise in the
Hindu tradition (Bennett, J. 2011: 54-55).
Works such as this ceiling painting entitled
Garuda is attacked by the Gods of Eight Directions
are further evidence of the use of the sacred
mandala in artistic production to reinforce
awareness of the ever-present gods. This
painting was collected from the ancestor temple
Pura Dadia in Kamasan village, Klungkung
Regency by Australian anthropologist, Anthony
Forge in 1972-3. It is based on the Apidawa,
the Hindu creation story that is a prologue for
the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In the
Apidawa story Garuda stole the tirta amerta
(water of immortality) from the gods to rescue
his mother from bondage, evoking the wrath of
the gods who attacked him.
In this temple painting the Garuda, who
survived the forceful attack of the gods due

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

to his great power, is located in the central

position usually reserved for the god Shiva.
The weapons of the Gods used to attack
the Garuda are each associated with one of
the eight compass points and are therefore
indicative of each god from that direction. A
vajra belongs to Iswara, the god of the east,
dupa (incense) belongs to Mahesora of the
southeast, Brahama wields a danda (staff) in
the south and so on. This painting features
many naga pasa (arrows), the weapon of
Mahadewa, the god of the west. Naga pasa
are particularly useful as they are able to alter
their direction in mid-flight.

in Balinese art serves as a reminder of the

continuous presence of the gods in the
macrocosmic (Buana Agung) and microcosmic
(Buana Alit) worlds, for whom devotional
practices occur several times daily.
Joanna Barrkman is Senior Technical Advisor for
Cultural Heritage Projects, Timor Aid, Timor-Leste.

REFERENCES
Bennett, 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).

Imagery based on nawa sanga mandala is

enshrined in the Balinese creative repertoire,
from simple banten offerings to sophisticated
temple paintings. The use of such mandalas

13

B U DD H I S T TR E A S U R E S I N M O N G OLIA
GUHYASADHANA HAYAGRIVA, T.Tsend (dates unknown),

Jackie Menzies

1800s, patchwork of silks with gold couching

and embroidery; 283.5 x 202 cm. Zanabazar Fine
Arts Museum, Ulaanbaatar. Photo: Felicity Jenkins

the collections of the museums

W ithin
and temples of Ulaanbaatar, capital

of the Peoples Republic of Mongolia, are

splendid Buddhist paintings, sculptures and
textiles that testify to a powerful and wealthy
tradition, despite so much being destroyed
in the extensive sackings of monasteries and
temples during the Communist repression
of Buddhism during the 1930s. The Buddhist
art extant today provides tantalising insights
into the complex interrelationships between
the khans (territorial chieftains) of Mongolia,
the Dalai Lamas of Tibet, and the Manchu
emperors of Qing China (1644-1912). The art
demonstrates a Mongolian nuanced extension
of the iconography and styles of Tibetan
Buddhism, particularly that of the Gelug
school, the largest of the four main Tibetan
schools of Buddhism, and the one to which
the Dalai Lamas belong. This article looks
briefly at three of the great artistic traditions of
Mongolian Buddhist art, namely gilt bronzes,
thangkas and silk appliqus.
One of the great figures of Mongolian
Buddhism, politically and artistically, was
Zanabazar (1636-1723), an extraordinary
genius admired not only for his talent as a
sculptor but for his erudition, his writings,
and for his invention of a new Mongolian
script known as soyombo, which was designed
to transliterate Tibetan terms and names into
Mongolian. Politically he is famous as the first
Mongolian to head the Buddhist establishment
in Mongolia, in a position newly created at
the urging of various khans, including his

father, a leader of the Khalkha tribe, who were

concerned at the growing power of the Dalai
Lamas of Tibet over Mongolian affairs.
From the 1200s when the Mongols had first
invaded Tibet and adopted Tibetan Buddhism,
it had been Tibetan lamas who were the spiritual
leaders of Mongolia, but the Mongolians
increasingly desired a Mongolian as their
spiritual leader. Hence at the youthful age of
five, Zanabazar was selected as holder of the
new title of Living Buddha (Mongolian: Bogd
Gegen; Tibetan: Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu).
Once he had achieved this recognition, he
went to Tibet in 1649 to study with the Gelug
school of Tibetan Buddhism where he met
the Fifth Dalai Lama (161782), an influential
leader across the Buddhist realms within Tibet,
Mongolia and Qing China.
It was in Tibet that Zanabazar undoubtedly
learnt his sculptural skills as well. Some of
the most sublimely elegant and graceful
gilt bronze images of Vajrayana Buddhism
are attributed to him or his workshop.
Illustrated is one from his famous set of the
Five Transcendent Buddhas, Vairochana, who
usually holds centre place in any grouping of
the Five Buddhas. This superlative image of
Vairochana, seated in the diamond posture,
holds his hands in the vajra mudra or gesture
specific to him in which the index finger of
his left hand is clasped by his right hand,
signifying the unity of all things in the context
of ultimate reality. The deity, richly bejewelled,
sits on a double lotus base where the handling

of the rows of petals is a feature unique to

Zanabazar sculptures. The elegant fluidity of
the lithe body is indebted to the style created
by the Nepalese master Aniko (1245-1306)
who had established workshops in Beijing at
the invitation of Kublai Khan, Mongol leader
of the Chinese Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), and
initiated a new style adopted by craftsmen
with Mongol patrons. The softly glowing matt
surface is a distinctive feature of Mongolian
Buddhist bronzes. Many of Zanabazars
sculptures are on display in the Choijin Lama
Temple Museum, erected between 1904 and
1908 in honour of the Eighth Bogd Gegen.
The time when Zanbazar lived coincided with
the growing power of the Manchus, whose

OFFERINGS OF THE FIVE GEMS, Artist unknown, 1900s, thangka, mineral pigments on cloth, 108 x 250 cm. Zanabazar Fine Arts Museum, Ulaanbaatar. Photo: Felicity Jenkins

14

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

VAIROCHANA, gilt bronze, 1636-1723, , ht 71.5 cm . Zanabazar

Fine Arts Museum, Ulaanbaatar. Photo: Felicity Jenkins

power extended indirectly through Buddhism

into territories other than the Chinese ones
they had conquered. In 1691, following attacks
on the Khalkha Mongols by the Zunghar
Mongols further west, Zanabazar surrendered
Khalkha territory to the Manchus in exchange
for protection from the Zunghars. Thus began
the long period of Manchu domination of
Mongolia, one not entirely antagonistic, for
the Qing emperors were devout followers of
Tibetan Buddhism, and as early in their reign
as 1652 had invited the fifth Dalai Lama to
Beijing, recognising that he was their most
powerful ally in cementing their control over
both Tibet and Mongolia.
Zanabazar became closely associated with
the Kangxi Emperor (r. 16611722), becoming
his teacher, or guru, from 1691 until the
latters death. Proof of Manchu power within
Mongolia was that the Manchu emperors, in
consultation with the Dalai Lamas, became
responsible for the appointment of the
Bogd Gegen, from the Third through to the
Eighth Bogd Gegen (1870-1924), after whose
death the Mongolian Peoples Republic was
established. The only Bogd Gegens who were
Mongols were the first and second; the rest
were Tibetans.
Parallel to Zanabazars adoption from Tibet of
the traditions of gilt bronze Buddhist images,
was the Mongolian adoption of the Tibetan
tradition of thangka painting. Thangkas are
religious pictures/images, often gouache on
cotton, framed with vibrantly coloured silk
bands, and usually with a protective veil so
the picture is not damaged when rolled up
for storage and transport. Most surviving
thangkas in Mongolia date from the late 19th
century. Invariably the subject comes from
the extensive repertoire of the Vajrayana
Buddhism synonymous with Tibet in a style
related to that of Central Tibetan painting.
The tradition of luxury textiles, whether
woven, embroidered or appliqu, has been
strong amongst the peoples of Tibet, Central
Asia and China. These were long used to
create religious images that had greater
prestige than their painted counterparts, and
were commissioned by lamas and royalty
to impress and accrue religious merit. The
Chinese emperors presented the high lamas
and princes of Mongolia with bolts of silk and
brocade that were used to clothe lamas and
deities, and make canopies and appliqus,
a uniquely Mongolian feature being the
addition of gems such as coral, pearls and
turquoise (Berger &Bartholomew 1995: 84).
Illustrated is a large patchwork silk appliqu
depicting Hayagriva, the Horse-Necked

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

wrathful Tantric deity,

who was very popular
in Mongolia where he
was conflated with local
horse gods. This image
follows precisely the
iconography for the
mystic, incantation form
of the deity presented
in the Three Hundred
Icons, a Tibetan-language
xylograph printed in
Beijing in the Qianlong
period (1736-95) and
widely
disseminated
throughout
Mongolia
(Berger &Bartholomew
1995: 234). He has six
arms, most of his hands
carry weapons, except
for his upper left hand
with which he makes the
karana mudra to exorcize
demons. His eight feet
trample writhing demons
of different colours. Each
of Hayagrivas three
heads has three glaring
eyes, a gaping mouth of
sharp fangs, and a crown
of skulls surmounted by
a horses head against a
backdrop of his flaming
red hair. He wears a tiger
skin around his waist,
while his red body is accessorised with white
scarves tipped with wish-fulfilling jewels and
a garland of severed heads.
From the 1800s, more innovative paintings
appear in the Buddhist repertoire, such as the
Offerings of the Five Gems thangka housed in
the Fine Arts Museum in Ulaanbaatar. Five
lively dakini, goddesses who rhythmically
dance in the sky amongst auspicious, lush
flowers, personify the offerings of the five
senses (Skt pancha-kamaguna). The left figure
is sight: her insignia is a mirror, representing
consciousness. The lute held by the next figure
represents the sense of sound. The conch shell
full of perfume, held by the central figure,
represents the faculty of smell. Second from
the right, the figure holds a bowl of fresh fruit
in her left hand, representing the sense of taste,
while the dakini on the far right, enjoying the
tactile sensuality of the silk scarves swirling
around her, represents touch.
Although the viewers eye is drawn to
the graceful figures, the actual topic of the
painting relates to the frieze of smaller figures
along the bottom. These are five of the seven
precious jewels that appear at the birth of a

chakravartin, or universal monarch. Depicted

here from left to right, are the wheel (chakra),
the precious jewel or wish-granting gem
(in Sanskrit chintamani), the white elephant,
the precious horse, and the general. The
whole painting is imbued with a lightness
and joy that foreshadows new directions in
Mongolian art.
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.

