Decolonising the History of Art and Archaeology - Part One | SOAS University of London
Channel: SOAS University of London
Date: 28/06/2019

Decolonising the History of Art and Archaeology: Publishing Cultures in Southeast Asia and Beyond (part 1) was a workshop held by the The Southeast Asian Art Academic Programme, School of Arts, SOAS University of London on 22 May 2019. Find out more at http://bit.ly/2XtIkmg

This workshop examines the state of the field of the History of Art and Archaeology in a range of non-Western areas through the prism of publishing cultures.

In each of the focus areas - Southeast Asia, China and the Middle East - disparate bodies of knowledge in European and local languages can be said to operate in parallel, enabling diverse types of knowledge to flourish while also limiting the sharing of data and the coalescence of thought. Hierarchies between these bodies are to some degree mobile, and can impact the establishment and perpetuation of authority on all sides.

With joint support from the Southeast Asian Art Academic Programme (SAAAP) and the Department of History of Art and Archaeology (School of Arts) at SOAS, the workshop has a decolonising aim: to refine extant strategies for facilitating recognition of the many sites of knowledge production in the field, and for enhancing intra-regional as well as international dialogue. Publishing strategies which seek to foster collaboration and diversity at once, we posit, can open paths for ensuring standards of scholarship without privileging any one hegemonic voice.

The core programme will comprise case studies from Southeast Asia pertaining to publishing cultures and patterns of knowledge production and dissemination in the ancient to pre-modern Southeast Asian Buddhist and Hindu Archaeological, Art Historical and Heritage fields. Other case studies will include reflections on similar issues in the fields of Chinese and Islamic art, along with presentations of ongoing institutional initiatives at SOAS and the Association for Asian Studies.

Participants include Professors Ashley Thompson, Shane McCausland and Scott Redford (SOAS), Dr. Noel Hidalgo Tan (SPAFA, Bangkok), Dr. Heng Piphal (University of Hawai’i), Dr. Mulaika Hijjas (SOAS), Dr. Cristina Juan (SOAS), Dr. Krisna Uk (Association for Asian Studies), Siyonn Sophearith (Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, Cambodia), Duyen Nguyen (SOAS, Danang Museum of Cham Sculpture, Pratu), Udomluck Hoontrakul (SOAS, Thammasat University, Pratu), Ivy Yi Yan Chan (SOAS), Pipad Krajaejun (SOAS, Thammasat University), Seng Sonetra (SOAS, Royal University of Fine Arts, Cambodia).