VO LU M E 1 7 N O.

2 J U N E 2 0 0 8

the journal of
the asian arts society
of australia

TAASA Review

contents
Volume 17 No.2 June 2008

EDITORIAL : FIN D I N G A F O C U S

TA A S A R E V I E W

Sandra Forbes

DEE COURT, 194 4 - 2 0 0 8 : A T R I B U T E

THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC.

Abn 64093697537 Vol. 17 No. 2, June 2008
ISSN 1037.6674

Gill Green

TASHI KABUM: A M U S TA N G T R E A S U R E R E V E A L E D

Gerry Virtue

THOLING MONA S T E R Y: C O O P E R AT I O N A N D C O N S E R VAT I O N

Rong Fan

12

COLLECTORS CH O I C E : A T I B E TA N D R AG O N C H E S T

Todd Sandeman

design /layout

13

COLLECTORS CH O I C E : A M O N G O L I A N YA M A

printing

Boris Kaspiev and Richard Price

14

TRAVELLERS CH O I C E : P O L I S H A R T D E C O I N I N D I A

Maria Wronska-Friend

15

NEW SOUTH ASI A N G A L L E R Y I N TO R O N TO

TAASA Review is published quarterly and is distributed to members

Haema Sivanesan

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

16

RAFFLES AND P R A M B A N A N

Philip Courtenay

18

DJUWADI: FOLD I N G T H E R E L AT I O N A L I N TO A R T

Alexandra Crosby

Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134

editorI A L email: editorial@taasa.org.au

General editor, Josefa Green

Editor this issue, Sandra Forbes

publications committee

Josefa Green (convenor) Melanie Eastburn Sandra

Forbes Ann MacArthur Jim Masselos Ann
Proctor Susan Scollay Sabrina Snow Christina
Sumner
Ingo Voss, VossDesign
John Fisher Printing

Published by The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc.

PO Box 996 Potts Point NSW 2011
www.taasa.org.au
Enquiries: admin@taasa.org.au

submissions of articles, notes and reviews on Asian visual and

performing arts. All articles are refereed. Additional copies and
subscription to TAASA Review are available on request.
No opinion or point of view is to be construed as the opinion of
The Asian Arts Society of Australia Inc., its staff, servants or agents.
No claim for loss or damage will be acknowledged by TAASA
Review as a result of material published within its pages or
in other material published by it. We reserve the right to alter

21

EXHIBITION: MU LT I P L E L I V E S, PA R A L L E L T R A D I T I O N S

Devleena Ghosh

22

REPORT: FUNDI N G D E V E LO P M E N T S, A S I A N A R T S

23

INTERNATIONAL S Y M P O S I U M O N B U D D H I S T A R T

Ann MacArthur

24

TAASA MEMBERS D I A R Y

25

RECENT TAASA AC T I V I T I E S

26

WHATS ON: JUN E AU G U S T 2 0 0 8

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COVER
Two Rajput princes, India (Jodhpur, Rajasthan), c. 1910. Opaque watercolour with gold,
silver and mica on cotton, 75.6 x 91 cm. Collection National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra (1992.1374); shown in the recent exhibition Intimate Encounters at the
Art Gallery of New South Wales. See p. 23 this issue.

A full Index of articles published in TA A S A R e v i e w since its beginnings

in 1991 is available on the TA A S A web site , www. taasa.org.au

Back page
Full inner page
Half page horizontal
Third page (vertical or horizontal)
Half column
Insert

For further information re advertising, including

discounts for regular quarterly advertising, please contact
advertising@taasa.org.au
The deadline for all articles
for our nex t issue is 1 JULY 2008
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T A A S A committee

EDITORIAL: FINDING A FOCUS

Sandra Forbes

Judith R utherford Presi dent

Collector and specialist in Chinese textiles

G ill G reen V ice P resid ent

Art historian specialising in Cambodian culture

ANN GUILD TREASURER

Former Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK)

KATE JOHNSTON SE CRETA RY

Intellectual property lawyer with

an interest in Asian textiles
JOCELYN CHEY

Visiting Professor, Department of Chinese Studies,

University of Sydney; former diplomat
Philip Courtenay

Former Professor and Rector of the Cairns Campus,

James Cook University, with a special interest in
Southeast Asian ceramics
MELANIE EASTBURN

Curator of Asian art, National Gallery of Australia

Sandra Forbes

Editorial consultant with long-standing interest

in South and Southeast Asian art
Josefa Green

General editor of TAASA Review. Collector of Chinese

ceramics, with long-standing interest in East Asian
art as student and traveller
GERALDINE HARDMAN

Collector of Chinese furniture and Burmese lacquerware

ANN PROCTOR

Lecturer in Asian Art, Sydney University

and the National Art School, Sydney
ANN ROBERTS

Art consultant specialising in Chinese

ceramics and works of art
SABRINA SNOW

Has a long association with the Art Gallery of New

South Wales and a particular interest in the arts of China
CHRISTINA SUMNER

Principal Curator, Design and Society,

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney
state representatives
Australian Capital Territory
Robyn Maxwell

Visiting Fellow in Art History, ANU;

Senior Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia
Northern Territory
Joanna Barrkman

Curator of Southeast Asian Art and Material Culture,

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Queensland
Suhanya Raffel

Head of Asian and Pacific Art, Queensland Art Gallery

South Australia
James B ennett

Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia

Victoria
Carol Cains

Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art,

National Gallery of Victoria International
TASMANIA
Kate Brittlebank

Lecturer in Asian History, School of History and Classics,

University of Tasmania

People everywhere have been appalled and

saddened at the loss of life caused by the
recent natural disasters in Burma and China.
The scale of destruction been so horrifying
that even to think about whether works of art
and architecture will have survived or might
be restored seems heartless or even irrelevant.
But of course it is not irrelevant. The worlds
history and civilisation is recorded in its arts.
As is clear from a number of articles in
this issue of TAASA Review, the protection
and conservation of Asian works of of
art, particularly in situ, continues to be a
significant problem. For example, Rong Fan
describes the restoration of murals at Tholing
Monastery, western Tibet, where the temple
was used as a barn during the Cultural
Revolution; Philip Courtenays paper on
Prambanan in Java mentions the significant
damage inflicted by an earthquake in 2006.
Museums and public and private foundations
play a major role in both protection of
sites and conservation of objects for future
generations. Therefore Im sure that TAASA
members will be pleased to read in this
issue (p. 22) about increased interest among
Australian public galleries and museums in
funding the arts of Asia. The National Gallery
of Victoria has recently launched a new Asian
Art Acquisition Fund; VisAsia at the Art
Gallery of NSW is behind an increasing
number of events and acquisitions; the
Director of the National Gallery of Australia
has announced that his Gallerys central
priority will be to purchase Australian and
Asia-Pacific works; the Art Gallery of South
Australia is building a significant collection
of Islamic Art (ref. TAASA Review December
2007); and Queenslands new GoMA focuses
on the contemporary arts of the region.
Private collectors, too, play an important
part in the preservation of art objects. Its
always stimulating when a collector wants
to enthuse about their love object, and two
do so in this issue, writing about an energetic
Mongolian bronze Yama and a spectacular
Tibetan dragon trunk respectively
Sometimes, without any particular initial
intention, an issue of TAASA Review
seems naturally to develop a focus on a
particular subject or geographic area. That
has happened with this issue, where the
majority of articles concern the arts of South

Asia and the Himalayas. Some core articles

were submitted for example, Gerry Virtues
about his adventures in Mustang others
were commissioned because they seemed
appropriately contingent. And there you are.
Maybe this South Asia leaning was in some
subtle way due to our wish in this issue to
celebrate the life of the beautiful Dee Court,
whose gift for friendship combined with her
passion for South and Central Asian art to
provide wonderful experiences for so many
people. A tribute to Dee is, appropriately, our
lead article in this issue.
While Dees principal fascination and
expertise in recent years was with the Islamic
arts (particularly the textiles) of Central Asia,
she also loved the decorative arts of the
Indian sub-continent. She would have loved
the two Rajasthani princes who appear on the
cover of this issue, and would have analysed
the details of their garments and jewellery
meticulously including their watches, of
which they are so proud that they wear them
outside their cuffs. She would have enjoyd
the exhibition Intimate Encounters, in which
this painting was recently shown, and have
appreciated Devleena Ghoshs review here.
Dee would have been pleased to know that
a new South Asian gallery has opened in
Toronto, and would have enjoyed knowing
more about the Umaid Bhawan Palace at
Jodhpur in Rajasthan which is not far from
where she died.
Our cover painting was obviously influenced
by photography, which has in itself played
a vital role in recording Asian art, history
and civilisation. The next (September 2008)
issue of TAASA Review, guest edited by Dr
Jim Masselos, will focus on photography. It
is timed to coincide with the internationally
significant exhibition Picture Paradise: the first
century of Asia-Pacific photography 1840s to
1940s at the National Gallery of Australia,
and other associated exhibitions to be held in
Canberra. See our Whats On section for more
details. And dont forget to book for TAASAs
seminar on Beijing (Sydney and Melbourne,
in July and August).

D E E C O U R T, 1 9 4 4 - 2 0 0 8 : A T R I B U T E
Gill Green

Dee Court (R) WITH Helen Perry (L) AND Gill Green (C)
at the TAASA Textile Group's end of year party, 2006.
Photo Aynsley Cameron

Dee Court. Photo ROZ CHENEY

veryone who
knew Dee Court
was shocked and
deeply saddened to
hear of her passing,
which was both
sudden and far too
soon. Her spirit
moved on while she
was leading a tour
to
northwestern
India in January this year. Some consolation
for her family and their huge circle of friends
and acquaintances is located in this particular
time and place, a region which she loved and
with which she had so many connections
since the 1970s.

From early in her adult life, Dees personal

interests were involved in things textilerelated. She herself was a living embodiment
of her textile interests - she so often wore,
and with such flair, gorgeous examples of
either traditional costumes or contemporary
versions of Asian or Central Asian dress.

Dee taught art at school in Mosman; led

teachers enrichment days at the AGNSW;
and was an avid quilter together with a close
group of long-time friends. In the 1980s Dee
travelled to South and Southeast Asia, then
in the 1990s to Central Asia, initially on her
own; but here she befriended Sheila Paine,
author of The Afghan Amulet, and together
they travelled, researching and penetrating
undaunted into little-known parts of the
region. This led to Dee leading group tours
to the stans Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,
Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. These tours
were inevitably almost instantly booked out,
with fellow travellers eager to experience
her unique insights and enthusiasms. Dee of
course befriended many professional curators
and textile craftspeople in the stans, and they
too will be devastated to hear that she will not
be returning.
These travels and enthusiasms fuelled Dees
passion for collecting; but at the same time
she was quietly carrying out groundbreaking
research. Garments such as paranjas (coat-like

garments with vestigial sleeves) and chachvans

(horsehair face veils) of the Central Asian
region specially attracted her attention. Dee
eventually located the people who made the
panels of horsehair from which the veils were

In the desert NW of Khiva, Uzbekistan, 2005. L-R Helen Clark, Terry Bisley, Dee Court. Photo Sandy Watson

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Eating fish sandwiches, Golden Horn,

In Azerbaijan 2006. Photo Sandy Watson

constructed and, in typical Dee fashion, she

taught herself the technique by which these
were made.
Dees persistence and application was not
only for collecting and travelling. In 2002 she
embarked on a course of academic study at
the University of New England, and in 2006
graduated with a Masters degree in Islamic
Studies, with a high distinction.
Dee was an integral part of Sydneys broader
artistic and cultural scene connecting with
ethnic communities in Sydney. Together with
her husband Peter, she was deeply involved
in the Oriental Rug Society of NSW, in The
Asian Arts Society of Australia, and in VisAsia,
the Asian art support group of the Art Gallery
of NSW.
In 1999, Dee took over the role of convenor
of the TAASA Textile Study Group from
Ann Baker, founder of the Study Group. She
remained as a most efficient and inspiring

Istanbul, Turkey. 2006

co-convenor until her death. At a memorial

meeting of the Textile Study Group on 12
February 2008, participants were encouraged
to contribute memories of Dee, and to show
the group objects connected with those
memories. Christina Sumner, curator of
the exhibition Bright Flowers (Powerhouse
Museum 2004-05) acknowledged how Dees
specialist knowledge of Central Asian textiles
informed the exhibition. Kate Johnston
displayed a Lakai embroidered panel that
she purchased when she first met Dee -- by
chance, in Peshawar, Pakistan, a decade ago.
Lenore Blackwood, another intrepid traveller,
recalled how completely unexpectedly she and
Dee spotted each other across a crowded street
in Baku, Azerbaijan. Joyce Burnard offered
memories of how she met Dee through her
Indian textile connection with Robin Duffecy,
Peter Courts sister, and noted that Dee had
read a draft of her book on Indian textiles and
had encouraged her to publish. I brought an
example of lotus-stem fibre weaving, a topic
that Dee was planning to research on a trip to
Inle Lake, Burma in February 2008 and then
present to the Textile Study Group -- but she
did not make that trip. TAASA foundation
member Heleanor Feltham read out a moving
poem she had written in memory of Dee
(reproduced, with permission, on the right).
At this meeting Textile Study Group members
were invited to contribute to a fund which will
be used to purchase a textile to be accessioned
into the Powerhouse collection. This textile
will constitute a permanent memorial to Dee
in the public domain.
Gill Green is co-convenor of TAASAs Textile Study
Group, and the author of Traditional Textiles of
Cambodia (2003) and the forthcoming Pictorial
Cambodian Textiles (2008).

