Search results for ""Asian Civilisations Museum""

The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) opened in 1997, and has been in its present building by the Singapore River in the heart of the city since 2003. The museum traces its roots to the colonial-period Raffles Library and Museum, founded in the middle of the 19th century. ACM's satellite Peranakan Museum opened in 2008, and presents the art and culture of Southeast Asian mixed-heritage communities. ACM is a National Museum governed by Singapore's National Heritage Board. Singapore’s history as a port city that brought people together from all over the world is used here as a means of examining the history of Asia. The objects presented tell stories of the trade and the exchange of ideas that were the result of international commerce, as well as the flow of religions and faith through Asia. Director Kennie Ting has chosen his personal favourites from the collection, collaborating with ACM curators to provide readers with insightful descriptions of these masterpieces as well as a broad introduction to the museum.

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"The great military cemeteries found along the Messines Ridge and around the town of Ieper (Ypres) in Flanders, Belgium, are the last resting place of hundreds of thousands of soldiers who died during the First World War..." – Regiments of the Dead The extraordinary photographs were taken at different times of year to record the atmospheric and evocative memorials to the war dead of 1914–1918, in a manner not seen before. Immaculately maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as a lasting memorial to the fallen the gravestones, when viewed from above, can be seen to resemble soldiers on parade. Paul Shenton's interest in the battlefields and military cemeteries of the First World War began when he came across his grandfather's medals representing his service as a sergeant with the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards during 1914–1918. This find prompted research into the engagements that his grandfather took part in and many trips to the battlefields and cemeteries of the Ypres Salient area in Flanders.

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Triumphs and challenges in contemporary museology Held on the occasion of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s first anniversary, the symposium Worlds in a Museum addressed the topic of museums in the era of globalisation, exploring contemporary museology and the preservation and presentation of culture within the context of changing societies. Departing from the historical museum structure inherited from the Enlightenment, leading experts from art, cultural, and academic institutions explore present-day achievements and challenges in the study, display and interpretation of art, history, and artefacts. How are “global” and “local” objects and narratives balanced – particularly in consideration of diverse audiences? How do we foster perspective and multiculturalism while addressing politicised notions of centre and periphery? As they abandon classical canons and categories, how are museums and cultural entities redefining themselves beyond predefined concepts of geography and history?This collection of essays arises from the symposium Worlds in a Museum organised by Louvre Abu Dhabi and École du Louvre. Contributors: H.E. Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa (Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities), Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak (Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi), Guilhem André (Louvre Abu Dhabi), Claire Barbillon (École du Louvre), Nathalie Bondil (Montreal Museum of Fine Arts), James Cuno (J. Paul Getty Trust), Noëmi Daucé (Louvre Abu Dhabi), Hartwig Fischer (British Museum), Cecilia Hurley (Neuchâtel University / École du Louvre), Rose-Marie Herda Mousseaux (Louvre Abu Dhabi), Hervé Inglebert (Paris-Nanterre University), Henry Kim (Aga Khan Museum), Anne-Marie Maïla-Afeiche (The National Museum of Beirut), François-René Martin (Ecole du Louvre / Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris), Jean-Luc Martinez (Louvre Museum), Sophie Mouquin (University of Lille / École du Louvre), Souraya Noujaim (Louvre Abu Dhabi), Martin Pitts (University of Exeter), Manuel Rabaté (Louvre Abu Dhabi), Sylvie Ramond (Museums of Fine Arts and Contemporary Arts Lyon), Kennie Ting (Asian Civilisations Museum)

