Reconstructing God

Reconstructing God
Author: Marnie Feneley
Publisher: National University of Singapore Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2022-07-26
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9789813250536

A fully illustrated archaeological and art historical analysis of one of the most important artworks of Angkor, rewriting the chronology of the royal capital. In December 1936, a villager was led by a dream to the ruins of the West Mebon shrine in Angkor where he uncovered remains of a bronze sculpture. This was the West Mebon Visnu, the largest bronze remaining from pre-modern Southeast Asia, and a work of great artistic, historical, and political significance. Prominently placed in an island temple in the middle of the vast artificial reservoir, the West Mebon Visnu sculpture was an important focal point of the Angkorian hydraulic network. Interpretations of the statue, its setting, date, and role have remained largely unchanged since the 1960s--until now. Integrating the latest archaeological and historical work on Angkor, extensive art historical analysis of the figure of Visnu Anantasayin in Hindu-Buddhist art across the region, and a detailed digital reconstruction of the sculpture and its setting, Marnie Feneley brings new light to this important piece. Highly illustrated, the book will be of interest to art historians and curators, historians of Southeast Asia, and anyone curious about the art and history of Angkor.

Gods of Angkor

Gods of Angkor
Author: Louise Allison Cort
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2010
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780295990422

A remarkable group of seven bronze figures was unearthed in Kampong Cham province, Cambodia, in 2006. This book celebrates the collaborative efforts of the Cambodian and US museums to restore and interpret these important images, and also the accomplishments of Khmer bronze casters from the fourth century BCE to the fourteenth century CE.

World Heritage Angkor and Beyond

World Heritage Angkor and Beyond
Author: Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin
Publisher: Universitätsverlag Göttingen
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2011
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3863950321

"Angkor, the temple and palace complex of the ancient Khmer capital in Cambodiais one of the world's most famous monuments. Hundreds of thousands oftourists from all over the globe visit Angkor Park, one of the finest UNESCO WorldHeritage Sites, every year. Since its UNESCO listing in 1992, the Angkor regionhas experienced an overwhelming mushrooming of hotels and restaurants; theinfrastructure has been hardly able to cope with the rapid growth of mass tourismand its needs. This applies to the access and use of monument sites as well. The authors of this book critically describe and analyse the heritage nominationprocesses in Cambodia, especially in the case of Angkor and the temple ofPreah Vihear on the Cambodian/Thai border. They examine the implications theUNESCO listings have had with regard to the management of Angkor Park andits inhabitants on the one hand, and to the Cambodian/Thai relationships on theother. Furthermore, they address issues of development through tourism thatUNESCO has recognised as a welcome side-effect of heritage listings. They raisethe question whether development through tourism deepens already existinginequalities rather than contributing to the promotion of the poor"--Publisher's description.

The Angkorian World

The Angkorian World
Author: Mitch Hendrickson
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 876
Release: 2023-04-28
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1351128922

The Angkorian World explores the history of Southeast Asia’s largest ancient state from the first to mid-second millennium CE. Chapters by leading scholars combine evidence from archaeology, texts, and the natural sciences to introduce the Angkorian state, describe its structure, and explain its persistence over more than six centuries. Comprehensive and accessible, this book will be an indispensable resource for anyone studying premodern Asia. The volume’s first of six sections provides historical and environmental contexts and discusses data sources and the nature of knowledge production. The next three sections examine the anthropogenic landscapes of Angkor (agrarian, urban, and hydraulic), the state institutions that shaped the Angkorian state, and the economic foundations on which Angkor operated. Part V explores Angkorian ideologies and realities, from religion and nation to identity. The volume’s last part reviews political and aesthetic Angkorian legacies in an effort to explain why the idea of Angkor remains central to its Cambodian descendants. Maps, graphics, and photographs guide readers through the content of each chapter. Chapters in this volume synthesise more than a century of work at Angkor and in the regions it influenced. The Angkorian World will satisfy students, researchers, academics, and the knowledgeable layperson who seeks to understand how this great Angkorian Empire arose and functioned in the premodern world. The Prologue and Chapters 2, 10, 15, 23, 30 and 32 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Scientific Research on the Sculptural Arts of Asia

Scientific Research on the Sculptural Arts of Asia
Author: Janet G. Douglas
Publisher: Archetype Publications
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2007
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Throughout Asia's history, sculptural arts have encompassed a variety of processes, including carving, modeling, casting, and assembling. Scientific investigations presented in this volume include studies of Southeast Asian jade, Chinese bronzes, Mongolian deer stones, Japanese polychrome sculpture, and others. Scientific study of sculpture helps us learn more about why, where, and how these works were made as well as address concerns about the state of their preservation and conservation.

The Art of South and Southeast Asia

The Art of South and Southeast Asia
Author: Steven Kossak
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Total Pages: 169
Release: 2001
Genre: Art, South Asian
ISBN: 0870999923

Presents works of art selected from the South and Southeast Asian and Islamic collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, lessons plans, and classroom activities.

Cambodge

Cambodge
Author: Penny Edwards
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2007-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0824829239

This study of Cambodian nationalism brings to life eight turbulent decades of cultural change and sheds new light on the colonial ancestry of Pol Pot's murderous dystopia. Penny Edwards re-creates the intellectual milieux and cultural traffic linking Europe and empire, interweaving analysis of key movements and ideas in the French Protectorate of Cambodge with contemporary developments in the Metropole. With its fresh take on the dynamics of colonialism and nationalism, Cambodge: The Cultivation of a Nation, 1860-1945 will become essential reading for scholars of history, politics, and society in Southeast Asia. Edwards' analysis of Buddhism and her consideration of Angkor's emergence as a national monument will be of particular interest to students of Asian and European religion, museology, heritage studies, and art history. It will also appeal to specialists in modern French history, cultural studies, and colonialism, as well as readers with a general interest in Cambodia.

Expressions of Cambodia

Expressions of Cambodia
Author: Leakthina Chau-Pech Ollier
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2006-10-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 113417196X

Taking a theoretical and multidisciplinary perspective, the essays in this collection provide compelling insight into contemporary Cambodian culture at home and abroad. The book represents the first sustained exploration of the relationship between cultural productions and practices, the changing urban landscape and the construction of identity and nation building twenty-five years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. As such, the team of international contributors address the politics of development and conservation, tradition and modernity within the global economy, and transmigratory movements of the twenty-first century. Expressions of Cambodia presents a new dimension to the Cambodian studies by engaging the country in current debates about globalization and the commodification of culture, post-colonial politics and identity constructions. Timely and much-needed, this volume brings Cambodia back into dialogue with its neighbours, and in so doing, valuably contributes to the growing field of Southeast Asian cultural studies.