For Dee
After the rain, after the waiting, the chancel
Fills with diffracted light
Warm sandstone, arching beams,
tall shafts of glass,
A seldom congregation gathering
As we have often done
For meetings, papers, happy seminars
The temporal dance of friendships as we fill
Space with our commonality.
I keep expecting you, no opening,
no lecture quite complete
Without your entrance;
(You were always elegant as a woven flower.
Jewelled, in a susurrus of fabrics,
Upright and brilliant as a striped tulip)
Never complete without your generosity
Of knowledge, spirit, friendship,
Sharing of food, sharing of sheer delight
In Silk Road spaces and the artistry
Of woven things.
You saw the passion held in tight constraint
Within the mathematics of the loom,
The womens arts that quietly subvert
The narrow lives of custom;
Saw the palimpsest
Of years and lives behind the bright facades
And glittering tiles of fabled Samarkand.
You were always one to go a little further
Beyond the Silk Road to uncharted zones The unknown siren spaces call you now;
While we, shut out from light like evening
moths
Beat with our ragged wings against the glass;
And moving on, you break through into
brightness.
Heleanor Feltham
March 2008

Tour group at the Caravanserai dinner, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 2005. Photo Sandy Watson

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

TASHI KABUM: A MUSTANG TREASURE REVEALED

Gerry Virtue

had wanted to visit the tiny kingdom of

Upper Mustang (ethnically Tibetan but
for centuries part of Nepal) and its old walled
capital of Lo Manthang ever since reading
Michel Peissels 1964 book Mustang, A Lost
Tibetan Kingdom. In August 2007, an unusually
intense Himalayan monsoon fortuitously
diverted me there (my original intended
destination was Mt Kailas in Tibet).

On the map, Mustang is a bump on the

northern border of Nepal, projecting into
Tibet. Until the early 1970s, the Khampas of
Eastern Tibet used the area, which has an
average altitude of around 4000 metres, as a
base in their guerrilla war against the Chinese
invasion of Tibet, and for a long time the area
was closed to outsiders; the ban was lifted
only in 1992 . Big attractions for me were the
wall paintings in two 15th century temples
in Mustangs capital Lo Manthang, and the
13th century wall paintings of Luri Kabum,
a remote stupa cave in a valley southeast of
this tiny medieval city. Then, in May 2007,
Mustang acquired even stronger appeal when
I read the report of the discovery of a 12th
century cave containing 55 wall paintings, to
the northeast of the capital at an altitude of
3400 metres. The international discovery team
called this the Snow Leopard Cave, as it
had been the lair of one of these magnificent,
elusive animals.
Lo Manthang was a demanding eight day
walk due north from the little Nepalese
town of Beni beside the Kali Gandaki River,
where the raging, gun-metal grey monsoon

floodwaters were rushing through the worlds

deepest gorge between two Himalayan giants,
Mt Annapurna and Mt Dhaulagiri. During the
trek upriver along the ancient trade route to
Tibet, the rain continued to pour down until
I emerged into the rain-shadow north of the
Himalayas, where, as I entered Mustang, the
downpour stopped.
Lo, as the kingdom of Mustang is known to
its inhabitants, is a high altitude desert region
with yellow, ochre and grey hills, eroded
escarpments and emerald green cultivation
in a few well-favoured valleys; spectacularly
sited villages lie scattered along the ancient
trail that leads on into Tibet. From a spartan
guest house probably built around the 16th
century, I set out to explore the tortuous lanes
of the walled medieval city. Founded by the
warrior king Ame Pal in the late 14th century,
Lo Manthang still has a king, the 25th direct
descendant. As early as the eighth century,
Lo was recorded in Tibetan and Dunhuang
annals, and the mud wall ruins of various hilltop forts indicate that it was a southern part
of the even earlier pre-Buddhist kingdom of
Zhang-Zhung (Bellezza 1998-99).
Being within Nepals borders, Mustangs
Tibetan art and culture were spared the
ravages of the Chinese occupation of Tibet and
the destruction of the Cultural Revolution.
The old city possesses two fine old temples,
each with outstanding wall paintings dating
from the early 15th century. The earlier of the
two, Jampa Lhakang as the name indicates,
it contains a monumental image of Maitreya,

the future Buddha was constructed by King

Ame Pal around 1430 CE, around the same
time, and in the same Tibeto-Newar style, as
the well-known Gyantse Kumbum in Southern
Tibet. (Newars, the indigenous people of the
Kathmandu Valley, were the master artists/
craftsmen of the period; on a have brush,
will travel basis, they worked and travelled
widely in Central and Southern Tibet).
Over the centuries, the Jampas paintings,
including a unique group of mandalas, had
deteriorated until they were almost completely
obscured by butter-lamp smoke, grime and
water damage. The American Himalayan
Foundation has funded an extensive Jampa
Restoration Project, and in the temple I was
able to talk with Italian art conservator Luigi
Fieni, who had worked on the restoration
of the Sistine Chapel and who has been
coming to Lo Manthang for the past nine years.
He and two colleagues are presently working
on and supervising the Jampa project, which
also employs some 40 local artists (see the
film Lost Treasures of Tibet). It was simply
magic to see, under their arc-lamps, the 15th
century masterpieces emerging from the
ancient grime.
Mr Fieni was one of the team of Nepalese,
Italian and American art conservators,
archeologists, conservation architects and
mountaineers who earlier in the year had
discovered the Snow Leopard Cave with
its intact 12th century Pala-style paintings.
The fact that his team included experienced
mountaineers should have alerted me, but
when he suggested I go and take a look for
myself, I gave mountaineering little thought,
and next morning enthusiastically hired two
ponies with my guide, Bhim. We rode off
northeast into the fantastic, eroded organpipe conglomerate landscape of Chhosar,
with its hundreds of man-made caves, many
still inhabited.
Beyond Chhosar, in a high, desolate and
uninhabited valley, I began to realise why the
discovery team had included skilled climbers.
After we left our horses and climbed a high
rocky ridge, the faint trail became rough steps
which led down to a perilous ledge. The trail
then descended further into a rocky chasm,
from where it climbed another high, knife-like
ridge, and from this ridge-top disappeared
down a further precipitous slope to the cave.
Exhaustion, lack of climbing skills, and sheer

Lo Manthang, a walled city founded in the 14th century, capital of the Kingdom of Lo,
Upper Mustang, Nepal. Photo Gerry Virtue 2007

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Chapel at the entrance to the 13th century

cave temple of Luri Kabum, Upper Mustang, Nepal.
Photo Gerry Virtue 2007

India.) Learning of Luris new self-created

stupa, Lama Kunsang flew there (sic), alighting
on a large boulder atop a particularly striking
needle-like, weathered spire. According to this
legend, before returning to Damodar Kund he
painted the stupa and the walls of the cave
with the images we find today.

terror prevented me from going further than

the ledge.
While the Snow Leopard Cave proved beyond
me, I was nevertheless buoyed at the prospect
of visiting Luri Kabum, a 13th century stupa
cave in a remote valley two days southwest
of Lo Manthang. The trek was strenuous but
the site was by no means inaccessible, and
with Bhim and our two porters I reached
Luri Gompa, beyond the village of Yara and
at the foot of a fantastic array of fluted, organ
pipe spires and pinnacles. High above us Luri
Kabum lay hidden behind a precariouslyperched, ochre-painted chapel, surrounded by
dozens of other caves and weather-sculpted
spires. The difficult scramble to reach it was
nothing like the death-defying approach to
the Snow Leopard Cave, and seeing the 13th
century paintings around the walls and ceiling
of the cave was indeed wonderful. The cave
measures about five metres square, allowing
enough room for ritual circumambulation
around a central white stupa. On the ceiling,
some five or six metres above us, were painted
eight siddhas and a mandala. As these have all
been published (Neumann 1994, Heller 1999), I
will say no more about them other than to relate
the local tale of Luri Kabum as told me by Mr
Pasang, the schoolteacher at Luri Gompa in the
valley below, where he instructs eight pupils.

And Mr Pasang had another surprise. Why do

Westerners like the Luri paintings so much?
he asked. This was not easy to answer, but
I explained that they were very fine, quite
unique, and from a very early period when
Newari painters were the artistic masters of
the region. I see, he said; well, if you like, I can
show you another cave down the valley that
has paintings like this. What? More paintings
like this? Sure, he said: in Tashi Kabum.
This was a name I had not heard before. Mr
Pasang explained that an American tour
group leader who enjoyed climbing had
discovered the cave (Tashi Kabum) some
years ago (McCue 1992).
To say I was astonished would be a serious
understatement. But then I thought about it.
There are caves all over Mustang, hundreds
clearly visible in this valley alone, almost all
inaccessible, so it was quite conceivable some
of them might contain paintings. But paintings
of the quality of Luri? The prospect was
irresistible, and Mr Pasang good-heartedly
led us back down the valley to where a group
of caves loomed high above us in a cliff face,
caves we had passed on our way to Luri.
Alas, they were quite inaccessible, at least to
me. But not to Mr Pasang. The cave was some
50 or 60 metres above us on a slightly less
than vertical slope of unstable conglomerate
rock and crumbling earth. He assured me he
could climb it easily and had visited the cave
several times. If I give you my camera, I asked,
would you take a few photos? Sure, he said. So

I explained the cameras basic functions, and

off he set up the precarious slope, followed by
my guide Bhim and one of our porters. Neither
of them could get far, however, while the agile
Mr Pasang soon disappeared into the cave,
reappearing a few moments later at a small
opening further along the rock face to give us
a reassuring wave. Half an hour later he was
back, smiling broadly. As if an old hand with
a digital camera, he had taken a number of
well-composed and reasonably comprehensive
photos. These showed that the cave had similar
dimensions to Luri Kabum, that its paintings
had many of the same elements and were more
or less contemporary with them. Mr Pasang
also reported that the stupa had been broken
into, presumably in a hunt for treasure, and
that a rough hole had been cut into the wall
opposite the original entrance.
Apart from this damage, and some flaking,
the paintings appear to be in good condition,
somewhat better than those of Luri, probably
because access is so difficult. Unlike Luri,
however, there are only two principal figures:
a four-armed, radiantly white Shadakshari
(six syllables) Lokesvara, a form of Mahayana
Buddhisms most venerated bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara, of whom the later Dalai
Lamas were believed to be manifestations;
and a lama tentatively identified (with thanks
to David Templeman) as Rinchen Zangpo
the Great Translator, who is a much revered
figure, particularly in the Western Himalayas.
He was one of 21 monks sent to India to study
Buddhism in the mid-10th century by the
ruler of the West Tibetan kingdom of Guge,
at a time when Buddhism had virtually been
extinguished in Central Tibet. Only Rinchen
Zangpo and one other monk survived the
journey, and he returned to Guge in 978
CE with many Buddhist works, becoming
a renowned scholar and founding several
temples in Western Tibet. His life and work

According to this legend, the stupa in the cave

was svayambhu or spontaneously self-created
(originally an Indian concept, often applied
to Shivalinga, and of course also the name
of the famous Buddhist Stupa Temple in the
Kathmandu Valley). Its existence was divined
by a lama, Kunsang Jaili, who lived in a
hermitage beside the sacred lakes of Damodar
Kund, about a two day trek southeast of Luri.
(Damodar Kund lies at an altitude of some
5000 metres and is within Nepal, very close
to the Tibetan border. It is now a pilgrimage
destination for Hindus, of whom I met two
groups making their way there on foot from
Images of Shadakshari Lokesvara and Rinchen Zangpo, c. 13th century, in the stupa cave
of Tashi Kabum, Upper Mustang, Nepal. Photo Gerry Virtue/Mr Pasang 2007

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Ceiling Mandala with the eight auspicious symbols in the stupa cave of Tashi Kabum,
Upper Mustang, Nepal. Photo Gerry Virtue/Mr Pasang 2007

various symbols including pearls, vajras,

stylised flames, fabric panels and a foliate
design. From the outermost of these circles
a hanging valance is depicted, comprising
small sun and moon symbols, tassels and
loops of pearls, each with a pendant jewel (a
similar valance is painted along the top of the
base of the stupa dome at Luri). Below this is
a sumptuous band of flowering lotuses, each
the centre of a swirling mass of tendrils and
leaves. A similar feature appears at Luri below
the eight painted siddhas.

are celebrated as marking the beginning of the

second propagation of Buddhism into Tibet.
These two figures dominate the cave and are
a little larger than any figures in Luri Kabum;
they are framed side by side in their respective
aureoles (Shadaksharis is of stylised flames)
in a panel approximately a metre high by
one and a half metres wide. The famous six
syllable mantra Om Mane Padme Hum is
repeated several times around the cave in
large, bold white Tibetan script on each side of
the figures, clearly affirming the dedication of
the cave to Shadakshari Lokesvara (another,
different mantra is painted beside the entry
way, but is partly obliterated). This form of
Avalokitesvara, holding a crystal rosary in
his upper right hand, a white lotus in his left,
and clasping a jewel at his heart with the other
two hands, is also known as Lotus Jewel.
There are many similarities to the figures in
Luri Kabum, but some differences. The throne
back and the drapery falling from its corners
are almost identical to that of a smaller
Shadakshari painted on the Luri stupa dome

(Heller 2001:70). The mannered, undulating

hemline on the throne back and drapery, and
the details of garments and jewellery, together
suggest a late 13th century date for both caves
(Neumann 1994). In Luri Kabum, jewels
are attached to the throne backs of several
images, elements that do not appear in Tashi
Kabum, where the throne backs of each figure
display two geese (hamsa) whose feathers
swirl elaborately to form a nimbus around
the head. Wild geese are symbols of divine
knowledge and purity; a perfected being, like
the wild goose, is free from limitation, being
equally at home on the earth, in the water and
in the sky.
The dome of the ceiling is elegantly painted
with the Eight Auspicious Signs, each
resting on the russet petal of a stylised lotus,
around an inner circle with eight hexagonal
jewel shapes and a central circle containing
an elaborately-jewelled double vajra, an
arrangement suggestive of a mandala. The
eight-petalled lotus, in turn, is contained
within six concentric circles made up of

All the elements in the caves layout

and design emphasise the Lotus and the
Jewel, thus paying homage to this form of
Avalokitesvara, bodhisattva of compassion.
At the time of the construction of Luri Kabum
and Tashi Kabum, nearly 200 years before the
founding of Lo Manthang, the region may
have been subject to the Khasa Mallas (Tib.
Yatse), who were based in Jumla, West Nepal;
although it was also the time of Kubilai Khan
and the Mongol-sponsored Sakya ascendancy
in Central Tibet. The two caves are more or
less equidistant from Jumla and from Sakya
Monastery in Southern Tibet. It is difficult
to determine their exact function, who
painted them, and why they are located in
such a remote valley, away from major trade
routes. Local legend holds that there are other
painted stupa caves in the area, and further
down this valley there are indeed many other
groups of caves, including what may even
be called a cave city, high on a fluted, eroded
escarpment, and quite inaccessible other than
to experienced and well-equipped climbers.
Returning down the valley and making my
way south out of Mustang, I was left with the
puzzle of how people gained access to these
caves in earlier times. Was the landscape
then less eroded, perhaps less of a desert and
possessing more vegetation? Had the climate
changed? A clue may be that the massive
wooden pillars supporting the 15th century
temples in Lo Manthang are said to have come
from local forests, yet today there is not a tree
to be found anywhere in the area.
It could well be a rewarding experience
to return to the area with one or two wellequipped, experienced climbers, and to
explore the valley for other caves said to be
painted in the manner of Luri and Tashi -although such an expedition would require
more funds than the average tourist has at his
or her disposal.
Gerry Virtue lives in the Blue Mountains with his
wife, Pamela, and is a collector and amateur
student of Indian and Himalayan art.