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What role do objects play in crafting the religions of Southeast Asia and shaping the experiences of believers? The Spirit of Things explores religious materiality in a region marked by shifting boundaries, multiple beliefs, and trends toward religious exclusivism. While most studies of religion in Southeast Asia focus on doctrines or governmental policy, contributors to this volume recognize that religious "things"—statues, talismans, garments, even sacred automobiles—are crucial to worship, and that they have a broad impact on social cohesion. By engaging with religion in its tangible forms, faith communities reiterate their essential narratives, allegiances, and boundaries, and negotiate their coexistence with competing belief systems. These ethnographic and historical studies of Southeast Asia furnish us with intriguing perspectives on wider debates concerning the challenges of secularization, pluralism, and interfaith interactions around the world. In this volume, contributors offer rich ethnographic analyses of religious practices in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Burma that examine the roles materiality plays in the religious lives of Southeast Asians. These essays demonstrate that religious materials are embedded in a host of practices that enable the faithful to negotiate the often tumultuous experience of living amid other believers. What we see is that the call for plurality, often initiated by government, increases the importance of religious objects, as they are the means by which the distinctiveness of a particular faith is "fenced" in a field of competing religious discourses. This project is called "the spirit of things" to evoke both the "aura" of religious objects and the power of material things to manifest "that which is fundamental" about faith and belief. Contributors: Julius Bautista, National University of Singapore; Sandra Cate, San Jose State University, California; Margaret Chan, Singapore Management University; Liana Chua, Brunel University, London; Cecilia S. de la Paz, University of the Philippines (Diliman); Alexandra de Mersan, Centre Asie du Sud-Est (Paris) and Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales; Johan Fischer, Roskilde University, Denmark; Janet Hoskins, University of Southern California; Klemens Karlsson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm; Laurel Kendall, American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University, New York City; H. Leedom Lefferts, Drew University and Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore; Nguyên Thi Thu Huong, Academic Council of the National Museum of History, Hanoi, and Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; Anthony Reid, Australian National University, University of California–Los Angeles, and National University of Singapore; Richard A. Ruth, United States Naval Academy; Kenneth Sillander, University of Helsinki; Vu Thi Thanh Tâm, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; and Yeoh Seng Guan, Monash University, Malaysia

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What role do objects play in crafting the religions of Southeast Asia and shaping the experiences of believers? The Spirit of Things explores religious materiality in a region marked by shifting boundaries, multiple beliefs, and trends toward religious exclusivism. While most studies of religion in Southeast Asia focus on doctrines or governmental policy, contributors to this volume recognize that religious "things"—statues, talismans, garments, even sacred automobiles—are crucial to worship, and that they have a broad impact on social cohesion. By engaging with religion in its tangible forms, faith communities reiterate their essential narratives, allegiances, and boundaries, and negotiate their coexistence with competing belief systems. These ethnographic and historical studies of Southeast Asia furnish us with intriguing perspectives on wider debates concerning the challenges of secularization, pluralism, and interfaith interactions around the world. In this volume, contributors offer rich ethnographic analyses of religious practices in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Burma that examine the roles materiality plays in the religious lives of Southeast Asians. These essays demonstrate that religious materials are embedded in a host of practices that enable the faithful to negotiate the often tumultuous experience of living amid other believers. What we see is that the call for plurality, often initiated by government, increases the importance of religious objects, as they are the means by which the distinctiveness of a particular faith is "fenced" in a field of competing religious discourses. This project is called "the spirit of things" to evoke both the "aura" of religious objects and the power of material things to manifest "that which is fundamental" about faith and belief. Contributors: Julius Bautista, National University of Singapore; Sandra Cate, San Jose State University, California; Margaret Chan, Singapore Management University; Liana Chua, Brunel University, London; Cecilia S. de la Paz, University of the Philippines (Diliman); Alexandra de Mersan, Centre Asie du Sud-Est (Paris) and Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales; Johan Fischer, Roskilde University, Denmark; Janet Hoskins, University of Southern California; Klemens Karlsson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm; Laurel Kendall, American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University, New York City; H. Leedom Lefferts, Drew University and Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore; Nguyên Thi Thu Huong, Academic Council of the National Museum of History, Hanoi, and Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; Anthony Reid, Australian National University, University of California–Los Angeles, and National University of Singapore; Richard A. Ruth, United States Naval Academy; Kenneth Sillander, University of Helsinki; Vu Thi Thanh Tâm, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; and Yeoh Seng Guan, Monash University, Malaysia

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