REFERENCES
Berger, Patricia. 1994. Preserving the nation: the political uses of
Tantric art in China, pp 89123 in Marsha Weidner et al. (ed).
Latter days of the law, images of Chinese Buddhism 8501850,
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.

15

DIVINE WORLDS: INDIAN PAINTING AT THE NGA

Melanie Eastburn

n September 2012, the National Gallery

of Australia (NGA) will present Divine
worlds, an exhibition of Indian painting
from the Gallerys diverse collection. The
exhibition includes paintings from the Jain,
Hindu, Islamic and Sikh traditions of India,
ranging from intricate manuscript pages and
painted photographs to hunting scenes and
devotional images on a grand scale.

Half of the exhibition is devoted to the

Gallerys collection of 19th and 20th century
pichhavai painted cotton shrine hangings.
Made in devotion to the Hindu god Krishna,
an avatar of Vishnu, pichhavai are displayed as
backdrops for temple shrines to commemorate
seasonal festivals and events from the life of
Krishna. Included in the show are pichhavai
associated with the Autumn Moon (Sharad
purnima) celebrations, the Festival of Nanda
(Nanda mahotsava) and the Mountain of Food
festival (Annakuta utsava).
The Gallerys pichhavai for the Festival of the
Cattle (Gopashtami) is particularly delightful. It
shows blue-skinned Krishna standing on a lotus
and surrounded by cows charmed by his flute
playing. The sweet-faced cattle wear headdresses
of peacock feathers and garlands around their
necks. Towards the base of the image tiny calves
can be seen suckling. Above, six pairs of gods
and goddesses watch from celestial vehicles.
Among the couples are Shiva and Parvati (Uma)
with the bull Nandi, Indra and Indrani with the
divine white elephant Airavata, and four-headed
Brahma with Sarasvati (or Brahmini) and Hamsa
the goose. The Festival of the Cattle takes place
in autumn and marks Krishnas graduation from
boy calf herder to grown cowherd (gopa).

On display for the first time is the magnificent

Krishnas divine play (Krishna lila) for the annual
pilgrimage of Vraja (Vraja yatra). In the form
of a map, the pichhavai depicts important
moments from Krishnas life. At different
points on the image, through which winds the
Yamuna River, Krishna is shown as an infant,
a playful child, a flirtatious young man and
a protective hero. Krishnas famous lifting of
Mount Govardhan to shelter villagers and
cattle from the torrents sent by an enraged
Indra is among the events represented.
The places mapped are important pilgrimage
destinations in central Indias Vraja region for
the Pushti Marg (Path of grace) or Vallabha
sect of Hinduism. Such paintings are displayed
during the annual Vraja pilgrimage festival.
Devotees unable to travel can attain religious
merit by viewing the images and taking a
mental rather than physical journey. (For a full
account of this painting see Lucie Folans article
in TAASA Review volume 16, no.4, December
2007). Krishnas divine play (Krishna lila) is one
of four map-like paintings in the Divine worlds
exhibition. There are also two Jain pilgrimage
paintings (tirtha pata) and a Rajput landscape
image depicting a regal hunt.
Jainism began in India in the 6th century BCE
(at much the same time as Buddhism) and
teaches non-violence in thought and action
(ahimsa). Adherents revere 24 enlightened
beings or Jinas. One of the Jain maps is an
early 19th century temple wall panel showing
the sacred locations where two Jinas achieved
enlightenment the temple complex of
Shatrunjaya and Mount Girnar. The other tirtha
pata, painted on cloth in 189798, is over 3.5

metres in height and depicts Shatrunjaya. Like

the Krishna lila, these detailed paintings allow
the devout to accrue merit equivalent to that
gained by travelling the pilgrimage path. There
are a number of Jain paintings in the exhibition
including the earliest paintings in the show,
manuscript pages from around 1465.
Rendered in splendid detail, Maharana Jawan
Singh hunting is a spectacularly large painting
on cloth, probably created to adorn a palace
or tent. In contrast to pilgrimage images, it
shows the Rajput ruler Maharana Jawan Singh
and his party at various stages of a hunting
expedition in the countryside surrounding
Udaipur, the capital of the Mewar kingdom.
Hunting was a popular pastime of Indias
rulers and representations of pursuits form
a significant genre in Indian court art. The
Rajput and Mughal courts included ateliers of
painters, part of whose role was to document
the exploits of rulers, and thereby their power
and importance.
Jawan Singh, who can be identified by
his golden halo, ruled Mewar from 1828
until 1838. He appears nine times in the
picture in which successive events are
illustrated
simultaneously,
and
from
various perspectives and viewpoints. The
presentation of multiple moments in time in a
single painting was a commonly used device
in Indian painting. Proceedings depicted in
this image include: a visit to a village in which
an antelope is sacrificed before the Maharana
who is seated beneath a tree; scenes of the
lively encampment; the kings visit to a Hindu
temple; a ceremonial gathering (darbar) in a
red tent just above the centre of the painting,

THE MONK KALAKA WITH THE GOD INDRA, PAGE FROM A JAIN MANUSCRIPT, LATE 15TH CENTURY, INDIA.
PAINT, INK AND GOLD ON PAPER. COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, 1994

16

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

MAP OF JAIN SACRED SITE SHATRUNJAYA, PILGRIMAGE

PAINTING (TIRTHA PATA), 189798, INDIA. OPAQUE WATERCOLOUR.

THE EMPEROR MUHAMMAD SHAH HUNTING, C.1730, INDIA. NATURAL PIGMENTS, GOLD, 26.8 X 39.8 CM.

COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, 2005

COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA, PURCHASED 1992

and antelope hunting. Monumental paintings

on cloth began to be commissioned by Mewar
rulers during the reign of Maharana Sangram
Singh II (r. 171034) approximately 100 years
before this painting was made.
A considerably smaller image from about 1720
records Sangram Singh II himself hunting
boar in the dust pink desert of the Udaipur
summer. Its landscape is in marked contrast
to the verdant setting in which Jawan Singhs
adventure takes place. The reign of Sangram
Singh coincided with one of the last stable
periods in Mewar history. The Hindu Rajputs,
whose name translates to Sons of Kings, have
had a strong presence in north-western India
since the 9th century. With a reputation as
fierce warriors, the Rajputs were one of the
few groups to retain their independence and
increase prosperity in the face of regular Muslim
invasions. They held on to their autonomy for
almost a century following the establishment
of the Mughal Empire in 1526, finally joining
forces in 1615 rather than be subsumed.
While there are very few Mughal paintings
in the Gallerys collection, there is a fine page
from a manuscript of the Baburnama or Book
of Babur (c.1590). Painted by Bishan Das (c.
15701650), the page shows a young Prince
Babur (14831530), the first Mughal emperor,
returning to his birthplace of Andijan
following his fathers death. Babur conquered
Delhi and Agra in 1526 and established the
dynasty that went on to rule much of India.
The Gallerys page is from one of a number
of Baburnama manuscripts created during
the reign of Baburs grandson Akbar (1542
1605). It was under Akbar that art became
a central focus of the courts of the Mughal
empire. Akbar is renowned for his interest
in religious diversity, and for his passion for

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

the arts, especially manuscript painting. He

was also a savvy strategist who invested in
forming alliances with Indias existing rulers
to increase the empires power.
A later Mughal work in Divine worlds is a
fascinating composition showing the Emperor
Muhammad Shah hunting with falcons
(172030). Dramatically divided by the central
zigzagging river, the painting shows on one
side three members of the Emperors hunting
party and on the other, hiding amongst the
trees, five women whose musical gathering
has been disturbed by the emperors arrival.
Muhammad Shah, shown with a blue horse,
ruled India from 1719 until his death in 1748.
Hunting with falcons, the Emperors right
hand is appropriately gloved, as is that of one
of his attendants. All three men are dressed
in hunting green, a shade that dominates the
picture. The parasol, flags and trumpets of the
imperial entourage accompanying the hunt
can been seen in the distance under the dark
sky. Known as rangila the pleasure lover,
Muhammad Shah was a supporter of the arts
and oversaw a resurgence in support for court
painting which had suffered in the wake of the
dissolution of the imperial atelier under the
emperor Aurangzeb (r. 16581707). However,
Muhammad Shahs brief revival of Mughal
painting was severely hampered by the sacking
of Delhi by Nadir Shah of Iran in 1739.
A large proportion of the Gallerys painting
collection was a gift from British twins Thomas
and Robert Gayer-Anderson who collected
Indian paintings in the early 20th century. In
1954, the collection was divided between the
Victoria and Albert Museum in London and
the Commonwealth of Australia. As there was
no national art gallery (the Gallery opened
to the public in 1982), the National Library

of Australia held the gift until its transfer

to the Gallery in 1991. Comprising over 200
paintings and drawings, the works are of
varied quality but include some marvellous
pictures. Among them are lively souvenir
images made for visitors to the Kalighat
temple of Kali, the Hindu goddess of time and
change, in the second half of the 19th century.
Unfashionable in the 1950s but now much
appreciated and enjoyed, Kalighat paintings
of Kali, Shiva, Ganesha, the baby Krishna and
other Hindu deities are displayed in Divine
worlds. Also from the Gayer-Anderson gift is
a curious portrait of Guru Nanak (14691539),
the founder of the monotheistic Sikh religion,
dressed in a magnificent patchwork robe.
A selection of miniatures from the GayerAnderson collection was shown in the 1999
travelling exhibition A stream of stories.
Divine worlds is the first exhibition dedicated
to the National Gallery of Australias broad
collection of Indian paintings from the minute
to the massive. Rich in range, style and joyous
imagery, Divine worlds can be seen at the NGA
from 1 September until 11 November 2012.
Melanie Eastburn is Curator of Asian art at the
National Gallery of Australia.