Tashi Kabum cave complex, Upper Mustang, Nepal. Photo Gerry Virtue 2007

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

T H O L I N G M O N A S T E R Y: C O O P E R A T I O N A N D C O N S E R V A T I O N
Rong Fan

holing Monastery is one of the most

significant Buddhist monuments of the
many monasteries scattered through the
Himalayan region. Located near the remote
town of Zhada (formerly Tsamda) in the valley
of the Xiangquan River in Ali (formerly Ngari)
in western Tibet, the monastery compound
covers more than 300,000 square metres and
is encircled by vast barren hills. Tholing dates
from the 9th-14th century, and is directly
linked to the period of the Guge kingdom and
the activities of the Great Translator Rinchen
Zangpo (958-1055 CE). Considered one of
the three major religious foundations of the
Second Diffusion of the Buddhist Faith in
the western Himalaya region, the monastery
documents a key era in Tibetan history.
Although today only five main temples and
a dozen stupas survive, Chinas State Council
in 1996 listed the monastery (known as the
Tuoling Si in Chinese) as a national cultural
heritage site.

The history of the Guge kingdom dates back

to Glandarma, 42nd king of the Tubo empire,
who came to power in 838 CE and, according
to records, implemented a series of policies to
suppress Buddhism. He encountered strong
resistance, and was eventually assassinated
in front of the Jokhang in Lhasa. A fierce
struggle for the inheritance of the throne
ensued, the Tubo Empire collapsed, and

Tibet decended into a 30-year civil war.

One of the descendants of the Tubo King,
Huidenimargun, fled to the region of Ngari,
where he married the daughter of the chief of
the local tribe and was crowned king. Later
he divided his kingdom into three parts and
appointed his three sons to reign over them.
The third son, Desugun, ruled the region in
western Tibet that became the kingdom of
Guge. His dynasty lasted for more than 700
years, until Ladakhi forces destroyed it.
The ancient Guge Kindom strongly fostered
Buddhism. One king, Sonai, made particular
extensive efforts, and chose to become a monk
with the ordination name Lama Yeshesve
(active 10th-11th centuries). One of his finest
accomplishments was the construction of the
Tholing Monastery in 996 CE and this marked
the commencement of the Second Diffusion
of the Buddhist Faith in Tibet.
Lama Yeshesve invited senior monks from
eastern Indian to instruct the Tibetan monks
Sa-du, Gu-na and Za-jia in the Vinaya code:
the Tibetan Vinaya School, following the
Indian-based tradition, thus became known
as the Upper Vinaya School. He also sent
young Tibetans to Kashmir to study Buddhist
teachings and invited prominent Indian
monks, including the famous Indian saint
Atisha (982-1054 CE), to preach and translate

Buddhist scriptures. Together with other

young Tibetan monks, the Great Translator
Rinchen Zangpo , returned to Guge to settle at
Tholing monastery, where he spent most of his
life preaching and translating Buddhist texts.
In 1076, under the sponsorship of King Zelde,
a major religious convocation known as the
Grand Summons Ceremony was held at
Tholing monastery: prominent monks from
eastern, western and central Tibet gathered
to debate doctrine and preach as well as give
transmissions in teachings. This ceremony
was most significant in both the history of
the Guge kingdom and the development of
Tibetan Buddhism: Tholing Monastery had
now established its status as the leading
monastery in the western part of the country.
The monastery has suffered much destruction
during its long history; and due to a lack
of surviving historical records, events there
subsequent to the Grand Summons Ceremony
remain a mystery. Nearly half a century later,
it is said, a disciple of Tsong Khapa arrived at
the monastery and stared to preach the Dgelugs-pa (Gelugpa) doctrine, and in 1684 the
fifth Dalai Lama took control of the region.
In the early 18th century, Tholing became
affiliated with Lhasas great Sera Monastery,
from where leading clergy were sent for three
year tenures. Today the Tholing monastery is

Local pilgrims at the Red Temple (Dukang Court), Tholing monastery, Ali, western Tibet, 14th-15th centuries (Guge kingdom). Photo Rong Fan 2007

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Wall paintings of Atisha (left) and Yama Yesheve, northern end of west wall, White Temple,

Wall paintings of Atisha and Yama Yesheve at the White Temple, Tholing,

Tholing, before restoration. Photo courtesy the Isabel & Balz Baechi Foundation

following restoration in 2007. Photo Rong Fan 2007

in use and hosts about 12 monks, while local

people continue to go to the monastery to
pray and perform other religious activities.
The site is also promoted by government
and tourist agencies as a must see tourist
destination in west Tibet.
To celebrate the sites thousand-year
anniversary, the Chinese State Administration
of Cultural Heritage (SACH) provided funding
for a large-scale archaeological excavation and
conservation project in Guge from 1977-99.
The main temples at the Tholing Monastery
were restored, for the first time in the modern
era, as a result of this initiative.
The second conservation project at the Tholing
Monastery was made possible through
cooperation between SACH, the Cultural
Relics Bureau of the Tibetan Autonomous
Government (CRBTAG) and the Isabel & Balz
Baechi Foundation (IBBF), a private Swiss wall
painting conservation foundation. This project
commenced in the autumn of 2002, when
two experts from the Foundation conducted a
general survey of the monastery site and drewup a comprehensive conservation plan. Since
this first investigation, developments have
included: restoration of the wall paintings of
the White Temple (LaKanggapo); relocation
of a local school that had been built between
temples in the monastery; erection of a wall
to protect the site; cleaning up of the complex
to improve the environment; structural
reinforcement of the monks residences; and
repair of the roofs of the main temples.
The White Temple, the third main temple of
the Tholing Monastery, is about 555 metres
square. It is dedicated to the Buddha known
as The Healing Teacher of Lapis Lazuli
Radiance (Bhaisajyaguru Vaiduryaprabhasa),
popularly known as the Medicine Buddha.
The temple is in reasonably good condition

10

structurally, because the buildings use as

a barn by local people until the mid-1990s
meant that it was to some degree maintained.
Despite rain damage, the pigments of the wall
paintings and decorated ceiling are still vivid
and spectacular today. Although the original
statues have been destroyed, a group of three
recent statues, including a major image of the
Medicine Buddha with attendants, is installed
on the altar. Surviving paintings and statue
bases indicate that there were originally 35
statues on the altar, and another eight under
it. Other ruined structures, including bases,
indicate there were also a stupa and several
statues on the west side of the temple.
The architecture of the White Temple, and the
style of its wall paintings, indicate that it was
built between the 14th and 15th centuries. It
reflects the high quality of western Tibetan
art at that time, and document the extent
of cultural interchange between Tibet and
neighbouring countries. The temples wall
paintings depict mandalas, Tantric deities
and patron saints, and also show scenes of
local festivals and daily life. Portraits of Tsong
Khapa (1357-1419 CE) and Rinchen Zangpo
are on the northern part of the east wall.
A large Avalokiteshvara-mandala is on the
west part of the southern wall, while images
of Atisha and Lama Yeshesve appear on the
northern part of the west wall.
In 2004, the Swiss restorers carried out the first
stage conservation of the White Temples wall
paintings. The aim was to study the paintings,
to understand the technique of execution, the
typology and the reasons for deterioration,
in order to find a proper methodology for
intervention and treatment. For this purpose,
the restorers collected samples from the
walls for chemical analysis and study of the
materials used by the early painters (Pursche
& Kilchhofer 2004).

A comprehensive conservation plan for the

White Temple was then devised, based on the
two surveys and subsequent approval by the
TOCR. The first step in the restoration was
the consolidation of the structure and repair
to the roof to stop further rain damage. It
was decided to incorporate new materials
and technology to construct a new roof for
the ancient bulding, and a series of designs,
experiments and tests were conducted to
find the best solutions. In the summer 2005, a
group of Tibetan craftsman was employed to
implement construction. The combination of
Swiss water-resistant materials and Tibetan
traditional craftsmanship proved successful:
after two years monitoring, no trace of
recurring rain damage on the painted ceiling
or walls has been found.
In 2006 and 2007 an international work team
consisting of Swiss and Italian wall painting
restorers carried out conservation work on the
White Temple paintings (because of seasonal
conditions, they were able to work only four
months each year). The main damage was
damp, cracking and flaking, so the treatment
was cleaning and consolidation. Only dry
cleaning methods were acceptable, because of
the high water-solubility of the binding media
(animal glue) used for the pigments. Dust on
the surface of the wall paintings was removed
with rubber sponges; the edges of missing
parts of the wall paintings were consolidated
and cracks were filled with mortar (see
below). In 2007, for the first time, a group
of four young Chinese restorers from the
Conservation Institute of Dunhuang Academy
joined the project and worked on the treatment
for the north wall for one month.
The
imagesshown
here
document
therestoration process: removal ofrain water
damage (seen as drip lines), andthe uncovering
of paintareas hidden underneathpreviousred

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

A restorer at work on wall paintings at the northern end of the

west wall of the White Temple, Tholing. Photo Rong Fan 2007

clayrepairs. The restorers filledholes

withmortar made fromclay found at the
site, and consolidated the wall paintingsby
retouching with high-quality water-based
pigment. According to thetreatment policy,
all missing parts of the wall paintings which
could be reconstructedwere reconstructed,
withthe closest possiblepalette.The new
colourswere appliedas tiny verticallines (the
so-called trattecchio technique), todifferentiate
clearly between the original wall paintings
and theretouched sections (Kilchhofer 2007).
During this period, about 210 square metres of
the wall paintings were successfully restored
and stabilised. More restoration work will
be necessary on paintings on the east wall,
northern section of the west wall and the
southern section of the east wall. The Baechi
Foundation has organised for a group of
seven Swiss, German and Italian restorers to
take part in the 2008 season. The team will
work from early June to the end of July 2008,
when it is anticipated they will complete the
conservation project of the White Temple.
Meanwhile, the Foundation plans a project
to restore the Red Temple (Dukang Court) at
Tholing.
Tholing monastery, like most other monasteries
in the Himalaya region, is in one of the most
remote and inaccessible parts of the Tibet.
There is often a lack of proper knowledge
and care for historical heritage among local
communities. Communication is difficult and
much time has to be spent on administrative
issues to enable projects to proceed. The
Foundation has put great effort into realising
its goals and, most importantly, the restorers
have worked very hard to conserve the wall
paintings in spite of harsh working and living
conditions.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Over 900 years, the ancient Guge kingdom

assimilated the finest aspects of Indian,
Nepalese and Central Asian cultures, and
developed its own unique local traditions.
While most of the history of the Tholing
Monastery still remains a mystery, its main
temples have survived. The precious wall
paintings and stupa ruins can tell us much
about this once-prosperous kingdom, the life
of local people and their religious beliefs and
the important role Guge played in the history
of Tibet.
The conservation of Tholing monastery
is still far from complete, however and
meanwhile, other historic sites of the ancient
Guge kingdom also require urgent attention.

Rong Fan accompanied the Isabel & Balz Baechi

Foundation conservation team to Tholing monastery
in 2007 as consultant and official project interpreter.
Formerly a researcher at the Dunhuang Academy
in Gansu, China, she is currently a PhD candidate
at the University of Adelaide. She would like to
thank James Bennett for his encouragement and
guidance.
REFERENCES
Kilchhofer, Matthia 2007: Report: wall painting restoring works, White
Temple, Tholing. Isabel & Balz Baechi Foundation, unpublished.
Phuntsok, Namgyal, Ci, Duo and Zhang Jianling, in Phuntsok
Namgyal (ed) 2001: Ntho-Ling Monastery. Encyclopaedia of China
Publishing House, Beijing,
Pursche, Juergen 2002: General Survey of the Tholing Monastery.
Isabel & Balz Baechi Foundation, unpublished.
Pursche, Juergen & Kilchhofer, Matthia 2004: The Master Plan for
the conservation of the Tholing Monastery. Isabel & Balz Baechi
Foundation, unpublished.

11

COLLECTORS CHOICE : A TIBETAN DRAGON CHEST

Todd Sandeman
Tibetan trunk (gam) with double dragon motif, Western Tibet, early 18th century. Painted cotton on wood,
mineral paints, gold, gesso, 127 x 60 x 47 cm. Collection Todd and Katrina Sunderman

y wife and I were already avid enthusiasts

M of traditional Chinese furniture when our

attraction to the stunning colours and artistry

of antique Tibetan painted furniture began.
Then, over time, we also learned to appreciate
the deep spirituality and significance of the
Tibetan pieces, together with the sheer skill
and passion of Tibetan master-craftsmen.
Unlike traditional Chinese furniture, where
the beauty rests in the quality of the design
and finish, the beauty of antique Tibetan
furniture lies in the images painted on it.
The cut of the furniture itself is very basic,
reflecting the tough and typically nomadic
lifestyle of the Tibetan people. The artwork,
however, is painstakingly applied to reflect
the spiritual significance of the furniture and
its important role as an item of decoration. It
is this stark contrast of roughness and beauty
that attracted us to the furniture.
The highest quality pieces were painted with
paints ground from precious minerals, which

Diamond shaped dowry pendant with

granulation, 42 g/18ct gold, Rabari tribe,
Gujarat, India, ca.1920, 10.5x7.4 cms.

