UCLA schedules Southeast Asia programs for 2014

LOS ANGELES—The University of California Center for Southeast Asian Studies announced the schedule of its Southeast Asia in California program of presentations, exhibits and performances for 2014.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Other Indonesians: nationalism in an un-native language5:00 – 7:00 PM (dinner to follow) Haines Hall 352, UCLA Campus; free and open to the public. Colloquium with Joseph Errington, Professor of Anthropology, Yale University

Over the last three generations, standard Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia) has come to be known by almost all of Indonesia’s 250 million people, but by none natively. Crucial to this farflung, uneven, and rapid sociolinguistic dynamic is this erstwhile lingua franca’s assimilation among emerging middle class communities.

Joseph Errington is Professor of Anthropology and International and Area Studies, as well as Chair of the Council of Southeast Asian Studies, at Yale University. His research and writing have focused on linguistic dimensions of modernization and identity in Java and Indonesia, reflecting his broader interests in semiotics and the politics of language.

Sponsored by the UCLA Department of Anthropology Center for Language, Interaction and Culture.

Exhibitions

Ongoing
On-line Catalog of Southeast Asian Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Prof. Robert L. Brown of UCLA’s Department of Art History also serves as the South and Southeast Asia Curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).  In this latter capacity he has produced a new on-line catalog of Southeast Asian Art at LACMA. The catalogue can be found at seasian.catalog.lacma.org/.

Prof. Justin McDaniel of the University of Pennsylvania says, “This is more than just a list of photos and titles of pieces of art. It includes several very detailed essays on the pieces, scholarly resources, etc. It is visually impressive, scholarly rigorous, and easy to navigate. I highly recommend it. It even includes my favorite piece — a sculpture of the Monkey’s Gift of Honey to the Buddha!”

Ongoing
Intersections: World Arts/Local Lives

UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History
UCLA Campus
www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/intersections 
Museum admission is free.  Some of the exhibit can also be viewed online.

Los Angeles museum-goers at last have an ongoing opportunity to enjoy one of our nation’s most important collections of art from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas in Intersections: World Arts, Local Lives, which will feature approximately 250 of the finest objects from the Fowler’s collections in a long-term exhibition that celebrates the richness of world arts and considers the roles these works of art play in peoples’ lives.

Although they are scattered throughout the exhibit, there are a number of artifacts from Southeast Asia (Burma, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia) including ancestor figures, puppets, masks, and other sculptures.  There is also a five-minutes film on Indonesia: “Sisilia Sii, Weaver” which focuses on ikat weaving techniques on the island of Flores.

Ongoing
Visions of Enlightenment: Understanding the Art of Buddhism

Free ONLINE exhibit presented by the Pacific Asia Museum at www.pacificasiamuseum.org/buddhism/index.htm.

Sections include:
- The Perfected One: The Buddha
- Buddhist Places
- Compassionate Beings: Bodhisattvas, Deities, Guardians, Holy Men
- Signs, Symbols, Ritual Objects

There is quite a bit of information about Buddhism in Southeast Asia, especially in the “Buddhist Places” section.

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