REFERENCES
Michael 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

17

R E S E AR C H I N G B U R M A : T H E A U S TRALIA N N ATIO N AL U N I V E R S IT Y LI B RAR Y

Charlotte Galloway
COVER IMAGES OF EDITIONS OF THE GUARDIAN MAGAZINE, 1955-1970S, BURMA. PHOTO: CHARLOTTE GALLOWAY

urmese art has long been the poor relation

of Asian art historical research. Political
upheaval from the 1950s saw access to Burma
become difficult for many, right through to the
late 1990s. Some intrepid scholars did manage
to undertake research in Burma during this
time, one of the most notable being TAASA
member, Dr Pamela Gutman, who received her
PhD from the Australian National University
(ANU) in 1976 on the subject of Ancient Arakan.
As access became a little easier in the late 1990s,
other Australians also took up the challenge of
researching in this fascinating country including
Dr Bob Hudson (University of Sydney) who
worked on his archaeology PhD in Burma,
and I followed the Burma interest in my art
history PhD at ANU, with most of my research
undertaken in the early 2000s.

Within the small but now quite rapidly

expanding area of Burma studies, knowledge
sharing by experts with first hand knowledge
such as Pam Gutman and others in the field
is essential and appreciated. Many Burma
resources languish in libraries, not through
any fault of those entrusted with their care,
but through the imperatives of allocating
resources in what is determined as the most
effective way. Invariably this means smaller
specialist collections must wait their turn
before they are properly catalogued, and
therefore made more widely available.
While more material is becoming available
online every day, there are still many books,
magazines and ephemera that remain hidden
in library stores, waiting for the interested
researcher and librarian with a spare moment
to trawl through what can be a daunting
pile of uncatalogued material. It is the latter
which has prompted this article. Recently, a
collection of Burmese material has found its
way to the surface at ANU. Dr Amy Chan,
Southeast Asian specialist at the Menzies
Library, involved students from the Asia
Pacific Learning Community in preparing a
display of some of this material in the foyer
of the Library from May to August 2012.
An interesting mix of journals, books and
ephemera in English and Burmese from the
1950s-1980s, they make fascinating reading! It
is timely to review this collection of Burmese
related material as Burma is now so prominent
on the international agenda.
It is probably little known that the ANU
library had a formal arrangement with the

18

University Central Library in Rangoon from

the 1960s to the 1980s. Books published in
Burma, in English and Burmese, were sent to
ANU for inclusion in the library collection.
For local researchers, the ANU collection
was complemented by the National Library
of Australias own holdings of Burma
related material. Canberras resources
were significantly enhanced by the NLAs
acquisition of the Gordon Luce collection
in 1980 (Gosling 1996). Luce remains the
preeminent figure in the study of Burmas
historical art and architecture.

historical publications. Often tucked away

within the collections newspapers and
popular magazines are passing references
to temples and artefacts. To reconstruct
when objects went missing from locations,
for example, may rely on searching these
news items to try to find a before and after
point when an image was reported as being
seen there. This is quite a different research
approach than for some other Southeast
Asian countries where there has been a less
interrupted period of in-country historical
research, and less political interference.

The collection that has recently come to light

at ANU was donated by Dr David Pfanner. Dr
Pfanner completed his PhD in 1962 through
Cornell University, on Burmese village life.
He spent time in Rangoon with the RangoonHopkins Centre for Southeast Asian Studies,
and later came to ANU. He has since retired
in Canberra. The material is diverse, and
includes magazines from Burma for
example, editions of the Guardian (Burmas
National Magazine - incomplete, 1955-1970s),
Myanmar Today and The Light of the Dhamma,
pamphlets on Buddhist studies, and other
ephemera. Rather typically, there is a random
element to this academic collection, reflecting
particular research interests, and simply,
material that came his way.

Going through the journals brings some

interesting art historical material to light. The
Light of the Dhamma issues feature a series on
Shrines of Burma. I was particularly taken by
the description of the Soolay Pagoda (Sule)
in Rangoon:
today a golden island of peace in the heart
of Rangoon and a most important shrine.
You melt out of the busy traffic at the base,
take off your shoes, climb to the platform and
feel you are indeed upon holy ground. For
when you have mounted the few steps to the
Pagoda platform, here at once is a cloistered
peace, cool, quiet, a calm as profound as one
would wish. (U Ohn Ghine 1954:6).

While such items may seem minor in most

research contexts, in Burma studies they have
a particularly significant role. As information
services became more restricted in the second
half of the 20th century, changes to historic
sites and the movement of sculptures and
other artefacts often went unreported in the
more usual forums of archaeological or art

The accompanying photo, taken on a close

holiday does indeed show a tranquil island in
the middle of the city a contrast to my own
experiences of visiting this significant pagoda
which can only be described as visually dense,
busy and alive. The previous edition featured
the Kaba Aye pagoda and describes how a
Holy Man asked Saya Htay, a devout layman,
to implore Prime Minister U Nu to build the
pagoda and have it completed by 1952: Great

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

SULE PAGODA, 1954, RANGOON, FROM LIGHT OF THE DHAMMA VOL 2 (1). PHOTO: CHARLOTTE GALLOWAY

CAMBODIA: ANGKOR WAT

AND BEYOND
29 October 15 November 2012
Angkors 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
buildings would grow up around the site of
the pagoda. If this were done, there would be
Peace in the country and Peace in the world.
(U Ohn Ghine 1953:44). No time frame was
given for the realisation of this prophecy.
Other temples covered in the series include the
Shway Sandaw, Prome (Shwesandaw, Pyay)
and the pagodas of Pagan, and Mandalay. The
accompanying images are of strong historical
interest as we trace the changes to many of
these important buildings.
The Guardian carried articles on a broad
range of topics, from business and political
matters to literature and cultural affairs. The
advertisements alone offer an insight into
daily life during the period and the availability
of modern products from Pelikan ink and
imported aerated fruit-flavoured water to
French coffee and hair blackener. In the May
1960 edition there is a feature article on Chin
memory stones by Herbert Wehrly, a Fulbright
scholar. This refers to memorial stones which
were placed in a prominent location near
a village, and served as a place to visit and
reflect on the deceaseds life. He describes the
intricate carvings on these memorial stones,
which include depictions of enemies and
animals killed by the deceased, a tribute to
their past exploits (Wehrly 1960:13).
In July 1969, the Guardians regular column
Campus Writing recounts Katherine Ba
Thikes trip with fellow university students
from Rangoon along the tourist corridor Inle,
Taunggyi, Pindaya, Meiktila, Popa, Pagan. She
makes some tantalizing remarks about Pagan:
Wherever I went, I was held spell-bound by
the exquisite statues and statuettes sculptured
out of wood and stone. Smaller shrines of jade
and glazed pottery were equally breathtaking.
At the Ananda temple: It was a tiny museum
built in the premises of Ananda pagoda but

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

it held treasures galore. There were earthen

pots, images engraved in wood, figurines of
ancient Pagan princesses, and a slab of stone
which had numerous figures of Lord Buddha
chiselled out of it (Ba Thike 1969:15). Sadly, we
have to wonder where these things are now.
Libraries are often talked of as being out of
fashion. Yet we should remember that not
everything is available at our fingertips.
The tangible nature of books and ephemera
offer an additional experience that a screen
cannot convey. Handling the magazines in the
Pfanner collection is participating in a lived
experience. Seeing the images on the real
page engages us with a particular moment
in history. This all adds an extra element to
understanding the past that goes beyond
just knowledge. A lot is being written about
Burma right now, and a lot more is to come. In
the rush, I am sure much of the detail will be
missed. For those who have the time and the
interest, a slow meander through the pages of
these popular publications has the potential
to offer us a very special way of appreciating
much of Burmas recent cultural history.
Dr Charlotte Galloway lectures in Asian art history
and curatorial studies at the Australian National
University, Canberra.

REFERENCES
Ba Thike, Katherine. 1969. Days to Remember in The Guardian,
vol 16(7): 12-19.
Gosling, Andrew. 1996. Burma and Beyond: The Luce Collection

ISAN: THAILANDS ANCIENT

KHMER CONNECTION
07 February 25 February 2013
Isan is the least visited part of Thailand. But this
north-eastern region has a distinctive identity and,
in many ways, is the Kingdoms 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

INSIDE BURMA:
THE ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE
15 February 06 March 2013
Burma 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 Asias 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
To register your interest, reserve a place or for
further information contact Ray Boniface

at the National library of Australia in National Library of Australia

News, vol. 6 (13); pp 35.
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.