635 South Dowling St, cnr Parkham St

Surry Hills NSW 2010
(Gallery entry in Parkham St)
Telephone 9319 4300
www.buddhistart.com.au
By appointment or by chance

only royalty, aristocracy or the very wealthy

could afford. Many of these pieceswere
commissioned for donationto monasteries
to gain religious merit -the more expensive
the materials and artistry, the greater the
religious merit that would accrue to the
donor.Monasteries would usetrunks and
cabinetsto store documents, ceremonial
clothing and spiritual artefacts.Basic trunks
and cabinets wereused inthe average Tibetan
home(often a tent)to store clothing and
household items.
The wood for the furniture was sourced locally
in Tibet typically Tibetan pine, fir or spruce.
The core paint colours and the typical minerals
used were red (cinnabar), blue (azurite), green
(malachite), gold, yellow (orpiment), and
orange (minium). Less expensive furniture
was painted with vegetable pigments, but
these fade over time. To add to the artistry
further, three-dimensional lines or dots were
sometimes added using a skilfully applied
gesso mix, the core ingredients of which were
ground chalk and animal glue.
The most common types of Tibetan furniture
are: trunks (gam), which have traditional chest
lids; cabinets (chagam), which typically have
multiple small doors that open outwards;
tables (chogtse), including prayer tables; altars
(chosom); torgams (specialist altar cabinets); and
pegams (writing desks). The images found
on the furniture include landscapes, deities,
religious symbols, animals, flowers, and
geometric, textile-like motifs. The range of
motifs and colours is truly stunning.

Dragons are most familiarly associated

with the Chinese imperial court, but they
were just as important a symbol for other
Buddhist kingdoms witness Bhutan, called
by its people Druk Yul (Land of the Thunder
Dragon). Dragons were the protectors of both
the kingdom and the Buddhist faith. More
personally, the dragon bestowed good luck
on the beholder.
On this trunk, two dragons face each other and
support a tray of precious offering gems. Each
dragon also holds a treasure gem, symbols
of the fulfilment of wishes and desires, and
they also jointly hold a gem between them.
The ascent of double dragons, or a group
of dragons, symbolises bravery, nobility
and power. Their elongated snouts are of
particular interest, as such representation was
usually favoured earlier, around the time of
Chinas Yuan and Ming dynasties.
My wife and I feel very privileged to own
a trunk of this quality. High quality antique
Tibetan furniture is becoming very scarce
these days, with pieces rarely being placed on
the resale market and only a small number of
dealers world-wide with true pieces.
Todd and Katrina Sunderman are collectors who live

Member, Australian Antique & ART Dealers Association

The piece I have chosen here is a classic

12

18th century dragon trunk from West Tibet,

originally made for a monastery. This trunk is
of the highest quality materials, artistry and
preservation, and is from the period often
referred to as the golden age of Tibetan
furniture, when the skills of the craftsmen
were arguably at their peak.

in Singapore.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

COLLECTORS CHOICE : A MONGOLIAN YAMA

Boris Kaspiev and Richard Price

o Western eyes, the wrathful imagery of

Tibetan Buddhism may be bizarre or even
grotesque. Images such as this Yama challenge
our perceptions of what is sacred, which is
why this is one of the most treasured pieces in
our collection. While we acquired the image
for its fineness and extraordinary presence, it is
only by delving into its meaning, iconography,
history and purpose that we have appreciated
and understood it as a part of the living
tradition of Buddhism rather than simply as
an object of art within our collection.

By 1700, Tibetan Buddhism had been

strongly established for the second time in
Mongolia. While Mongolian iconography
remained essentially the same as that of Tibet,
Mongolian artists developed a recognisable
style. Bronze sculptures were characterised
by the shape of their lotus bases, the smooth
planes of the bodies, the style of the jewellery,
the predominance of colourful jewel inserts,
the shapes of scarves, and by a more gentle
depiction of wrathful deities than in Tibetan
sculpture (Rhie & Thurmann 1996:68). That
style can be seen here.
Known in Mongolian as Erlig Qagan, Yama
is one of the eight Dharmapalas or protecting
deities of Tibetan Buddhism. As judge of
the dead, he holds in front of the deceaseds
consciousness a mirror reflecting the sum
total of their good and bad deeds, on which
they will be consigned to the realms of hell
or heaven. Yama is the gatherer of people,
and can travel both to the realms of the dead
and the realms of the gods, which he once
inhabited (De Nebesky-Wojkowitz 1996:68).
Yama has three forms: the outer, inner and
secret. The form depicted in this bronze is the
outer Yama, who confronts outer obstacles and
protects the faithful from droughts, bandits
and other misfortunes. Yama has the head
of a bull and the body of a man, a distended
belly, gaping mouth and erect penis. He has
a third eye, and wears a necklace of severed
heads. He stands on a bull which is ravishing
a dying women, signifying the overcoming
of obstacles and ignorant life. His crown is of
five skulls, reflecting his presence in the past,
while his flame-like hair signifies his strength
and power. On his chest is the Wheel of the
Law, which shows his authority in Buddhist
teachings. Yama stands in the archers pose
with his body tilting to the left: normally
such a figure would clutch a skull club in his

right hand and a snare in his left, but both

attributes are missing from this sculpture.
According to mythology, Yama was a
hermit meditating in a cave, about to reach
enlightenment. Two robbers entered the cave
with a stolen bull whose head they had cut off.
When the robbers realised that Yama had seen
them, they decided to kill him. Yama begged
them to spare him, telling them he was close
to enlightenment. They refused, and cut off
his head. Yama then assumed a ferocious
form, put on the head of the bull, killed the
robbers and, in his fury, threatened to destroy
the people of Tibet. The people appealed to
Manjusri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, to save
them and he sent Yamantaka, the destroyer of
Yama. Yamantaka defeated Yama and turned
him into a protector of Tibetan Buddhism
(Lipton & Ragnubs 1996:171).

When the Russian communists took over

Mongolia in 1917, religion was banned
and religious items were confiscated and
destroyed. Treasures such as this Yama
survived because the Mongolian people hid
them away until they were free to worship
again.
Boris Kaspiev and Richard Price are Melbournebased collectors of Himalayan art.
REFERENCES
De Nebsky-Wojkowitz, R. 1956: Oracles and Demons of Tibet (1996
reprint). Book Faith, India.
Linrothe, R. & Watt, J. 2004: Demonic Divine: Himalayan art and
beyond. Rubin Museum of Art, New York, and Serindia Publications,
Chicago.
Lipton, B. & Ragnubs, N.D. 1996: Treasures of Tibetan Art:
Collections of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art. Oxford
University Press.
Rhie, M. & Thurmann, R. 1996: Wisdom and Compassion: The
sacred art of Tibet. Thames and Hudson.

Yama is the special protector of Tsongkapa,

one of the greatest of Tibetan lamas. Yama is
also protector of the Gelugpa lineage of
teachings, and of Vajrabhairava
practices. Vajrabhairava is
an iconocraphically vastly
amplified and more threatening form of Yama. These
teachings require initiation
to practice and are dangerous
for the uninitiated, and therefore require safety and mental
stability (Linrothe & Watt 2004:18).
Esoteric images such as this Yama
were not displayed to the uninitiated, but were held in special
rooms in monasteries called
the Gonkang, or housed on
private family altars.
The base and body of
this bronze were cast
separately. It has been
gilded in two tones,
providing it with
richness and dynamic
contrast. The semiprecious stones with which
it was embellished are now
missing. The image is consecrated, with one consecration cavity between
Yamas legs revealing a wad of tightly
wrapped scrolls. The
base is sealed.
Dharmapala Yama, Mongolia, 18th-19th century. Two-tone gilt bronze, sealed,
with intact consecration scrolls, ht. 20.5cm. Collection boris kaspiev and richard price

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

13

TRAVELLERS CHOICE: POLISH ART DECO IN INDIA

Maria Wronska-Friend

ast year, when conducting a survey of

printed textiles in Gujarat and Rajasthan,
I decided to visit the Umaid Bhawan Palace in
Jodhpur. I was attracted here by the fame of
its unusual interiors, recognised as the most
interesting example of Indian Art Deco and
executed by my compatriot, Polish painter
and interior designer Stefan Norblin.

Umaid Bhawan Palace, situated on a high

hill overlooking the city of Jodhpur, was to
be one the last great palaces built in India.
Designed in 1923 by British architect Henry V.
Lanchester, it was constructed over 15 years
(1929-1944) in a style which blends Rajput
and European architectural traditions. With
a faade 210 metres long, 347 rooms and a
central dome which rivals St Pauls Cathedral,
it is one of the largest residences in the world.
The interior decoration of the building had to
match its impressive architecture: Maharaja
Umaid Singh, the founder of the palace and
the grandfather of the present Maharaja of
Jodhpur, decided on a style that would reflect
contemporary international art trends, rather
than recreating the Indian past.
The most important rooms were to have
featured stylish furniture designed by Maples
of London. However, when in 1943 the ship
carrying this cargo was sunk by a German
submarine, the Maharaja gave the task of
decorating the palaces major rooms to Stefan
Norblin (1892-1952), a refugee artist from
Poland. Norblin fled Warsaw in 1939, when the
Nazi invasion of Poland marked the outbreak

of the Second World War. Recognised as one

of the most successful artists of the interwar
period, he was an exponent of the 192030s artistic trend known as Art Deco, and
was especially well known as an illustrator,
portraitist, fashion and stage designer.
Following his escape from Poland, in 1941
Norblin landed in Bombay, where he received
commissions for portraits as well as for
decoration of palaces from Indian maharajas.
Bombay gave him the opportunity to study
Indian mythology and iconography, and also
to become acquainted with the works of
contemporary Indian artists of the Bengali
and Bombay schools. His success with Indian
maharajas was so great that in 1944 he was
trusted with his largest commission ever: to
design the interiors of the Jodhpur palace and
execute a series of murals.
Today, visitors to Umaid Bhawan may see the
Throne Room (part of the Palace Museum)
decorated with six large murals by Norblin
representing scenes from the Mahabharata
and Ramayana, with Indian gods and heroes
rendered in Art Deco style. Closer inspection
reveals, however, that some of the details,
such as armory and the flying chariots, have
been taken from non-Indian iconographical
sources such as ancient Greece or the European
Middle Ages.
The highlight of Norblins work at Jodhpur is
the apartments of the Maharaja and his family.
They are closed to the public and to see them

I was granted special permission from the

current owner of the Palace, Maharaja Gaj
Singh II. The focal point of the Maharaja
Suite is bold, expressive paintings on canvas
showing hunting scenes with leopards, tigers
and cheetah. The Maharani Suite is reminiscent
of the Hollywood style of the 1930s. Black
lacquered furniture has been padded with
pink velvet and the same range of colors has
been repeated in the sumptuous bathroom,
with its bathtub made from a single slab of
pink Italian marble set against black marble
walls. Above the bed a large painting on glass
depicts the goddess Durga riding a tiger,
which bears an unmistakable similarity to
the composition of a scandalous painting by
Polish artist Podkowiski, known as Trance.
All the furniture designed by Norblin has
been executed with perfection and astonishing
congruity by Jodhpur craftsmen, for whom
the faithful reproduction of Western Art-Deco
style created, no doubt, a major challenge.
The current Maharaja is well aware of the
significance of these unique Indian Art Deco
suites. They are kept in pristine condition and
no changes have been introduced since their
completion by Norblin. Today they are no
longer used by the family, which has moved
to more modern apartments in the side wing
of the palace. However, they are occasionally
used by special guests, like Prince Charles
and the Duchess of Cornwall during their
official tour of India, or by celebrities like Liz
Hurley, who staged her wedding here.
As regards the artist, in 1946 he migrated to the
USA where he received several commissions,
but none of them matched the scope and
challenge presented by the Umaid Bhawan
Palace. Depressed and disillusioned, in 1952
Norblin committed suicide. The Palace in
Jodhpur is the main testimony to the skills of
this artist, who here successfully combined
two very distant traditions and who used the
title Artistic Advisor and Court Painter of
His Highness the Maharaja of Jodhpur.
Maria Wronska-Friend is an anthropologist
specialising in the art and material culture of
Southeast Asia and Melanesia.
REFERENCES
Simons, C.U. & J.K. Bautze 1996: Art Deco for the Maharajas:
Stefan Norblin in India. Polish Cultural Institute, Indian Cultural
Centre, Berlin.

Bathroom of the Maharani at Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, India, 1940s, designed by Stefan Norblin. Photo by the author

14

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

NEW SOUTH ASIAN GALLERY IN TORONTO

Ushnishavijaya, Tibet, 18th century. Gilt copper

Haema Sivanesan

alloy with pigment, inlaid with semi-precious stones,

ht 41.2 cm. The George Crofts Collection, 1918,
Royal Ontario Museum, Canada

anadas first gallery of South Asian

culture, the Sir Christopher Ondaatje
South Asian Gallery, opened at the Royal
Ontario Museum (ROM) in Toronto earlier
this year (February 2008). Named in honour
of the distinguished financier and publisher
Sir Christopher Ondaatje, the South Asian
gallery consists of nine thematically organised
clusters showcasing the wide range of the
ROMs collection. On display is a diverse
selection of sculptures, paintings, textiles
and decorative arts spanning the length and
breadth of the region.

India - in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar

Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The art historian
Padma Kaimal has written extensively on
the esoteric purpose of yogini images. In
an article published in Rotunda (Fall 2003)
she suggests that the ROMs yogini would
have been one of a group of 42 or 64 or even
81 yogini images, of which it appears that
only 11 survive, dispersed among museum
collections in Europe and North America.
Acquired in 1956, and with an interesting
provenance history, this yogini is a significant
piece in the ROMs collection.