H E R I TA G E D E S T I N AT I O N S
N AT U R E B U I L D I N G S P E O P L E T R AV E L L E R S

PO Box U237
University of Wollongong NSW 2500 Australia
p: +61 2 4228 3887 m: 0409 927 129
e: heritagedest@bigpond.com
ABN 21 071 079 859 Lic No TAG1747

19

F O C U S O N I N D I A AT T H E 2 0 1 2 S Y D N E Y F IL M F E S TI V AL
Jim Masselos
GANGS OF WASSEYPUR, NAWAZUDDIN SIDDIQIU PLAYS FAIZAL KHAN, STILL FROM FILM. COURTESY SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL

he Sydney Film Festival usually coincides

with a first touch of winter that freezes
up the Queens birthday weekend. Cold and
films become synonymous for regulars at
the Festival especially given the chilly down
draughts in the glorious but cavernous State
Theatre. As for the films, festival goers buy
a subscription to pre-selected films which
includes films in the official competition, or
make their own selection and create their own
mini-festival.

Redressing years of neglect the festival this

year focused on Indian films, though only
one made it into the subscription series.
Another four were spread throughout the 12
day marathon. The pickings varied. Of the
two retrospectives, one offered Bertolucci and
the other was for those with recondite Asian
interests in cult movies from Japanese studio,
Nikkatsu. There was nothing from Korea, in
past years a powerhouse of quality cinema.
From Hong Kong/China came A Simple Life, a
gentle story about a family servant who moves
into aged care. It had a touch of the humanism
that underscores many fine Asian films. And
there was a USA/China documentary, Ai
Weiwei: Never Sorry about the battle between
art and state control.
Otherwise the field as far as Asia was
concerned was largely left to India but not to
Bollywood films: there were no singing and
dancing epics of the sort that have become
familiar in recent years. There was however
one epic, Gangs of Wasseypur, but it had
little connection with mass Hindi cinema
- both the producer Vikram Malhotra and
the director Anurag Kashyap are outsiders
to Bollywood. Their film is about opposed
criminal gangs and rivalries running through
generations. The two three-hour films werent
the endurance test I had expected. The story
of gangs in Jharkhand state in eastern India as
they worked out the logic of their lineages and
their community affiliations was absorbing,
and the confidence and sweep of the narrative
were breathtaking. The opening sequence
when a gang machine guns the home of a rival
leader was a tour de force: the violent attack virtually a military battle had an important
filmic function in framing what was to occupy
the next six hours and in bringing the threads
together at the end.
The film is confronting some of the audience
left during peaks of violence. What made

20

the confrontation between film and audience

so intense is the amoral world of the gangs.
Virtually everyone in the film is an anti-hero:
there are no characters to identify with all
are flawed, as unlikable and as capable of
extreme violence, as any of the others. Without
redeeming heroes the concluding message is
that exploitation and the assertion of force will
continue: even if one generation is killed off,
the next will continue on similar trajectories.
Here is no optimistic vision and no catharsis; no
humanism nor redress of social injustice. The
film takes a hard look at realities, specifically at
criminality in a resource-scarce region, and in
doing so provides a powerful metaphor for the
state of the nation.
Gangs is a cinematic coup and was one of
the films in Sydneys Official Competition:
the first Indian film so chosen, though the
independent Jury did not award it the Prize.
It has also been recognised elsewhere, being
included in the Directors Fortnight at Cannes,
but also there failed to score a prize.
While Bollywood deals with dreams, the
alternate Indian cinema -of which Gangs is
a prime example - deals with present day
realities. Other films of similar ilk did not
come to Sydney though they are causing a
stir in India. Among them is Gandu, which,
judging by the reviews and the trailer,

pushes in lustrous black and white at the

boundaries between art and pornography.
Though virtually banned in India it has
had worldwide internet circulation and has
garnered appreciative comment from outside
critics. However there was more than enough
realism in other Indian films at Sydney to
compensate for what was missing.
Anand Patwardhan, a veteran independent
director from Mumbai, was at the Festival to
introduce his documentary, Jai Bhim Comrade.
All his films are long and detailed and this
was no exception, clocking in at 195 minutes.
As always with his work some of it was
repetitive and might have been further edited.
But the deep insights he achieves through his
interviewing and recording techniques and
his committed and probing intelligence repay
the longueurs.
Jai Bhim Comrade follows the consequence of
riots that broke out in a Mumbai slum in 1997
when Dalits (former Untouchables) protested
against the desecration of a statue of their
leader, Dr Bhim Ambedkar, the eminent
jurist who chaired Indias constitutional
drafting committee after Independence.
Police fire caused the death of ten unarmed
Dalit demonstrators and a few days later an
activist poet and singer, Vilas Ghogre, killed
himself in protest over what had happened.

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

JAI BHIM COMRADE, INDIAN POLICE, STILL FROM FILM. COURTESY SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL

Patwardhan explores Ghogres death using his

taped ballad songs to counterpoint interviews
with relatives of the victims. Over the years
he continued to shoot in the slum until the
false charges against the demonstrators
were dismissed and their families achieved
some closure, justice of sorts but a decade
and a half late. Only then did Patwardhan
complete his film. Stories of repression and
resistance in India are unfortunately all too
common but they have added poignancy
here through Patwardhans use of Ghogres
songs, themselves part of an incredible time
of literary flowering amongst Dalits.
Like others in Focus the film strongly critiques
religion. In the 1950s Dalits en masse followed
Dr Ambedkar and abandoned Hinduism.
Literally millions converted to Buddhism,
a process still going on. They chose a strict
atheistic form of Buddhism, rational and nonreligious, denying deities, superstitions and
supernatural symbols, entities or forces. For
them Buddhism is a way of living, a path, rather
than religious escapism through worship of
deities. The force of Dalit atheistic rationalism
features powerfully in the interviews, as does
opposition to Brahmanical Hinduism.
A satiric film, Deool (The Temple) is likewise
concerned with religious excesses in a story
about a herdsman who saw the deity, Lord
Datta, emerging from a fig tree. The news
spread through the village and into the
surrounding region. Inevitably the place
became a pilgrimage spot, a grandiose temple
was constructed for Lord Datta and the village
minted money out of the influx of devotees.
The villagers though soon found they could
not handle the consequences of what was
being done in the name of Lord Datta.
The film is a study of village life, of how
religion affected it and how some villagers
managed to escape the commercial and
political manipulation changing their lives. It
is not however a frontal attack on religion but
on excesses caused in the name of religion and
it is about how Lord Datta is freed from being
exploited. In the process we are presented
with humour that is confident, probing, even
sardonic and with some idyllic moments of
pastoral beauty and pastoral peace. The film
comes from Maharashtra, the state of which
Mumbai is the capital, and demonstrates that
not only Bollywood films are being made in
the region. It is likely to be the source of more
such films, just as Bengal continues to make
its own style of film, distinctively apart from
Bollywoods flamboyance.
One such, The Sound of Old Rooms (KokkhoPoth), provides perspective into the life of a

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

Bengali poet, Sarthak. Sandeep Ray, the son of

Indias greatest film maker, Satyajit Ray, shot
the film over 20 years and so is able to trace
Sarthak from student to published poet and
on to married householder. As a husband his
life is much as it was when he was a student.
He lives in the same household and among
much the same people and he even sleeps
in the same bed. Through him we see some
of the traumas of the creative personality and
share his doubts as he worries about what
has happened to his early poetic inspiration
and we see him immersed in the excited
discussions that feature so much in Bengali
intellectual life.
The final film in the Focus program immediately
struck the right chords. Valley of Saints is
the story of Gulzar who decides to leave
his lakeside village in Kashmir for a better
life outside. His plans are thwarted by the
imposition of curfew in nearby Srinagar. As he
waits to get out he meets, and inevitably falls in
love with, Asifa, who is investigating pollution
in the lake. While government agencies enforce
the closure of the city the couple manage for
a time to create their own space, their own
world. What follows is a delicate minimal love
story handled with a sensitivity that made the
film stand out at the festival and presumably
earned it its award at the Sundance Film
Festival in the USA. The film shows concern
for environmental issues, has some stunning
photography and presents prevailing religious
and political issues while avoiding the

temptation to indulge in polemics. Finally, the

achievement of director Musa Syeed should be
noted for the excellent performances he evokes
from his two non-professional leads, Gulzar
Bhat and Neelofar Hamid.
Focus on India had distinct triumphs. That
so many of the Festival audience chose not
to see the films is a matter of concern in the
context of Australias Asian literacy. Also
concerning was the exclusion of Bollywood
films they are a genre that surely requires
cineaste attention. What emerges from what
we did see is a cinema of bravery. The films do
not hesitate to take up contentious topics and
confront key issues in present-day India. This
is cinema of commitment and engagement
and it is cinema that believes it can have
affect, that it can have influence. Cinema need
not preclude activist involvement, and need
not only be escapist. That the films carry their
commitment so skilfully and convey it in true
cinematic modes is an added bonus.
Jim Masselos has recently edited The Great Empires
of Asia (Thames and Hudson) and co-authored
Bombay Then and Mumbai Now (Rolli). His coauthored Beatos Delhi: 1857 and Beyond with
Narayani Gupta, has just been reprinted by Penguin
Viking India.