Highlights include a monumental Head of

a Bodhisattva, a centrepiece of the ROMs
Gandharan collection, acquired in 1939 by
Dr Charles Trick Currelly, an enterprising
archaeologist and a founding father of
the museum. Rare in terms of its size, this
stucco is a beautifully preserved example
of late Gandharan sculpture. The complete
figure would have stood some six metres tall
and most likely originated from the ancient
cities of Hadda or Taxila on the trade route
between Europe and South Asia. The head
shows all the characteristics of the Gandharan
style, with its finely modelled face bearing
naturalistic features: a delicate head of curls,
heavy-lidded eyes, aqualine nose, full lips
and a serene expression.

A personal favourite in the ROMs collection

is a sublime 18th century gilt bronze image
of the Tibetan goddess Ushnishavijaya, the
goddess of long life, victorious over death.
This eight-armed goddess holds a double
vajra in front of her body, signifying her
mastery over the elements. Although (like
the later bronze discussed on p.13 this issue)
the ROMs bronze no longer possesses all
her original attributes, this deity would have
once held an image of Amitabha in her upper
right hand; a bow and arrow symbolising her
powers of compassion and wisdom in her
middle hands; a noose in her centre left hand;
and a vase containing the elixir of immortality
in her lower left hand. Her lower right hand is
in varada mudra, the gift-bestowing gesture,
while her upper left hand is in abhaya mudra,
the gesture of reassurance. The three faces
of the ROMs Ushnishavijaya are exquisitely
rendered, her front face presenting a peaceful,
beatific expression. The bronze bears traces
of the vivid blue pigment used to colour the
hair of these Tibetan deities and remnants of
the original coral and turquoise jewel inlay
also remain. Along with Amitayus and White
Tara, Ushnishavijaya forms a triad of deities

Another arresting sculpture is a 10th century

granite yogini from the Kanchipuram region
of Tamil Nadu. In Hindu iconography, the
yogini is an esoteric female deity with a
prominent role in Tantric forms of practice.
Yoginis are regarded as powerful deities
encompassing the forces of both creation
and destruction, beauty and danger. There
are nine known sites of yogini temples in

associated with longevity and the fulfilment

of earthly desires.
The museums inaugural curator of South
Asian culture, Deepali Dewan, appointed in
2002, has particular expertise in the visual
culture of 19th century South Asia. Dewan has
a specific interest in colonial photography and
the ROM has therefore recently developed one
of the largest collections in North America.
It includes albums of photographs by the
pioneer of Indian photography Raja Lala
Deen Dayal (1844-1905), and traces major
developments in early Indian photography
from the documentation of landscape and
architecture to studio portraiture. Dewan has
recently also acquired notable examples of
Company School painting as well as some
beautiful Anglo-Indian silver which combines
European forms with motifs of Hindu gods
and goddesses.
During the years leading up to the opening
of the new gallery, the ROMs South Asian
collection has nearly doubled, and now
comprises some 2300 objects. Dewan is also
expanding the scope of the collection with a
burgeoning collection of contemporary art.
Recent acquisitions include Pushpamala Ns
photographic tableaux The Navarasa Suite
(2000), Navjot Altafs monumental sculpture
of a female figure Untitled (2002), and Shazia
Sikanders digital animation Dissonance to
Detour (2005).
Haema Sivanesan is a curator and Executive
Director of SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre)
in Toronto, Canada.

The newly-opened Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

15

RAFFLES AND PRAMBANAN

Philip Courtenay

The Large Temple at Prambanan, drawing by H. C. Cornelius. The scene has been somewhat romanticised
with figures in the foreground, an elegant representation of natural vegetation, and a smoking Mt Merapi
in the background. From The History of Java (first published 1917) by Stamford Raffles

n May 2006, the historic central Javanese

Hindu temple complex of Prambanan
was brought to world attention by the 6.3
magnitude earthquake which struck the
district around the city of Yogyakarta on the
27th of the month. Located on the outskirts of
Yogyakarta, Prambanan suffered substantial
damage due to its closeness to the main
earthquake area whose hypocentre was about
37 km south of the city and 33 km below
the Indian Ocean seabed. Approximately 40
km northwest of Yogyakarta, Borobudur,
an equally ancient Buddhist monument,
survived completely intact.

The colossal structure at Prambanan, one of

the largest Hindu temples in Southeast Asia,
was built most probably between 900 and 930
CE and inscribed on the World Heritage list
in 1991. The Borobudur complex, inscribed
on the World Heritage list also in 1991, was
probably built in the ninth century CE. As a
consequence of their geographic locations,
both monuments have suffered substantial
damage both from earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions during the millennium of their
existence and remained abandoned and
overgrown for much of that time -- no major
efforts at reconstruction were made until the
20th century. The two now receive a million
visitors per annum.
Like many of the great architectural
achievements of the non-European world,
including for example Angkor in Cambodia
and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins of southern
Africa, Prambanan and Borobudur remained
practically unknown beyond their local
regions until the 19th century. In the case of
the Javanese structures, it was the interest and
work of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (17811826) that first brought them to the attention
of the western world.
The principal claim to fame of Raffles is as a
colonial administrator, most notably during
his period as Lieutenant-Governor of Java
(1811-16) and, particularly, as the founder
of modern Singapore in 1819. However, like
a number of British imperial pro-consuls in
Africa and elsewhere in Asia, Raffles took a
deep interest in the environmental, historical,
social and cultural milieux of the regions
where he served, and published many of
his findings. An explorer, mapmaker and
collector, following his return to London from
Southeast Asia he was a founder and first

16

president of the Royal Zoological Society.

In a critique of the British Museums 1999
exhibition of its Raffles Collection, entitled The
Golden Sword , reviewer John Henshall quoted
the opinion of Nigel Barley, the exhibitions
curator, that one of Raffless problems was
that he was interested in far too many things
at once -- especially people, natural history
and the arts in all their forms (Henshall 1999).
During his governorship of Java, Raffles
instituted a number of administrative and
commercial reforms; but as a scholar, his time
on the island is most notable for the research
that led to his two-volume The History of
Java. This major scientific work published in
1817, was dedicated to the Prince Regent and
contributed to the award of his knighthood.
Inspired by the pattern of William Marsdens
History of Sumatra (1783), of which the third
edition appeared in 1811, the work is a general
compendium of information about Java - geographical, economic, ethnic, linguistic,
cultural and historical. Nearly 100 illustrations
were prepared to accompany the text. These
included aquatints of individual Javans
set in stylised landscapes, line drawings of
implements of husbandry, tools, weapons,
wayang puppets and musical instruments,
facsimiles of inscriptions, detailed depictions
of temples, statuary and other sculpture,
and ground plans. However, although the

plates were advertised as being prepared for

publication with the first edition of The History
in 1817, they did not appear until the production
of the second edition in 1830, six years after
Raffless death (ForgeBastin 1988: vii).
In the second volume of The History of Java, 58
pages are devoted to antiquities. In the words
of Charles Wurtzburg, a major biographer of
Raffles, he was in advance of his time in his
respect for the integrity of ancient monuments
and in his artistic appreciation of them in their
natural surroundings (Wurtzburg 1984: 369).
Given their size and complexity, it is not
surprising that, with his interest in the islands
antiquities, Raffles was particularly captivated
by the striking ruins of the great central Javanese
structures of Prambanan and Borobudur
(which he recorded as Brambnan and Bro
Bdo). He wrote: In addition to their claims on
the consideration of the antiquarian, the ruins
at...Brambnan and Bro Bdo are admirable
as majestic works of art. The great extent of
the masses of building in some parts with the
luxuriant vegetation of the climate, the beauty
and delicate execution of the separate portions,
the symmetry and regularity of the whole, the
great number and interesting character of the
statues and bas-reliefs, with which they are
ornamented, excite our wonder that they were
not earlier examined, sketched and described
(Raffles 1817: v. II, 6).

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Main temple complex at Prambanan, Central Java, Indonesia, 10th century. Scaffolding on right indicates
repair work subsequent to the damaging earthquake of May 2006. Photo Emma Vickers, November 2007

Javanese assistants are to be seen perched on

ruined temples: they were omitted from the
published versions, however! Forge (1994:
115) describes the drawings as accurate, full
of detail, with clear hard lines suitable for the
contemporary methods of reproduction. They
are essentially technical drawings with few
pretensions to be works of art; though some
of the ruined monuments are drawn and
reproduced with evidence that contemporary
taste for the picturesque influenced even
army officers and Dutch colonial officials.

Although he visited Borobudur on more than

one occasion, including a personal visit in
1815 following the death of first wife Olivia
in November 1814, barely two pages of the
History are devoted to that complex, which
Raffles seemingly failed to appreciate as a
Buddhist and not a Hindu structure, and
most space is given to Prambanan.
Raffles reported that, in 1797, a Dutch
engineer constructing a fort in the vicinity of
the Prambanan complex had great difficulty
in clearing away rubbish and plants in order
to obtain a view of the ruins and sketch them.
An accurate survey of the ruins, with sketches
of fragments of buildings, architectural
ornaments and statues was effected in 1812
by Colonel Colin Mackenzie (later SurveyorGeneral of India) and, with his permission,
published by Raffles in the seventh volume
of the Transactions of the Batavia Society -- a
learned society founded in 1778 but moribund
till its revival by Raffles in 1812.
Considering a more extensive and detailed
survey a matter of importance, and constrained
by other duties from undertaking any
substantial investigations of the monuments
himself, Raffles dispatched another officer
to survey, measure, and take draughts of all
the buildings, images, and inscriptions which
this magnificent mass of ruins presented
(Raffles 1817: v.II, 7). Apart from damage
caused by earthquakes and the incursions
of natural vegetation, much of the original
stonework at Prambanan had been quarried
for building elsewhere and, shortly before the
time of Raffles, one Nicholaus Engelhardt,
a former governor of Semarang, had earned
some notoriety for the barbarous way in
which items had been hacked from shrines
and taken to adorn his garden (Wurtzburg
1984: 369).

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Ideally, Raffles would have travelled with

an academically-trained artist or a Javanese
capable of producing Western-style depictions
of Java to be used in The History of Java.
However, while in Java he had no specialist
artists attached to his staff and instead used
engineers who had backgrounds as technical
draughtsmen (Mault 2005: 52). In particular,
Captain G. P. Baker of the Bengal Light Infantry,
whose military duties included making
plans and maps of the Yogyakarta kraton or
palace and repairing the roads for the British
artillery, did much drawing. From among
the Dutch, Raffles recruited H. C. Cornelius,
a Civil Surveyor and Superintendent of
Buildings at Semarang, who led a team of
similarly qualified Dutch in making drawings,
especially of newly cleared antiquities.
Anthony Forge (Forge 1994: 111) has pointed
out that, in the 18th century, skills in drawing
and art generally were stratified in terms of
training, subject matter and gender, as well as
class and even race. Basically craftsmen and
professionals, such as engineers, could draw
inanimate objects, buildings, machines etc;
while some training in art was required to
draw landscapes and paint in watercolours.
There has been criticism of some of the images
in The History, notably some of the figures
of Javans. Based on drawings and models
brought back by Raffles, these were prepared
in England by the engraver of coloured
aquatints William Daniell, and criticised
on the grounds that he Europeanised his
presentation (Mault 2005: 62).
The architectural line drawings are less likely
to have been similarly modified, though in one
or two of the original drawings of monuments
taken to England by Raffles, for example
Corneliuss Large Temple at Brambanan, Dutch
surveyors (in very striking top hats) and their

Raffless interest and initiative have certainly

provided an early record of the remains of
the antecedent civilisations of Java, some
as picturesque ruins with suitable romantic
foliage, but also in reconstruction as solid
works of a major civilisation (Forge 1994:
150).
Philip Courtenay is an economic geographer
and ethnographer with a long-standing
association with Southeast Asia. Before
retirement he was professor and rector of the
Cairns campus of James Cook University, and
now lives in Brisbane.
REFERENCES
Barley, N. (ed) 1999: The Golden Sword:
Stamford Raffles and the East. British Museum
Press.
Bastin, J. 1988: preface to Plates to Raffless
History of Java. Oxford in Asia, Kuala
Lumpur.
Forge, A. 1994: Raffles and Daniell: making
the image fit, in Andrew Gerstle and Anthony
Milner (eds), Recovering the Orient: artists,
scholars, appropriations. Harwood Academic
Publishers GmbH, Chur, Switzerland.
Henshall, J. 1999: Go east, young man in
The New Statesman, 12 February 1999.
Mault, N. 2005: Java as a Western Construct:
an Examination of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles
The History of Java., MA thesis, Louisiana State
University.
Raffles, Thomas Stamford 1817: The History
of Java. Originally printed for Black, Parbury
and Allen, Booksellers to the Hon. EastIndia Company, Leadenhall Street, and John
Murray, London. Complete text, with plates
in a separate vol., published as an Oxford
in Asia Hardback Reprints series 1988 (2nd
impression 1994).
Wurtzburg, C.E. 1984: Raffles of the Eastern
Isles. Oxford University Press, Singapore (first
published Hodder and Stoughton 1954).

17

DJUWADI: FOLDING THE RELATIONAL INTO ART

Opening parade at the Festival Mata Air (Festival of
Water), held in the village of Kalitaman, Central Java,

Alexandra Crosby

2007. Participants wear elaborate costumes created from

recycled rubbish with the assistance of artist Djuwadi

n a quiet Sunday evening in February,

a group of artists transformed a small
corner of Newtown into a night market,
a place of nongkrong or hanging out,
where experiences were bartered and ideas
exchanged. Perth artist Sussi Porsborg invited
the public to assemble portable cenotaphs,
small handmade corsages constructed from
discarded military fabric. Sydney artist Teik
Kim Pok set up a karaoke massage parlor
and sang a capella to his clients. And a small
group of collaborators from Indonesia and
Australia, brought together in Sydney for the
three-month Gang Festival, gathered around
the Indonesian concept of a warung lesehan, a
traditional makeshift caf or roadside diner.