21

B OO K R E V I E W : T H E D E L H I C O R O N A T I O N D U R B A R S
Narayani Gupta
H.H. THE NIZAMS ELEPHANT, DELHI CORONATION DURBAR 1903, RAJA DEEN DAYAL & SONS,
SILVER GELATIN PRINT, 263 X 197 MM. COURTESY ALKAZI COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Power And Resistance: The Delhi Coronation

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 stands

in a dusty expanse in north Delhi, with the
inscription:
Here on the 12th day of December 1911
His Imperial Majesty King George V
Emperor of India
Accompanied by the Queen Empress
In solemn Durbar
Announced in person to the governors,
Princes and peoples of India
His coronation celebrated in England
On the 22nd day of June 1911
And received from them
Their dutiful homage and allegiance
The Ozymandias celebrated in this inscription
has not been reduced to two vast and trunkless
legs of stone but can be seen immortalised in a
fine marble statue standing a few yards away.
Sculpted by Charles Sargeant Jagger in George
Vs lifetime (Jagger died at the age of 49, and
the statue was completed by William Reid
Dick), it stood at the eastern end of Kingsway
(since renamed Rajpath), the central vista of
the New Delhi built after George V announced
at the Durbar that the capital of British India
was to be moved from Calcutta to Delhi. In
1967 the statue was shifted, along with those of
other British worthies, with unintended irony,
to the Coronation Memorial field, fenced off
and called a Park.
The inscription and the motley collection of
statues cry out for interpretation. In India,
undesignated spaces are quickly appropriated
for decades, the people of Burari, the nearby
village, have used Coronation Park as a
convenient central point of a track for horsecart races, and set up tented enclosures for
wedding celebrations. Children from the
neighbouring school wander around, and the
odd tourist arrives to tick off yet another of
the sights of Delhi. There are plans afoot for
a large park, with an interpretation centre that
will demystify this space. Until that becomes
a reality, Julie Codells book will stand as an
excellent interpretation of one of Britains
most quirky invented traditions, the Durbar.

22

After the 1857 Uprising, the East India

Company was ordered to hand over the
government of its Indian territories to the
British Crown. In a self-denying spirit, they
swore off further conquests, and till 1947
the map of India was an untidy one, with
curly-edged swathes of territory ruled by
the British monarch, interspersed with the
states of over 600 princes (never referred to as
kings) protected by the Crown.
When in 1877 Queen Victoria was proclaimed
Empress of India, she was at once the ruler
of large territories and the feudal overlord
of the princes. One way to proclaim this
dual role was to gather together loyal
subjects and princes for a well-publicised
display of dutiful homage and allegiance.

Hence the idea of the durbar: the Persian/

Urdu word durbar means a court or a levee.
Reminiscent of Henry VIIIs Field of the
Cloth of Gold, and of the army camps of
Mughal rulers, tented cities were overlaid
on 80 square miles in north Delhi, the land
of seven villages vacated of their inhabitants,
to create civilisation out of barrenness (sic !).
This site was used for three Durbars: in 1877
when Victoria was proclaimed Kaiser-e-Hind
(Empress of India); in 1903 to commemorate
her son Edwards coronation and, in 1911,
that of her grandson George V.
Victoria took her role as Empress very
seriously but could not visit her subjects.
Both Edward and George made journeys to
India while heirs-apparent, and George came

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

STATE ENTRY, GEORGE V ON HORSEBACK, 1911, E. BROOKS, CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS,
SILVER GELATIN PRINT, 112 X 159 MM. COURTESY ALKAZI COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHY

again, with Queen Mary, to mark his accession

to the throne. Statues in every city and town,
framed photographs, coins and stamps, made
the monarchs face familiar to Indians, but it
was 50 years after the last Durbar, and in very
different circumstances, that Queen Elizabeth
II visited India.
What were ephemeral celebrations lasting
a little over a week since there were no
monumental remains, bar the solitary obelisk
have become permanently etched in history
because they were portrayed by artists,
photographers, film-makers. Last year, the
centenary of the grandest, that of 1911, was
marked by exhibitions and publications. This
beautifully produced book is the only one to
discuss all three Durbars. All the illustrations
have been drawn from the impressive archives
of the Alkazi Collection of Photography in
Delhi. Edited by Julie Codell, distinguished
art historian, it has contributions by her and
eight other scholars.
Jim Masselos essay sets the context: Lyttons
ill-timed Durbar of 1877 set against the
background of a widespread famine; that of
1903 set against Curzons unpopularity with
British officials, and the 1911 celebration,
held in a time of drought as well as robust
Indian opposition, when a section of the
nationalist movement was becoming radical.
The extravaganzas appear as an archaic
convention that failed to confront the
problems of governance along rational and
modern lines(p 202).
Text-books for this period concentrate on the
nationalist movement in British India. The
value of this book is that it gives us a vivid
sense not only of the Viceroys and King, but
also of the princes. If Commander-in-Chief
Kitcheners snub to Curzon (Fig.104 on page
154, though the incident is not explained in
the text) cast a shadow over 1903, the Baroda
princes discourtesy to the King did the same
for 1911. There are superb photographs of
the princes, often more than one (so that we
can decide whether they had visibly aged
between 1877 and 1903, or 1903 and 1911)
and our attention is drawn to their notion
of appropriate costume the British would
have liked them to carry the contents of their
jewellery caskets on their persons, but many
princes, educated in the special colleges set up
for them by the government, preferred to be in
military uniform and British boots.
I wish it had been possible to convey in the
captions some sense of them as rulers the
Begums of Bhopal were remarkable women
who changed the face of their state, the
defiant ruler of Baroda set up one of the best

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

universities in India, and Hyderabad ruled by

the Nizam was a model of good governance
and city-planning. Benjamin Cohen and
Deepali Dewans essays describe how in
1903 Deen Dayal, the famous photographer
of Hyderabad, used photography to suggest
that the Nizam, rather than Curzon, was the
most important personage in the Durbar. In
1911, the Nizams son was likewise able to
convey this impression, as his elephants were
far more magnificent than the horse on which
the King had chosen to ride.
The Durbars were miracles of micro-planning
by the civilians and the army, a felicitous
combination of bandobast and jugaad. The
first, a word very popular with the British,
meant meticulous arrangements; the second,
which we Indians use all the time, implies
the chaos that prevails almost till the end,
when suddenly everyone gives the matter full
attention and a perfect show is put on (if you
have seen the film Monsoon Wedding, you
will understand). Hierarchy was the basis of
all arrangements hierarchy in gun-salutes,
medals, location of tents, the sequence of the
procession... For minutiae (eg Who paid for
the Kings Indian crown? Answer: the Indian
tax-payer), you will have to look elsewhere
the answers are in Sunil Raman and Rohit
Agarwals Delhi Durbar 1911: The Complete
Story (Roli Books, Delhi, 2012).
There were two components to the Durbars:
the ceremonies in the amphitheatre, and
the long processions that wended their
way through the city. The chosen routes
deliberately linked the Mughal Fort and
city with the northern Ridge beyond, sacred
because the British forces had camped there
in the tense summer of 1858 (essay by James

Ryan with Nicola Thomas). The element

of order both in the processions and the
somewhat passive spectators and the
majesty of monumental architecture and
the vast expanses, are conveyed repeatedly.
The only thing we miss is the mini-India
created by the princes camps, and the colour
- the crowds described by a schoolboy from
Parramatta as a monstrous hive of multicoloured bees(page 199) - which appears so
vividly in the luminous paintings of 1903 by
Mortimer Menpes, an Australian-born British
artist, described by Saloni Mathur.
As George V leaves Delhi on 16 December
1911 for a well-earned holiday (to shoot
tigers in Nepal) Chris Pinney takes us on
a brilliant journey to show that the camera
did not merely capture views of order and
hierarchy and the sense of the unity of India
that Curzon claimed was an outcome of
his Durbar. It could also pick up scenes of
Indian autonomy, and later, of their resistance
to colonial policies of law and order. On 9
December 1911 in Delhi the King was at a polo
tournament, and in South Africa a lawyer
called Mohandas Gandhi was urging fellowIndians to contribute to the famine relief fund.
Twenty years later the two were to meet not
at a Durbar but in Buckingham Palace. And
therein lies the answer to why the Durbar of
1911 was the last one.
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.

23

B OO K R E V I E W: S A C R E D S I T E S O F B U R M A
Pamela Gutman

inspire people to believe that their heartfelt

prayers and precious material donations will
advance their ongoing needs in this life and
even the next, and must embody power, hope
and sanctity.

Sacred Sites of Burma: Myth and Folklore in

an Evolving Spiritual Realm
Donald M. Stadtner, River Books, Bangkok 2011
348 pp. Maps, illustrations, bibliography.
RRP: 995 Baht (AUS$30), paperback

This is an ideal book for those making a repeat

visit to Burma, especially those discerning
travellers wanting a detailed introduction to
contemporary Burmas spiritual and artistic
heritage. Art historian Donald Stadtner takes
a broad, overarching view of Burmas myths,
distinguishing major ethnic and regional
differences. He attempts, as successfully as
one can, to trace the origins of these myths
and their major manifestations over the
centuries. While others have studied aspects
of these myths, Stadtner is the first to discuss
and to compile them as a whole and the book
contains much of interest to Burma specialists.
Over 400 excellent colour photographs, taken
by him and Paisarn Piemmattawat, illustrate
not only the major monuments usually
visited by foreigners but also those important
to the Burmese pilgrim. They include many
illustrations of folk art paintings and
sculptures relating to local traditions of a
great many sacred sites, subjects generally
neglected or dismissed in publications dealing
with high art. Indeed Stadtner tells us that
he consulted local tourism operators whose
buses and trucks take pilgrims to sites which
promise to fulfil the aspirations of a people,
and found that his lists largely tallied with
theirs. A successful sacred site, he says, will

24

In the wide-ranging introduction, he discusses

the role of sacred sites, how they evolved and,
sometimes, how they fell into neglect. The
three most successful sites today, the Shwe
Dagon, the golden rock Kyaik-hti-ko and the
Mahamuni temple in Mandalay all developed
hundreds of years after the Pagan period
(11th-13th centuries), although the traditions
surrounding them take them back to the time
of the Buddha. These three sites are connected
by their myths linking them to the Buddha, his
relics, and the power that they were believed
to grant to the kings who patronised them.
Even after the British largely destroyed the
close connection between Church and State,
their importance continued right through
to the post-colonial period, when political
leaders saw themselves as successors to the
earlier kings.
It is interesting that certain sites recently
patronised by powerful, but now deposed,
members of the previous government are
currently shunned. Former Secretary 1,
Lt. General Khin Nyunt, had supported
the long-neglected Alodawpyi temple at
Pagan, reinterpreting its origin myths and
encouraging pilgrims to donate to fulfil their
wishes so successfully that the temple was the
first in Pagan to install air conditioning. After
his downfall, however, it became associated
with bad luck.

last Mughal emperor who died there in exile,

Anglican and Catholic cathedrals and the
Hindu Ganesha temple.
In the Mon chapter the sacred hair motif
encountered at the Shwedagon takes different
and often confusing forms, with the relic
being received by merchants or hermits, or
even magically discovered in a ruined pagoda
by the king. The traditions of minorities
often become intertwined with those of the
dominant group, reflecting changes in the local
political situation. Stadtner has recognised
Karen elements in the myths surrounding the
Golden Rock, and observes how the Shans in
the Inle Lake region absorbed both Burmese
and minority group traditions into their
myths, while some ethnic groups formulated
purely indigenous legends. In Danu folklore,
for instance, a huge spider held a princess
captive until a Danu prince sunk an arrow into
its side, the incident now vividly portrayed
within the famous Buddhist Pindaya cave in
Shan State.
This book would be ideal to take on a leisurely
trip to Burma, to dip into while visiting the
many sites it describes. Its reflections on
religion, power, political change and the way
these are echoed in local beliefs will lead
to an enhanced understanding of the least
understood country in Southeast Asia.
Pamela Gutman is an Honorary Associate in the
Department of Art History and Film Studies at the
University of Sydney.

Chapters on Rangoon, the Mon country,

Magwe and Prome, the sites of the Buddhas
apocryphal visit to Upper Burma, Pagan,
and the later Burmese kingdoms including
Mandalay and Amarapura, Inle Lake and
Rakhine (Arakan) State follow.
The Rangoon section examines the
development of the Shwedagon myth which
involved two Mon brothers who travelled to
India, where the Buddha himself presented
them with the hair relics now believed to
be enshrined there. Other sites later became
incorporated into this tradition. The Rangoon
section also includes the history of the city,
and especially its colonial heyday. NonBuddhist sacred sites then appeared: the
Baghdadi Jewish synagogue, the tomb of the

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

I N T H E P U B LI C DO M AI N : 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 R Y
Cheryl Farrell

BURMESE BUDDHA (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

Regional Art Gallery (MRAG)

M aitland
is located in the main street of Maitland

in the Hunter Valley of NSW. It is housed

in two 100 year old structures integrated
with a new two level contemporary gallery
building, an award winning adaptive re-use
of a heritage building completed in 2009. The
redevelopment has resulted in a spacious,
light filled art gallery with 11 exhibition
spaces, caf and shop and MRAG is now
one of the largest and most active regional
galleries in NSW.
MRAG is a collecting institution with more
than 3000 items in its collection. Although its
main focus is works on paper, the MRAG
collection is quite diverse and includes
sculptures, paintings and photographs,
drawings and prints. It also includes subcollections featuring historical photographs
of Maitland, Les Darcy memorabilia, African
bronzes and Asian artworks.
The small collection of Asian artworks in the
MRAG is the result of donations received over
the last seven years through the Australian
Governments Cultural Gifts Program (CGP).
Gifts such as these, which include our marble
Burmese Buddha, are critical in allowing us to
build our collection in a range of directions.
This large, seated Buddha was donated to
MRAG in 2009. It was created around the
late 18th or early 19th century in Mandalay,
Myanmar (Burma) and is in the Mandalay
style, a style of Burmese Buddhist imagery
which developed toward the end of the 18th
century and is still seen today in sculptures of
the Buddha from Burma.
In Buddhist iconography every Buddha
imparts a message, or depicts a significant
moment from the Buddhas life, by way of
the figures posture and hand gestures or
mudra. Our Buddha is seated in the lotus
position, his right arm extended straight from
the shoulder, with long fingers touching the
ground. This earth touching gesture, known as
the bhumisparsha mudra, signifies the moment
when the Buddha overcame all physical and
spiritual obstacles to achieve Enlightenment.
It became popular in Burma during the
Bagan (Pagan) period (1044 - 1287), a time
when a distinctive Burmese style of Buddhist
sculpture developed. The bhumisparsha mudra
has since become the most common position in
which the Buddha appears in Burmese art and

26

is particularly favoured in
the Mandalay style.
The MRAG Buddha has
been lacquered and gilded,
with some lacquer worn
away on the Buddhas
right wrist and hand.
This may have occurred
through
water
being
poured over the Buddha
by the faithful as a sign
of respect and devotion.
His coloured lacquer robe
is represented as a sheer
covering and is draped
simply from the left
shoulder and across the
chest. This differs from the
typical Mandalay style of
Buddhist sculpture where
the robes are depicted
more heavily, with more
elaborate, draping folds
across the shoulder.
The
Buddhas
facial
features are somewhat
childlike with a small,
sweet smile. His eyes are
half open and slightly
downcast and there is
a circular raised dot,
the urna, between high arched eyebrows.
Across the hairline is a plain narrow band,
typical of the Mandalay style, and the top of
the Buddhas head is covered in small raised
circles, denoting knotted curls. The curls circle
the raised ushnisha, the cranial bump that
signifies wisdom, and the bulbous finial above
the ushnisha is unadorned. Also typical of the
Mandalay style are the elongated earlobes
which curve gently toward the neck and touch
the shoulders. There are also three roll marks
on the neck, another auspicious sign.
The marble sculpture comprises the body of
the Buddha and a simple lotus pedestal on
which the Buddha is seated, which is common
in Burmese Buddhist imagery. The sculpture
is inset into a red lacquered wooden base
inlaid with small coloured glass pieces.

generous donation from our benefactor, this

Burmese Buddha sculpture has not been lost,
but will be cared for and displayed to the
public as a part of MRAGs custodianship of
this beautiful piece.
The Burmese Buddha will be on display at
MRAG in October 2012.
Cheryl Farrell is the Collection Curator, Maitland
Regional Art Gallery.

REFERENCES
Dr. 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, JanuaryFebruary, 1981.
Meher McArthur, 2002. Reading Buddhist art: an illustrated guide
to Buddhist signs and symbols, Thames & Hudson London.

After attaining enlightenment, the first of

the three great truths which Buddha taught
was that nothing is lost in the universe.
It is wonderful to know that, thanks to the

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.

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

Y U RI S B U R M E S E D V D : A R E V I E W
Merry Pearson

FRONT COVER OF DVD TRIBUTE TO MAESTRO PYONE CHO. COVER DESIGN

BY YE NAING LINN (KYIKLAT) AND 'YURI' (YURI TAKAHASHI) YURI TAKAHASHI

a nice girl from Tokyo, who

W hats
now lives in Sydney, doing fronting a

classical (Burmese) music band on a DVD

made in Myanmar?

Yuri Takahashi blames it on jazz. That might

seem like quite a stretch, but Yuri says the
love of jazz she developed during her junior
high school years opened her to appreciation
of other forms of music. So when she arrived
in Yangon, Myanmar, in the early 1990s
as a Burmese specialist with the Embassy
of Japan, she found herself captivated by
Mahagita, Burmese classical music. Before
she was transferred to the Japanese consulate
in Sydney, she studied Burmese classical
songs with the eminent musician Sein Bo
Tint. And since arriving in Sydney, she has
been performing for the Burmese community,
notably with Thuang Tin, who also studied
with Sein Bo Tint.
Her interest in things Burmese remains
prominent in her life here in Australia. She has
earned an MPhil degree in Modern Burmese
Intellectual History from the University of
Sydney, where she is now completing her
PhD thesis in the same field. And she shares a
common desire to promote Burmese musical
heritage within that country with her fellow
student in Myanmar, Ye Naing Linn. He is now
one of the top Mahagita musicians in Myanmar,
the leader of his Mingalar Hsaing Ensemble
and the musical director for this DVD.
With the aim of promoting Mahagita, the
two of them this year produced a DVD in
Myanmar to pay a tribute to the Mahagita
maestro Pyone Cho (18781928). Yuri sang
with Ye Naing Linns ensemble for the DVD.
The songs on the DVD include some by
Pyone Cho and some that Ye Naing Linn
wrote in the maestros honour. The DVD was
filmed in January by an all-Burmese crew in
the serenely beautiful setting of the Ma Soe
Yeing Buddhist monastery in Kyaiklat, a town
in Ayeyarwaddy delta, from where Pyone
Cho originated and where Ye Naing Linns
ensemble is based. The monastery was happy
to help with the project because many of the
songs are related to Buddhism.
The DVD is not being distributed
commercially, its reputation is growing
through word-of-mouth and some very
positive media coverage. From the beginning

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

of March, more than 800 copies have been

distributed in Myanmar for the cost of
copying.
Although the DVD is targeted at the Burmese
domestic audience, the overseas Burmese
community in places such as Sydney,
Auckland, Singapore, London and Tokyo have
now begun to be aware of it, and Yuri is seeking
a company to reproduce it with translation for
international distribution in the near future.
There are several recordings of Mahagita songs
targeting international audiences, but Yuri
believes this DVD offers the first combination
of the music with images.
Interested readers can view part of the DVD at
http://www.new-sky.info/YuRiTakahashi/
YuriTakahashi_htm.html. Scroll down to the
black screen and click on the play icon.
For more information on the DVD Tribute
to Maestro Pyone Cho by Ye Naing Linn
(Kyaiklat) & Yuri (Yuri Takahashi), contact
Yuri Takahashi at yuritak@tokyonet.com.au,
(02) 9799-0290 or 0431 471 496.
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.