The idea of Gang (literally translated as

alleyway) is to explore creativity that emerges
outside conventional art spaces in both
Indonesia and Australia. In 2008, this meant
looking to some of the many small artist-run
festivals in Java that are designed as sites
for a very local style of artistic exchange.
Among these are Festival Mata Air (Festival
of Water), Forest Art Festival and the OK

Video Festival. Like a warung lesehan, which

is usually assembled around meal-times and
afterwards dismantled leaving barely a trace
of the evenings activities, artists festivals are
temporary in their realisation but can be longlasting in their effect.
The climate of greater political and
social freedom in Indonesia over the last
decade has prompted the formation of a
number of collectives, including Taring
Padi, anakseribupulau and Tanam Untuk
Kehidupan. These groups use art to raise
awareness of, for example, environmental
crises both specific (forest depletion and
mudslides) and general (looming nuclear
power proliferation), and to encourage
community-led change. Some artists are
simultaneously active in a number of these
collectives.
One artist whose work pops up repeatedly
in artist-run festivals across Indonesia is
Djuwadi. Djuwadi has no formal art training:
he describes himself as a woodworker, a
performer and an organiser. His work is

varied, project-based, and has the aim to

educate around issues of environment.
Djuwadi comes from the small village of
Randublatung on the border between Central
and East Java. Many of the young men around
Randublatung have learned carving through
informal apprenticeships in their adolescence
and now turn their skills to express concerns
about exploitation of the teak forests.
Ambil aja (2006) is an ongoing work made
from pieces of wood that Djuwadi whittles
into delicate shapes. The title means Just
take it, referring to the gift nature of the
work. Djuwadi carries the pieces around
with him, either offering them to people
he meets or leaving them to be picked up
by fortunate passers-by. As is always the
case with gifts, there are more layers to
the exchange. Referring also to attitudes to
the forests around his home, Ambil aja also
illustrates the mismanagement of the forests
in Java. The demand for teak means that the
forests are viewed purely as a cash crop, and
are felled whether the trees have matured or
not. The public euphoria coupled with the
vacuum of authority that followed the fall
of Suharto in 1998, Djuwadi explains, meant
that much of the forest was depleted at a
frightening new rate, which continues today.
The wood that I use for my carving is usually
left over from the export furniture industry.
There are a lot of little pieces that cant be
used so they have no value. I can use it for
my work to express ideas about the material
itself, and the stories of the tree it came from,
which was once part of a forest. My anger

Stages of creation of a Melati Sampah corsage by Djuwadi, Indonesia, 2007.

Folded plastic, safety pins, ongoing exchange, multiple designs, 10.00 cm x 10.00 cm

18

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Children in elaborate costumes made from devalued materials at the second Festival Mata Air, Central Java, 2007

drives me to work with the wood and think

about my emotional connection to place.
When I give it to someone, or they just take
it, something else happens, another whole
process with new meanings for them. Perhaps
they feel lucky. Perhaps they feel guilty. I
hope they can think about where that wood
came from.
Djuwadis work Melati Sampah (Trash Jasmine,
2007)) works on a similar principle of
revaluing the devalued, and extending the
gift economies of activist networks into the
art world. The work was conceived during
the opening parade of the second Festival
Mata Air (Festival of Water) in the village of
Kalitaman in Central Java in 2007. Djuwadi
spent a month during preproduction of the
festival living in a tent on the grounds of a
local political party headquarters, washing
in the public baths and eating with the local
tukan ojek (motorbike taxi drivers). This selfinitiated residency was an opportunity to get
to know the place and people of the kampung
(neighbourhood community).
During the lead up to the festival, Djuwadi
also worked with children to make elaborate
costumes and musical instruments from
rubbish. On the day of the opening, after
helping the children prepare, he joined the
parade in civilian clothing, collecting rubbish
along the way and pinning it to his garments
with safety pins until he was entirely covered
with instant noodle packets, cigarette boxes
and permen (sweet hard candy) wrappers.
Over the six days of the festival, Djuwadi
developed the idea, folding the rubbish into
beautiful flowers and pinning them not
only to himself but to people he met in the
street, carefully choosing colors and patterns
appropriate to peoples outfits -- matching, for
example, the glossy browns of a nescaf label
to the warm natural tones of a traditional
batik shirt.
In the West, this type of practice is
associated with contemporary trends in
artistic production, namely relational art,
a phrase coined by the French theorist
Nicolas Bourriaud. Melati Sampah can be
viewed as a visual conversation typical of
the intersubjective encounters produced in
relational art. It is through this conversation
that meaning is generated collectively, greatly
expanding the original space intended for
the object, that of consumption and disposal.
According to Bourriaud, artists such as
Djuwadi can play a role in resisting the
commodification of everyday experience and
relationships. This role is about reframing
interactions so that communication occurs
beyond the product-consumer and artist-

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

audience relationships characteristic of every

day life (Bourriaud 2002:5). Melati Sampah
asks people to reconsider their original action
of disposal. This is just something I did,
Djuwadi says. I wanted to use something
people had discarded and make something
beautiful.
The diverse experiences of Indonesias violent
history make grand narratives in art or any
other field impossible to justify. Indonesian
artist and critic Jim Supangkat, among other
critics, has written extensively about the
concept of multimodernism to describe
the ways in which Indonesian art both
adopted and resisted Western art forms and
philosophies. He rejects, for example, claims
that installation art in Indonesia is a postmodern paradigm. Supangkat writes that
the term installation was only introduced
to Indonesia in 1991 (Supangkat 1997:10). He
argues that Indonesian cultures have, well
before this date, used the placement of objects
in a certain context in order to convey certain
feelings, ideas or experiences as a medium of
artistic expression. In the same way, art that
is based on relationships between artists and
audiences (whether or not it is classified as
art) has developed in Indonesia from nonWestern traditions
In his book One Place After Another, Kwon
similarly points out that the idea of a
relational aesthetic represents neither a
new movement in the field nor a newly
politicised aesthetic sensibility, but rather a
moment of arrival in which a well-developed
mode of practice that had been undervalued
in mainstream art finally receives cultural
acceptance (Kwon 2002:107).

For Djuwadi, and other Indonesian artists

working from collectives placed neither
within the international art circuit nor the
international market, relational art has been a
tactic of resistance rather than a consideration
of contemporary aesthetics. Without a
national art infrastructure, collaborating with
communities -- often on a village level in rural
areas -- has also sometimes been the only way
to engage any audience or sustain any kind of
ongoing practice.
The translation of a work such as this to an
Australian context is, not unsurprisingly, fairly
straightforward. The work Melati Sampah was
reproduced, not only from the warung lesehan
at the night market in Newtown, but also
at the Live and Let DIY Festival in Brisbane
in February 2008, and in Melbourne as part
of artist talks at Forepaw, also in February
2008. Djuwadi also traveled to Imanpa Arts,
outside Alice Springs, as part of skill-sharing
workshops. During his three-month exchange
in Australia, Djuwadi folded hundreds of
brooches, from both the exotic rubbish he
had brought with him from Java and from
new packaging he collected locally.
A corsage by Djuwadi is an act of folding
the superficiality and ephemerality of the
cultural objects of contemporary capitalism in
on themselves. It does not depend on certain
ideas for understanding: it can simply be worn.
The toughness of a vagabond sorting through
rubbish in the street is delicately expressed.
Through his work, Djuwadi takes the idea of
global standardisation and uniformity and
twists it, creating only varied pieces that then
assume the character of the individual wearer.
The material is devalued then revalued, it is

19

Examples of Ambil aja, various pieces of wood whittled by Indonesian artist Djuwadi (2006, ongoing project)

an Indonesian artist working in Australia, these

points are the only places capable of housing
new meanings. The exchanges themselves,
like the festivals from which they emerge,
disrupt the normal cycle of consumption and
waste with a small side-step of individual
expression. This cycle indeed has no set origin
or outcome, but Djuwadi asks us to revisit a
process we take for granted. The object itself
simply makes concrete something precarious,
an exchange between people; and makes
permanent something inherently temporary,
a performative gesture.
Alexandra Crosby is a designer, writer and

lost then made to belong; and it becomes an

active agent of communication, its meaning
negotiated between artist and audience.
Melati Sampah is spawned from a culture of
consumerism that is, tragically, absolutely
global. Its materials are the refuse from
products made in factories and sold all
over the world to fulfill universally-created
desires. Along with the replacement of fresh,
self-sufficient food production by centralised
and highly refined products, packaging is
a ubiquitous language. So, as well as the
imagin-ative transformation that occurs via
the artist, the work has the potential to be

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

Suite 102, 379 Pitt Street

Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
PO Box K1042 Haymarket NSW 1240 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9267 0129
Fax: +61 2 9267 2899
ABN 93 086 748 834 LIC NO 2TA004916

20

socialised across cultures, making connections

between people from vastly different places.
And it is this that Djuwadi does so simply
and elegantly. He makes a flirtatious offering,
which, among other interpretations, could
be a gesture of good will or an accusation of
guilt, but is quite unambiguously a meeting of
bodies through an ironic object that articulates
a commonality and a connectedness.
The important point about Melati Sampah and
Ambil Aja is not that it is a cute eco-chic idea,
but that it starts something. The exchange
generates a new set of insights at the points of
intersection between artist and audience. For

researcher who is currently completing a doctoral

degree at the University of Technology Sydney.
She also co-directs the Gang Festival (http:www.
gangfestival.com). Research for this article was
supported under Australian Research Councils
Discovery funding scheme.
REFERENCES
Bourriaud, N. 2002: Relational Aesthetics (trans. Simon Pleasance
& Fronza Woods with the participation of Mathieu Copeland). Les
presses du reel, France.
Kwon, M. 2002: One Place After Another: Site-Specific Art and
Locational Identity. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Supangkat, J. 1997: Indonesian Modern Art and Beyond. Indonesia
Fine Arts Foundation, Jakarta.

BURMA: LAND OF
THE BUDDHAS

BACKROADS
OF BURMA

In conjunction with
Australian Museum Members
24 October 12 November 2008

In conjunction with
Australian Museum Members
14 November 02 December 2008

TAASA contributor Dr Bob Hudson is one of a small

number of international researchers conducting regular
excavations in Burma. An experienced leader of cultural
tours, Bob is looking forward to sharing his enthusiasm
and knowledge of Burma with TAASA members.
Our highly evaluated comprehensive itinerary differs
from conventional tours and includes a section in the
remote lost ancient kingdom of Arakan (now Rakhine
State) as well as a memorable train journey across
the dramatic Gokteik viaduct to
Pyin U Lwin, the quaint former British hill station of
Maymo. Experiences in Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay
and a cruise on the Ayeyarwady to Bagan are also
included. Even today, Burma contains areas with
minimal concessions to modern living, offering
travellers interesting glimpses of traditional life
once widespread in Southeast Asia.

Backroads of Burma has been designed by our program

leader and Sydney University archaeologist Dr Bob
Hudson for travellers who have previously visited
Burma or first time visitors seeking a different and
interesting experience. The focus is on remote, bucolic
and diverse parts of the country. Starting and finishing
in Yangon, our schedule begins with two unusual
and intriguing locations: Mrauk U, capital of medieval
Arakan, reached by a rustic riverboat trip from Sittwe
up the mighty Kaladan River; and Sri Ksetra, the ancient
Pyu capital with its distinctive conical Buddhist stupas.
Mystical Mount Popa, the Mount Olympus of Burma
and home to its most powerful nats follows; from
here we proceed north along the river plain
of the Ayeyarwady to Bagan, the most important
temple site in Southeast Asia.

Price per person twin share including airfare $5150

Price per person twin share including airfare $4800

For a brochure or further information phone Ray Boniface at Heritage Destinations

on (02) 9267 0129 or email heritagedest@bigpond.com

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

E X H I B I T I O N: M U LT I P L E L I V E S, PA R A L L E L T R A D I T I O N S
Devleena Ghosh

Marriage procession, India (Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu), c 1820. Opaque watercolour
on paper, 25 x 50 cm, Portvale Collection. Shown in the recent exhibition Intimate Encounters

Intimate Encounters: Indian Painting from

Australian Collections
Art Gallery of NSW, 22 February-4 May 2008

The fascinating exhibition Intimate Encounters:

Indian Painting from Australian Collections (Art
Gallery of NSW, 22 February-4 May 2008)
delineated the trajectory of Indian miniature
painting through the last 500 years. A legacy
of the creative hybridity that is a distinctive
element of Indian culture, these 77 paintings,
sourced from the Gallerys own Asian holding
and from public and private collections in
Australia, represented some major trends in
Indian art from pre-Mughal to the Company
period.
The Indian miniature is derived from the
illustrated religious book and the epithet
most often applied to the genre is jewellike; Indian miniatures (the majority of the
paintings in this exhibition) are intricate,
detailed and lively illuminations, with delicate
brushwork and exuberant colours, created for
private delectation rather than display on
walls. They deal with innumerable themes
with a lyrical quality that is unique.
The exhibition began with the religious
paintings of Jainism and Hinduism of the
pre-Mughal period, with their limited palette,
flat pictorial space and saturated colours.
These were holy objects meant for prayer and
meditation but they show in their lineaments
and hues the style that the Muslim rulers of the
Sultanate period patronised - the combining
of Indian and Persian artistic traditions. This
joyous adaptation, borrowing and mixing is
manifested in the paintings created under
both Mughal and regional Rajput or Deccani
patronage. There are strong biographical
portraits as well as exuberant depictions of
the human and animal world with a loving
attention to detail. The simultaneous use
of Islamic motifs with Hindu and Jain
ones testifies to an artistic practice that is
unashamedly eclectic, curious and open
to various influences. For example, Cyrus
administering justice combines the stylised
natural representation of clouds and flames
derived from Persian miniatures with the bold
colours and lively figures so characteristic of
Indian drawing.
There is a school of thought that the absence
of European perspective renders early Indian
miniatures naive or primitive. But, as this

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

exhibition attested, the miniature artist was

conversant with multiple points of view,
conveying plural perspectives on various
focal points, showing layers of reality that
may be hidden from one vantage point
only. The exhibition ends with Company
paintings, works produced by indigenous
artists, but in a European style and palette,
using watercolours, linear perspective and
shading, depicting local occupations, customs,
flora and fauna for their colonial clients. All
the items display the range of artistic and
philosophical variety that is consistent with
the broad scope of Indian traditions.
The underlying sub-text of the exhibition is one
of multiple, parallel and alternative traditions
that, by and large, lived in compatibility
with each other. The easy adaptability of
the miniature into regional Deccani, Rajput
and Pahari traditions, to mention only a
few, shows the protean nature of this artistic
form. Yet each of these regional traditions
is distinct in style, showing that cultural
intermingling can result in unexpected new
forms and genres that are often more than
the sum of their component influences. The
themes offer some insights into the desires
and preoccupations of mostly wealthy elites,
but also point to wider productive and social
processes of labour at the generative core
of meaning-making in this artistic tradition,
extending the materialist trajectory of what
people do in domestic and public space.
These intimate experiences of broad social
and economic practices contain much of the
most compelling and memorable moments
of social life and their affect generates much
of the immediate meaning and connection in
the miniatures.