27

R E C E N T TAA S A A C TI V ITI E S

PERSIA IN DOUBLE BAY, (L - R) FRANCES BROWN, SYLVIA CAMPBELL,

MARGARET AND LEIGH MACKAY. PHOTO GILL GREEN

2,500 years from the Achaemenid dynasty

of Cyrus and Darius to the glories of 16th
century Isfahan under Shah Abbas.

PERSIA IN DOUBLE BAY, SYDNEY

Leigh Mackay
TAASAS event Persia in Double Bay, scheduled
for 23 June, was an invitation to view the
collection of local Iranophile, Frances Brown.
Demand from members was so high that
Frances kindly took three groups through her
collection over the weekend.
Entering her apartment on a clear winter
day was like walking into a Persian bazaar except the view from the sunny rooftop was
of Double Bay, not Isfahan, and the many
decorative items displayed for our enjoyment
included some rarer pieces than you would
probably find in most Iranian bazaars today.
Frances had recently returned from 20 years in
London as a volunteer at the Victoria & Albert
Museum. The V&As remarkable collection of
Persian and other Islamic art had inspired her to
travel to Iran, sparking her long love affair with
all things Persian. We saw some of the fruits of
this love affair: an eclectic array of glass, ceramics,
metal work, carpets and textiles collected during
15 years of visiting the bazaars of Irans old cities
such as Teheran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Yazd.

Interestingly, one of the oldest of the Persian

rugs, a Shirazi (Southwest Iran) on the floor,
was acquired not by Frances but by her parents
when she was a girl. An Iranian carpet dealer
arrived at their house on the NSW Liverpool
Plains in the 1930s and assured the family that
the rug would last forever. He may be right:
Frances says she still walks on it every day.

Amongst the many lovely items Frances

passed around the group (helped by her sister,
Sylvia) were glazed bowls with sophisticated
Chinese-inspired blue-and-white patterns,
which contrasted with ceramics bearing folk
motifs, as well as tribal rugs and animal
trappings with their bold and colourful
geometric designs. Amongst the interesting
metal artefacts was a relatively rare brass
compass that showed Muslim worshippers
the direction of Mecca.
Frances explained the history, techniques and
motifs of selected items, ranging over some

A TAASA VISIT TO THE WHITE

RABBIT GALLERY, SYDNEY
Minnie Biggs
On 25 May, 36 TAASA members met at the
White Rabbit Gallery under the aegis of Gill
Green. We were led in three groups by the
gallerys excellent guides around the latest
hang of the Gallerys contemporary Chinese
art collection.
The White Rabbit is one gallery where a
guide really makes a difference. Not keen on
explanations myself, nevertheless here they

TAA S A s 2 0 1 2 A N N U AL G E N E RAL M E E TI N G
Sandra Forbes
TAASAs Annual General Meeting for 2012
was held on 15 May 2012 in the Members
Boardroom at the Art Gallery of New South
Wales. Gill Green, President of TAASA, was
in the Chair, and 25 members attended.
The Financial Report for the year ended
31 December 2011 was presented by
Treasurer Ann Guild, who noted that extra
expenditure during 2012 had been planned
for, and was chiefly the result of celebrations
of TAASAs 20th anniversary, in particular
the publication of a special anniversary
issue of the TAASA Review. Her report was
received and accepted.
In her Presidents report to the meeting, Gill
noted that the 20th anniversary gold-covered
December 2011 issue of the TAASA Review was
the outcome of more than a years planning,
with input from a wide range of members and
institutions (including welcome sponsorship

28

by the Powerhouse Museum) and has been

hailed as a resounding success. TAASAs 20th
anniversary party was held at the Sherman
Contemporary Art Foundation in Sydney by
kind permission of Dr Gene Sherman; the 150
members and friends present were particularly
delighted that retiring AGNSW Director
and first Honorary Life Member of TAASA,
Edmund Capon, was able to attend. This was
also the occasion to announce the winners of
TAASAs Essay Prize for Asian arts students, a
TAASA initiative this year to encourage a new
generation of Asian art scholars.

fen Cheah, Ann Proctor and Sabrina Snow

offered themselves for re-election, and were
re-elected unopposed. Charlotte Galloway
and Susan Scollay, two new nominees for the
Committee, were also elected unopposed
for standard three-year terms. Matt Cox
and Jocelyn Chey re-offered their services
for one year, and it was agreed that they,
plus Margaret White and Todd Sunderman,
would be members of the Committee for
one year until the next AGM. For the full list
of current TAASA Committee members, see
Contents Page this issue.

The three-year appointment terms of

a number of members of the TAASA
Committee of Management were due to
expire at this meeting. Philip Courtney,
Sandra Forbes and Lucie Folan had advised
that they would not seek re-election, and
were thanked by the Chair and meeting for
their past contributions to TAASA. Hwei-

The meeting also agreed that Honorary Life

Membership be awarded to Josefa Green,
editor of the TAASA Review, in particular
for her work on the 20th anniversary issue.
It has been a very busy and extremely
satisfying year for TAASA and we hope that
we continue to go from strength to strength.

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

WHITE RABBIT GALLERY, (L - R) YVONNE TENPAS,

MOONYEEN ATKINSON. PHOTO GILL GREEN

are worthwhile. It is greatly enriching to learn,

for example, that an exquisite 3D sculpture
made entirely from twisted wire is based on
a traditional Chinese landscape, and that to
walk between the forms is to enter the ancient
painting. The shadows of this sculpture on the
wall resemble the painting as well.
Not every work of every artist may equally
appeal, but at the White Rabbit it can be said that
every piece is thought provoking, amusing,
sometimes head spinning, expanding the
visitors vision and understanding in one way
or another. Never do I smile as much as at the
White Rabbit. There is frequent reference to
classic calligraphy in this exhibition: brush
stroke styles are rendered in a modern but
recognizable way, connecting the extremely
contemporary with the richness of the past. A
display of metal tools turns out to be carved
from granite, beautiful!

TAA S A M E M B E R S DIAR Y
SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER 2012
Walkthrough of AGNSW Biennale
Asian Exhibits
Thursday 6 September, 10.15 to 11.45 am:
Dr Chye Lim Hong will be conducting a special
walkthrough of Asian artists exhibits in the
Biennale at the AGNSW for TAASA members.
$20 including coffee/tea at the AGNSW
Caf from 10.15-10.45 am. Numbers limited.
Bookings: Hwei-fen Cheah on 0430 585 208
or email: cheahhf@gmail.com
We gathered afterwards for delicious
dumplings and a wide variety of delicate teas,
and my secret favourite, some cheesy biscuits
made from a family recipe of the founder,
Judith Neilson. A lovely day enjoyed by all!

DR M I C H A E L B RA N D
Jill Sykes
Dr Michael Brands appointment as
director of the Art Gallery of NSW has been
celebrated and commended in Australia
and overseas. TAASA members might
consider themselves especially pleased
since he began his career in the visual arts
as an Asian specialist.
Australian-born Brand, 54, did his thesis
for his PhD in art history from Harvard
University
on
pre-Mughal
Indian
architecture; he was curator of Asian art
at the National Gallery of Australia from
1988 to 1996; and as assistant director at
the Queensland Art Gallery between 1996
and 2000, he led the development of its
renowned collection of Asia-Pacific art. His
wife, Tina Gomes Brand, whom he met in his
hometown, Canberra, was born in Malaysia
with an Indian family background.
But there is no way anyone should, or
could, pigeonhole Brand into a particular
cultural or geographical area of art. In
interviews after his appointment, he has
talked enthusiastically about American
and Latin American art, and the arts of
Islamic civilisations which have most
recently been his focus as consulting
director of the Aga Khan Museum under
construction in Toronto.
From 2005 to 2010, he was director of the
J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

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

His
achievements
there
included
resolving claims by Italy and Greece for
the restitution of antiquities, bringing
contemporary and non-Western art into
the museums programs and creating its
centre for photographs.
Arriving in the AGNSW directors office
late in June, he has, at the time of writing,
maintained his position that he is not going
to make major decisions or announcements
until he has had time to get to know the
Gallery, its staff and its context.
I think its reasonable to expect great
things from him, the director of New
Yorks Museum of Modern Art, Glenn
Lowry, was quoted in The Australian
Financial Review. Hes an extraordinarily
talented, driven, thoughtful individual
wholl give the Gallery his all.
Jill Sykes is editor of Look magazine, Art Gallery
Society of NSW.

TAASA Textile Study Group

Wednesday 12 September, 6 8pm:
Illustrated talk: Batik Design from Traditional
to Contemporary, from Craft to Art by Thienny
Lee. Thienny is a scholar and artist from
Malaysia who is currently undertaking a PhD
on the visual identity and dress construction
of Straits Chinese in British Malaya in the
19th and 20th centuries.
Venue: Curatorial Caf, Powerhouse
Museum, Sydney (enter via Macarthur
Street). $5 members; $10 non members.
Light supper served.
RSVP by Saturday, 8 September to:
helenperry@optushome.com.au
Floor Talk: Regeneration & transformation
of Asian Art at the NGV, Melbourne
Saturday 27 Oct, 24pm
The redesigned Asian Galleries at the
National Gallery of Victoria are opening in
October and TAASA members are invited to
an exclusive walkthrough. The permanent
collection galleries on the first floor have
been extensively refurbished and many new
acquisitions will be on display alongside
favourite iconic works from the Asian
collection. Please join the Asian curators fora
walkthrough, followed by afternoon tea.
Guests are also welcome.
$20 TAASA Members; $24 Guests (includes
afternoon tea)
Meet: Information Desk, Ground Level, NGV
International
Code: P12160; NGV Bookings: 8662 1555
TAASA Canberra Event
Saturday 3 November
An expert guided walkthrough has been
organised for two exhibitions in Canberra:
Divine Worlds: Indian Paintings at the
NGA and Go Figure! Contemporary Chinese
Portraiture at the National Portrait Gallery.
Enquiries to Charlotte Galloway at:
charlotte.galloway@anu.edu.au. Further
details will be provided closer to the date.
TAASA End of Year Party
TAASAs end of year party will be held on
Thursday 29 November at 6pm. Venue is still
to be finalised, but please put this date in
your diary.
29

W H AT S O N I N A U S TRALIA 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 SELECTIVE ROUNDUP OF EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
Compiled by Tina Burge
ACT

Arts of Asia Lectures - Semester II

Art Gallery of New South Wales

Divine worlds: Indian paintings

to October 2012

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

1 September 11 November 2012

Divine worlds brings together paintings from

the NGAs Indian collection, including recent
acquisitions. Dating from the 16th to the 20th
century, the paintings range from exquisite
intimate miniatures to vast hunting scenes,
monumental pilgrimage maps and brilliantly
coloured devotional shrine hangings.
A number of lectures and a series of films
are planned for the exhibition including
an overview of the exhibition by Melanie
Eastburn, curator of the exhibition and Curator,
Asian Art on 11 September at 12.45pm.
There will be an Indian Dance Performance
on 15 September at 7.00pm and a series of
programs for children and members.
For more information about events,
venues, prices and bookings go to:
www.nga.gov.au/divineworlds

The subject of Love continues to be explored in

the Tuesday lectures at AGNSW. In September,
themes such as The Tales of Ise in Japanese Art
and Chinese Scholars obsession with rocks are
some examples in this popular lecture series.

More than 170 artefacts from the

British Museum reveal many aspects of
Mesopotamian culture, from massive carved
stone reliefs depicting scenes of battles and
hunting to gold jewellery.
For further information go to:
museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum

For further information go to:

www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/calendar/artsasia-lecture-2012
Alexander the Great: 2000 years
of Treasures
Australian Museum, Sydney
24 November 2012 - 28 April 2013

This exhibition features the largest collection

of treasures ever to come to Australia from
the State Hermitage in St Petersburg, Russia.
Exclusive to Sydney, the exhibition includes
over 400 objects from classical antiquity
through to the modern age from both
Western and Non-Western origins, spanning
a period of almost 2500 years.

GOLD CUP FOUND 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

Asian Galleries - Re-opening

National Gallery of Victoria, International, Melbourne
October 2012

Go Figure! Contemporary Chinese Portraiture

National Portrait Gallery
13 September 2012 17 February 2013

Curated by Dr Claire Roberts, 55 works have

been drawn from the Uli Sigg collection,
acknowledged as one of the largest and
most significant collections of contemporary
Chinese art in the world. 1,463 artworks from
this collection have been donated to Hong
Kongs M+ Museum, which will open in 2017.

For further information go to:

www.alexandersydney.com.au
Go Figure! Contemporary Chinese Portraiture
Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation
15 September 1 December 2012

See details under National Portrait Gallery.

SCAFs exhibition will draw on different
works from the same contemporary Chinese
art collection.

NSW
VICTORIA
Nippon Jin
Japan Foundation, Sydney

The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia

31 August - 28 September 2012

Melbourne Museum, Melbourne

4 May - 7 October 2012

In a series of portraits, photographer Junichi

Takahashi explores the subtle difference
between Japanese as seen by the rest of the
world and Japanese as seen by the Japanese
in Japan. The exhibition also includes photos
from the disaster affected areas of Japan.
For further information go to:
www.jpf.org.au

30

The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia focuses

on three of the great centres of ancient
civilisation Sumer, Assyria and Babylon
bringing their rich history to life through
objects and multimedia. Themes in the
exhibition include palaces and royal power,
religious beliefs and rituals, burial practices
and royal tombs, and the myths and legends
that surround ancient Mesopotamia.

In October the NGVI will open the renovated

and expanded Asian Galleries. The collection
covers the arts of East Asia, South and
Southeast Asia from the second millennium
BC to the 21st century. Media represented
include paintings, calligraphy, prints, bronzes,
sculptures, ceramics, lacquer, jade, glass,
furniture and textiles, video. The Asian
galleries will now comprise The Art of China,
The Art of South and Southeast Asia, The
Art of Japan and Special Asian Exhibitions.
A series of events will celebrate the
re-opening including a TAASA Members'
exclusive introduction and viewing of the
Asian Galleries on 27 October, 2- 4pm.
Senior Curator Asian Art, Mae Anna Pang,
will give an introduction to the new Chinese
Gallery on 17 October at 12.30pm and on 21
October at 2.00pm she will give a talk on the
arts of Chinese emperors and scholars.

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

Jompet Kuswidananto and Eko Nugroho

National Gallery of Victoria International, Melbourne
18 October 2012 - 12 May 2013

Jompet Kuswidananto and Eko Nugroho

are members of the art community in
Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Jompet is an
installation artist, while Nugroho works
across diverse media; and together they
create paintings, murals and handmade
comic books, contemporary updates of the
tradition of shadow puppet theatre, and
collaborations with local craftspeople to
produce embroideries.
A series of events include a floor talk by
Kelly Gellatly, Senior Curator, Contemporary
Australian Art, NGV on 13 October at 11am.
The artists will also talk on 13 October at
12.30pm and 2.00pm.
For further information go to:
www.ngv.vic.gov.au

the school's most prominent proponents, this

two-part presentation traces the development
of the Rinpa aesthetic and demonstrates
how its style continued to influence artists
throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
Chinese Gardens - Pavilions, Studios,
Retreats
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
18 August 2012 - 6 January 2013

This exhibition explores the rich interactions

between pictorial and garden arts in China
across more than one thousand years. On
display are more than 60 paintings as well
as ceramics, carved bamboo, lacquerware,
metalwork, textiles and several contemporary
photographs, all drawn from the Metropolitan
Museum's permanent collections.
For more information go to:
www.metmuseum.org
THAILAND

INTERNATIONAL
Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, Bangkok
USA

Ongoing

Enlightened Beings: Buddhism in Chinese

A new museum in the Royal Palace enclosure

in Bangkok has opened to exhibit the costumes
of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. Different exhibits
include Her Majestys designer ensembles
made from hand-woven textiles produced by
members of SUPPORT, Her Majestys charity
dedicated to preserving Thai village weaving.
Another exhibit tells the story of the creation
in the 1960s of a new national dress for Thai
women through the presentation of historic
court textiles, archival photographs and film
and more than 30 examples from the Queens
personal collection.

Painting
Freer Gallery of Art, Washington
1 September 2012 24 February 2013

This exhibition focuses on the four main

categories of enlightened beings: the Buddha,
bodhisattvas, luohans and eccentric Chan
monks and lineage masters. 14 of the 27
works date to the Song, Yuan and early
Ming dynasties.
The Allure of Japan
Boston Museum of Fine Arts
24 March 31 December 2012

A fascination for all things Japanese swept

the United States in the period around 1900.
An influx of Japanese goods and emissaries
into America sparked a wave of interest in a
foreign culture once seen as impossibly remote.
This cultural moment is celebrated with a
rich display of rarely exhibited American
prints, posters, watercolors, and decorative
arts complemented by a selection from the
Museums renowned Japanese collections.
Designing Nature: The Rinpa Aesthetic
in Japanese Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
May 26, 2012January 13, 2013

The exhibition features more than 100

brilliantly executed works of art created in
Japan by the Rinpa-school artists. Highlighting

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

For more information go to:

queensirikitmuseumoftextiles.org
SINGAPORE
Treasures of the Aga Khan Museum:
Architecture in Islamic Arts
Asian Civilisations Museum
19 July 2012 - 28 October 2012

The exhibition includes pieces from the

collection of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV,
spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslim
community, covering Iran, India, Turkey, Syria,
Spain and Egypt, over a thousand year time
span. It considers both religious and secular
concepts of space and contextual photographs
serve as a background to artistic works.
For further information go to:
www.acm.org.sg

Organising study tours since 1989. Australias

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 2012
During 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 2013
Brian Brennan explores the new Tunisia and Algeria (4 - 23
Feb). Join Terry Bisley in Burma (11 Feb 01 Mar). For new
insights try Simon Gentrys Japan: Through the Torii Gate
(8 - 27 April) or Frances Brown guiding you through Classic Iran
(13 Apr 08 May). And Rob Lovells 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.
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: robl@alumnitravel.com.au;
www.alumnitravel.com.au

31