The story of the miniatures most recent

revivification in both India and Pakistan
is a particular political and cultural story
of immense interest in its own right. The
new miniaturist movement that originated
in Lahore in the 1980s specifically at the
National College of Art insists on miniature
paintings relevance and viability for
contemporary artists. Some artists of this
school, such as Shahzia Sikander (ref. TAASA
Review 17/1, March 2008), have used miniature
painting as a basis for a feminist conversation
with tradition and extended this dialogue by
deploying modern techniques and themes.
For female practitioners, the small scale of the
painting is conducive to multi-tasking; artistic
endeavour could happen in the home or the
kitchen as well as the studio.
This wonderful exhibition attests to the
versatility and scope of miniature painting; an
ease with modernity that transcends its place
of origin. The miniature may use globally
sourced materials and techniques to express
local themes, realities and experiences. It
acknowledges tradition and custom at the
same time as moving beyond them. And
finally, in its glorious, unashamed articulation
of different traditions, cultures and techniques,
it speaks to the deep histories of movement
and migrancy, roots and routes, all those
connections, conversations and networks that
make up the very stuff of human history.
Devleena Ghosh teaches in the Social Inquiry
program in the Faculty of Humanities and Social
Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney.

21

R E P O R T: F U N D I N G D E V E L O P M E N T S , A S I A N A R T S

New Asian Art Acquisition Fund

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Following on from the launch of the Supporters of

Asian Art in 2007, the National Gallery of Victoria
earlier this year (February 2008) announced the
establishment of the Asian Art Acquisition Fund,
with initial major supporter donations of almost
$10 million. The Fundsignifies the NGVs
commitment to strengthening and enrichingthe
Gallerys historical and contemporary Asian
collections.
Initial donations included $6 million from the
NGVs President of Trustees Allan Myers and
his wife Maria; and a further $4 million which
includes donations from: the Yulgilbar Foundation;
Chair of the Supporters of Asian Art and NGV
Trustee Jason Yeap; Chair of the NGV Foundation
and NGV Trustee Bruce Parncutt; and two major
bequests.The Director of the NGV, Dr Gerard
Vaughan, has said that these donations are the
first to be announced, leading up to the launch of
the NGVs major 150th anniversary fundraising
campaign in May 2008, which will conclude in
the sesquicentenary year, 2011. The inaugural
purchase of the Asian Art Acquisition Fund is
Horse Stable, an early 17th century Japanese
six panel folding screen depicting boldly drawn
horses rearing and plungingin their stable.
The Asian art collections at the NGVhave
benefited from generous philanthropic support for
well over 100 years, and the Asian Art Supporters

Fund continues the tradition of Melbourne

philanthropy.Important Asian historical and
contemporary works which have recently
entered theNGV collections include: an 18th
century Korean porcelain dragon jar with a lively
dragon painted in underglaze blue, purchased
with assistance from the Supporters of Asian Art;
and Tender Are the Stairs to Heaven, an installation
by contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama
(born 1929)which combines fibre optic cable and
mirrors to create a ladder to infinity.
The Asian Art Acquisition Fund will enable the
NGV to enhance the quality and breadth of its
Asian collections, and to represent the art of our
region through exemplary works displayed in both
the permanent collection galleries and in focus
exhibitions.
Appeal for an Indian
Masterpieces for the Nation
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Over recent years, the National Gallery of

Australia hasestablished a small collection
oflarge Indianshrine hangings (pichhavai).
Onefinepainting, Autumn moon festival
(Sharad purnima), is the current target of the
Gallerys Masterpieces for the Nation Appeal,
whichchannelsmodestdonations to acquire works
of artfor the national collection.Donationscan be
made by contacting the Gallery on (02) 6240 6691
or by email at development@nga.gov.au.

Activities at VisAsia
Art Gallery of New South Wales

Since the establishment in 2002 of VisAsia (the

Australian Institute of Asian Culture and Visual
Arts Ltd), interest and support for Asian art at
the AGNSW has increased significantly. VisAsia
funds have not only enabled the Gallery to acquire
several works of high artistic significance, but
have also provided support for a number of major
exhibitions (for example, the important Galleryoriginated Goddess: Divine Energy, 2005-06), and
for an annual series of lunchtime lectures on the
arts of Asia.
Recent VisAsia-assisted acquisitions include two
pairs of Japanese male and female Shinto deities,
one pair from the 10th-11th century and the other
from the 12th century; an exquisite Gandharan
crystal and gold reliquary stupa from the Kushan
period; and a pair of Japanese six-fold screens,
mid-17th century, each decorated with five scenes
from the classic novel The Tale of Genji written
by the court lady Murasaki Shikibu in around
1008. The Tale of Genji will also be the focus of
a VisAsia-supported exhibition, Genji: the world
of the Shining Prince, opening at the Gallery in
December 2008.
For information about membership of VisAsia,
go to www.asianart.com, or contact the Gallerys
Benefaction Manager (02) 9225.1818.

Horse stable, Japan, early 17th century. Six panel folding screen:ink, pigments and on gold paint on paper, lacquer on wood, paper, silk, metal,
150.2 x 238.0 cm (image and sheet). Collection National Gallery of Victoria, purchased NGV Asian Acquisition Fund, 2008

22

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON BUDDHIST ART

Ann MacArthur

Buddhist stele with a Buddha and two bodhisattvas, China, late Northern Wei
(CE 500-34). Limestone, 113 x 80 x 30 cm; figure ht. 95.5 cm. Collection of
the Qingzhou Museum, Shandong Province, China

n international symposium, Chinese

Buddhist Art: New Discoveries and
Perspectives organised by the Art Gallery of
New South Wales and the Australian Centre
for Asian Art and Archaeology at University
of Sydney, will bring leading scholars from
around the world to Sydney at the launch in
August 2008 of the exhibition Lost Buddhas:
Chinese Buddhist sculpture from Qingzhou.

The discovery in 1996 of a cache of about

400 stone sculptures buried in a pit on the
site of the long destroyed Longxing Temple
in Qingzhou, on Chinas north-east coast
in Shandong province, was a significant
archaeological find rivalling that of the first
emperors terracotta army. Created between
the sixth-ninth centuries, the sculptures were
ritually interred during the 12th century for
reasons that are still unclear. The historical
unknowns together with the high level of
artistic attainment of the sculptures raise
compelling questions that continue to inspire
academic discussion.
Following their discovery, exhibitions devoted
in whole or in part to the Qingzhou Buddhist
sculptures were organised at museums in
Beijing, Tokyo, Europe and North America
. About 35 of the best preserved examples,
including seven works not previously
exhibited outside China, have been selected
by curator Dr Liu Yang for exhibition in
Sydney.
The Gallerys director, Edmund Capon
was one of the original team who selected
sculptures for the European exhibition Return
of the Buddha: the Qingzhou Discoveries in 2002
(ref. TAASA Review 12/1, March 2003, pp 2022). He will speak at the symposium about
Buddhist sculptures of the Northern dynasties
excavated at other sites in Shandong.
Jeffrey Riegel, Head of the School of Languages
and Cultures, University of Sydney and Louis
B. Agassiz Professor Emeritus of Chinese at
the University of California, (Berkeley) has
been a scholar of classical Confucianism and
ancient Chinese literature and archaeology for
40 years. As co-organiser of the symposium he
has articulated the key issues that participants
will address. Among these are:
What was the role of the Silk Road in the
transmission of Buddhism and was there
an equally important maritime route?

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

What are the artistic

links
between
the
Qingzhou sculptures
and those from other
sites in China?
What was the role of the
sculptures in Buddhist
ritual and what do they
tell us about Buddhist
iconography?
How
popular
was
Buddhism in early
China and who were
the patrons? What do
we know about the
leading Buddhist figures
and their teachings in
Shandong? In his own
lecture Riegel looks
at the contribution of
Shandong province to
early Chinese religious
and intellectual life.
Lukas Nickel from the
School of Oriental and African Studies
(SOAS) at the University of London
investigates the contribution made by
lay believers in sponsoring sculptures in
temples.
Helmut Brinker from the University of Zurich
is particularly known for his work on Zen
painting in China and Japan. He discusses the
nature of Buddhist sacred icons and the ways
a mere material statue or painting becomes
animated manifestation of the divinity.
Roderick Whitfield is emeritus professor
at SOAS and especially recognised for his
publications on Central Asian Buddhist art
and the Buddhist art in Dunhuang. His lecture
examines the stages in the making of Buddhist
images in China considering the adaptations
in style according to local circumstances
and materials. Eugene Wang of Harvard
University looks at how painted sculptures
in niches and pictorial simulations of statues
on walls in a cave shrine at Dunhuang were
intended to map a calculated ritual process.
Several lecturers investigate the development
of a Qingzhou or Shandong artistic style
and its relation to other regions. These are
Patricia Kretzky of Bard College on the role
of Buddhist scripture in the formation of a
regional style in Gansu province; Angela

Howard from Rutgers University on the

assimilation of Indian sources which played
a prominent role in shaping Shandong art
and the southern style and Liu Yang on the
centre of Buddhist art at Quyang in Hebei
province.
Other symposium speakers include: Albert
Dien from Stanford University on the Sogdian
religion in China and the tomb of Wirkak in
Xian; Lothar Ledderose from the University
of Heidelberg on Gangshan: the mountain
where Buddha preached; and Dorothy C.
Wong from the University of Virginia, who
considers the proliferation of names for
Buddha recorded in inscriptions during the
sixth century and how this might help in
understanding Buddhist practice of the time.
The symposium will take place over two
days: Day 1 (29 August) at the University of
Sydney, Day 2 (30 August) at the Art Gallery
of New South Wales. For detailed program
and registration visit www.artgallery.nsw.
gov.au/events/symposia. The exhibition runs
from 29 August-23 November 2008.
Ann MacArthur is Senior Coordinator of Asian
Programs at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

23

TA A S A M E M B E R S D I A R Y

CAMBODIA:
ANGKOR WAT
AND BEYOND
In conjunction with
Australian Museum Members
02 November 19 November 2008

JUNE AUGUST 2008

Great Cities of Asia Beijing

Xanadu: past, present and future
No.3 in TAASAs occasional seminar series
Great Cities of Asia
Sydney (26 July 2008) and Melbourne
(2 August 2008)

The modern city of Beijing occupies a site that

dates back to the fabled Xanadu of Kublai
Khan and earlier. Some of ancient citys walls,
palaces and towers still stand; many have
fallen prey to the desire for modernisation,
as have its forests and fields. The history and
culture of Beijing reflect the citys past glories
as well as some of the dark secrets of its rulers.
In the 21st century, Beijing once again attracts
pilgrims, traders and visitors from around the
world, especially in this Olympic year. This
seminar in TAASAs lecture series on Great
Cities of Asia includes papers on Beijings
past as well as its present and future role.

With Angkor as its capital, the Khmer empire

ruled over what is now central and southern Viet
Nam, southern Laos, Thailand and part of the
Malay Peninsula. Angkor's colossal ruins are the
major reason people come to view the empires
remnants. Yet Cambodia offers much more
including outstanding ancient and French colonial
architecture, spectacular riverine environments, a
revitalising capital and beautiful countryside.
Our itinerary reflects this variety and our joint
leaders are looking forward to sharing their
enthusiasm for Cambodia with you: Gill Green,
Vice President of TAASA, art historian and author
specialising in Cambodian culture; and Darryl
Collins, prominent Australian expatriate university
lecturer and museum curator who has lived and
worked in Cambodia for over fifteen years.

TAASA will be presenting two programs, one

in Sydney at the Powerhouse Museum and
one in conjunction with the National Gallery
of Victoria in Melbourne, as follows:
Sydney seminar, Saturday 26 July 2008
Coles Theatre, Powerhouse Museum
Haymarket, Sydney

of urban change; Ying Chang Beyond the Dream,

a documentary presentation about the impact
of the Olympic Games on Beijing.
A selection from Hedda and Alastair
Morrisons Chinese belt toggle collection will
be displayed on Level 3 of the Powerhouse
Museum in association with the Beijing
Olympics and with this event.
Melbourne seminar, Saturday 2 August 2008
BBDO Clemenger Auditorium, NGV International
St Kilda Road, Melbourne

Speakers in Melbourne will include: Prof.

Jocelyn Chey Beijing in the Western Imagination;
Prof. Geremie R. Barm Beijing Reoriented, an
Olympic Undertaking ; Dr Claire Roberts Hedda
Morrisons Peking; Dr Ye Xiaoqing Imperial
City, Chinese City - aspects of everyday life in old
Peking; John Denton Beijing Architecture; ZiYin
Wang Gantner The film industry in Beijing, then
and now.
Detailed information re times, content, costs
etc.of both seminars will be provided in the
brochure to be mailed to all members shortly.
Or visit our website www.taasa.org.au.
NSW Textile Focus Group

Speakers in Sydney will include: Prof. Jocelyn

Chey Beijing in the Western Imagination;
Prof. Geremie R. Barm Beijing Reoriented,
an Olympic Undertaking; Dr Claire Roberts
Hedda Morrisons Peking; Min-Jung Kim The
Morrison Belt Toggle Collection at the Powerhouse
Museum; Dr Ye Xiaoqing Imperial City, Chinese
City - aspects of everyday life in old Peking; John
Courtney Beijing Transformed, a quarter century

All meetings held 6-8 pm in the Briefing

Room, Powerhouse Museum, and include
supper. TAASA members $5.00, non-member
s $7.00. Inquiries Gill Green 02 93311800.
Wed 11 June Gill Green on two bark cloth
jackets from Borneo.
Wed 9 July tba
Wed 13 August Margo Beasley on barkcloth
from Samoa (provisional)

Price per person including airfare $5250

To book or to register your interest or for
further information phone Ray Boniface of
Heritage Destinations on 02 9267 0129 or
email heritagedest@bigpond.com

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

Suite 102, 379 Pitt Street

Sydney NSW 2000 Australia
PO Box K1042 Haymarket NSW 1240 Australia
Phone: +61 2 9267 0129
Fax: +61 2 9267 2899
ABN 93 086 748 834 LIC NO 2TA004916
Looking south from Coal Hill over the Forbidden City (detail) by Hedda Morrison, China 1933-1946.
Silver gelatin print.Collection: Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

24

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

RECENT TAASA ACTIVITIES

Book Launch, Sydney

On 11 March, TAASA and the NSW Branch

of the Australian Institute of International
Affairs jointly sponsored the launch of a new
book on Shanghai architecture by Australian
heritage architect Anne Warr. An overflow
crowd attended the evening function at the
Glover Cottages in Kent Street, Sydney. Mack
Williams, President of NSW AIIA, and Jocelyn
Chey, TAASA committee member, introduced
Anne, who gave a lavishly illustrated
introduction to her work over many years
recording historic and modern buildings. Her
book Shanghai Architecture is published by
The Watermark Press, Sydney.
Farewell to the Millers, Sydney

The
TAASA
Committee
farewelled
Susan and Robert Miller in Sydney in late

April as the Miller family is relocating to the

USA. Susan has served as TAASAs Hon.
Secretary for five years with enthusiasm and
dedication and Robert not only maintained
the membership database but set up the
TAASA website and kept it up to date. On
behalf of all TAASA members, the Committee
wishes them all the best with the future.
Calligraphy demonstration, Melbourne

On 1 April, Christina Chung, whose paintings have been shown in both solo and group
exhibitions in Asia, Europe and Australia,
gave a talk and demonstration of traditional
Chinese painting to an appreciative audience
of TAASA members and friends. While her
oeuvre encompasses colourful flower paintings and traditional monochromatic landscapes, and examples of her two contrasting
styles were on display, on
this occasion she confined
herself to demonstrating in
black ink, creating a beautiful painting of bamboo with
accompanying calligraphy.

Farewell in Sydney: left to right,

Jocelyn Chey, Susan Miller, Judith
Rutherford, Louise Geoghan and
Robert Miller

MITSUI TRAVEL the Japan Connection

Journey into the land of history, culture and hospitality.
Japan is a unique destination for lovers of art, traditional and contemporary.
Mitsui Travel can assist with expertise of over 30 years in planning your itinerary
with your special interest incorporated.
Special departure
Autumn Leaf viewing with visits to three most celebrated gardens of Japan
Departure date from Sydney November 16th 2008 19 days 18 nights
Some of the hightlights are: Tokyo Hakone Kairakuen Garden in Ibaragi
Nikko Kenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa Kyoto Korakuen Garden in Okayama
Tour price from $8660.00 per person share twin
Contact us for tour details.

MITSUI TRAVEL
Suite 403 Level 4, 147 King Street Sydney 2000
Phone +61 2 9232 2720 Fax +61 2 9232 2705
Email: mitsui@mitsuitravel.com.au Website: mitsuitravel.com.au

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Lic.2TA 001537

25

WHATS ON: JUNE AUGUST 2008

A S E L E C T I V E R O U N D U P O F A U S T R A L I A N E XH I B I T I O N S A N D E V E N T S
Compiled by Tina Burge
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Picture Paradise: The first century of AsiaPacific photography 1840s-1940s
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
11 July-9 November 2008

A major historical survey exhibition exploring

aspects of the history of photography from
the 19th century to the 1940s in the AsiaPacific region, from India through to the
West Coast of North America. Thematic areas
of the exhibition will include the use of
photographic portraiture as a political tool
by Asia-Pacific leaders; landscape and the
wilderness; and hybrid Western and AsiaPacific fashion and costume photography as
political and social performance.
See www.nga.gov.au/PictureParadise or call
02 6240 6502.

offered middle-class visitors an opportunity

for fantasy and dressing-up as part of the
tourist experience.
19 August, 12.45 pm: Dr Isobel Crombie,
Senior Curator, Photography, National
Gallery of Victoria, discusses the development
of the highly theatrical genre of Shashin
(photographs) taken in Japan in the mid-19th
century.
2 September, 12.45 pm: Floor talk by Simeran
Maxwell, National Gallery of Australia,
on indigenous Asian photographers in the
exhibition.
23-31 August: Asia-Pacific Film Series

Screenings of rarely-seen films made in the

early 20th century by Western filmmakers
and adventurers who explored, documented
and romanticised the cultures of the Pacific
and the Far East. For details see website.
Asian Art floor talks and performances

22 July, 12.45 pm: The Dancing Shiva. Edie

Young, Public Programs NGA, on a new
addition to the Gallerys Indian art collection,
an 1th-12th century Chola bronze.

NEW SOUTH WALES
Taisho Chic: Japanese Modernity,
Nostalgia and Deco
Art Gallery of Sydney South Wales, Sydney
22 May-3 August 2008

Explores the impact of the simultaneous clash

and embrace of modernity and tradition
on arts and design in Japan of the Greater
Taisho period (1900-1930). A comprehensive
range of public programs will accompany the
exhibition. Guided Tours will take place daily
at 1.00 pm and Wednesdays at 7.15 pm. Further
information at www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au.

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Javanese dancers in the 1920s (detail) by Tassilo Adam.

Silver gelatin print, Dimensions. Collection National

Gallery of Australia, purchased 2007

Talks associated with the exhibition include:

13 July, 2.00 pm: Gael Newton, Senior

Curator, Photography and curator of the
exhibition explores aspects of the history of
photography in the Asia-Pacific region from
the 19th century to the 1940s.
15 July, 12.45 pm: Edward Stokes,
photographer, writer and author of Hedda
Morrisons Hong Kong (2005), talks about
Morrison, a pioneer woman photographer
of Asia, who recorded its people, places and
patterns of life for over three decades. Stokes
will present her 1946 photographs of Hong
Kong and explore the creative connections
with her earlier China, and later Southeast
Asian, photography.
1 August, 6.00 pm: The makers of the film
Photowallahs, David and Judith McDougall,
will speak about their film prior to a screening.
The film shows how street photographers in
the north Indian hill station of Mussoorie

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8 June, 2.00 pm: Indian dance: a lecture

by dancer/choreographer Padma Menon
will provide a unique perspective on the
sacred dimensions of dance and sculpture in
India. Plus a classical dance performance by
professional dancers from India.
24 June, 12.45 pm: Buddhist Art in East
Asia. Melanie Eastburn, Asian Art Curator,
on characters and concepts in East Asian
Buddhist art.
1 July, 12.45 pm: Contemporary Asian art:
No Ordinary Angels: the flying installations
of Indonesian artist, Heri Dono. Dr Michelle
Antoinette, Researcher of Modern and
Contemporary Asian Art, Australian National
University.

Flying angels by Heri Dono, Indonesia, 2006. polyester

resin, clock parts, electronic components, paint, wood,
cotton gauze; various sizes. Promised gift of Gene and
Brian Sherman to the National Gallery of Australia 2008

Wednesdays, 5.30 pm: floor talks, including

the following speakers:
2 July: Khanh Trinh, Curator of Japanese art,
AGNSW
16 July: Kathryn Hunyor, Arts Consultant
23 July: Peter McNeil, Professor in Design
History, UTS
30 July: Chiaki Ajioka, Japanese Art Lecturer,
University of Sydney
2 July, 6.30pm: Shakuhachi master Riley
Lee presents Traditional and modern:
music of Japan in the roaring twenties with
fellow artists visiting Sydney for the World
Shakuhachi Festival 2008.
9 July, 6.00 pm: special lecture by Anne
Wilkes Tucker, Gus and Lyndall Wortham
Curator of Photography at Museum of
Fine Arts, Houston, The New Middle Class
and Amateur Art Photography in Taisho
period Japan.
The Art After Hours Celebrity Speakers
series will feature three guests who will
discuss various aspects of Japanese culture.
16 July, 6.30 pm: author Linda Jaivin on
Fighting Chic, surveying the patriotic
fashion worn during the Russo-Japanese War
of 1904-1905.
23 July, 6.30 pm: fashion designer Akira
Isagowa on Japanese fashion.
30 July at 6.30 pm: author Ben Hills (Princess
Masako, Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne)
gives his perspective on contemporary
Japanese culture.

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

21 May-15 June: Yasujiro Ozu film series

program: Wednesdays at 2.00pm & 7.15pm,
Sundays at 2.00pm
Like the artwork in the exhibition, this series
of films explores the impact of the clash
and embrace of modernity and tradition in
Japan. Films include Early spring (Soshun,
1956), Equinox flower (Higanbana, 1949) and An
autumn afternoon (Sanma no aji, 1962).
14 July-17 July, 1.30pm: Childrens Holiday
Workshops and a childrens performance
Floating on a sea of stories.
The Lost Buddhas: Chinese Buddhist
Sculpture from Qingzhou
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
29 August-23 November 2008

See article on p.21 of this issue of TAASA

Review. These refined and sensual sculptures
illustrate the dramatic stylistic changes that
occurred during a time when Buddhist art in
China reached its apogee.

QUEENSLAND

Lee Mingweis Gernika in Sand

Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

3 May-6 July 2008

The New York-based Taiwanese artist Lee

Mingwei uses Picassos painting Guernica
as a reference point as well as a point of
departure for his installation Gernika in Sand.
The artist and a group of assistants will recreate Picassos famous work in sand over a
ten day period. Midway through the display
on 9 June the artist will return to alter the
work, destroying it over a period of a day by
sweeping the sand using a bamboo broom to
create a new work that is characterised by its
sweeping abstract and gestural forms.

Further information at www.qag.qld.gov.au.

Womens wedding kimomo, Japan, c.1850. Silk, shibori

dyeing technique. Collection Osaka Museum of History

Black Robe White Mist: Art of

the Japanese Buddhist nun Rengetsu

An international symposium Chinese

Buddhist Art: New Discoveries and
Perspectives organised by the Art Gallery
of New South Wales and the Australian
Centre for Asian Art and Archaeology at the
University of Sydney brings an impressive
group of leading scholars from around
the world to Sydney at the launch of the
exhibition. See p.21 for detailed information
on this significant event.

RMIT Gallery, Melbourne

5-28 June 2008

In conjunction with the exhibition and

symposium the Dr S.T. Lee Annual Lecture in
Asian Art and Archaeology at the University
of Sydney will be presented by Professor
Eugene Wang, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Professor of Asian Art, Department of History
of Art & Architecture, Harvard University, on
26 August 2008 at 6pm.

VICTORIA

NORTHERN TERRITORY
Arafura Craft Exchange
Trajectory of Memories, Tradition and
Modernity in Ceramics
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory,
Darwin
11 July 2008-18 January 2009

The Second Triennial Arafura Craft Exchange

is concentrating on the ceramic tradition of
Australia and Indonesia and will include
199 pieces from seven artists four from
Indonesia and three from Australia.
For further information go to www.nt.gov.
au/nreta/museums

TA A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 1 7 N O. 2

Gernika in Sand by Lee Mingwei, China/USA, 2007. Mixed

media interactive installation at the Chicago Cultural

Center. Collection Yeh Rong Jai Culture & Art Foundation,

Taiwan. Photo Anita Kan, courtesy Lee Studio

Largely drawn from international private

collections, the works of paper and clay in
this exhibition from the National Gallery of
Australia are contemplative and inscribed
with Buddhist nun Rengetsus elegant
poetry and understated calligraphy. For
further information go to www.rmit.edu.au/
rmitgallery
Moon in Reflection: the art of Kim Hoa Tram

Kimono: Osakas Golden Age

National Gallery of Victoria International,

Immigration Museum, Melbourne

Melbourne

15 May-14 September 2008

11 April-21 September 2008

Showcases lavish kimono and accessories

from the Osaka Museum of History. The
exhibition highlights a golden age of
prosperity experienced in Osaka 150 years
ago when wealth was expressed through
luxurious and splendid fashions. As part of
the Immigration Museums 10th birthday
program, this exhibition also celebrates 30
years of the Melbourne-Osaka sister-city
relationship. A special interactive area will
encourage families to actively experience
Japans clothing traditions by learning how
to dress in a yukata kimono, with samples for
visitors to try on.

Kim Hoa Tram (Shen Jinhe in Chinese) was

born in Saigon in 1959, although his family is
originally from Fujian province in China. He
migrated to Australia in 1984 and now lives
in Melbourne.

The Immigration Museum will also offer

events in conjunction with the exhibition
including a special winter school holiday event
for children, Winter Kidsfest: Experience
Japan on 6 July. For further information on
this and other events call 13 11 02 or go to
museumvictoria.com.au.

His paintings and calligraphies are evocative

of an aesthetic and spiritual experience
inspired by Zen (Chan in Chinese) Buddhism.
He is also influenced by the Chinese
tradition, especially Chinese ink painting and
calligraphy.
Further information at www.ngv.vic.gov.au/
ngvinternational.

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