9 September 2010 – 9 January 2011 at the Honolulu Academy of Arts

For its major fall exhibition, the Academy highlights its important but little seen collection of Southeast Asian Art. On view will be approximately 150 works of art from Thailand and Cambodia, many of which have never been displayed at the museum.

Visitors will travel through time and regions via three sections: The Neolithic and Bronze ages in Thailand and Cambodia; the Khmer kingdom, which dominated the central Southeast Asian peninsula from the 9th through the 15th centuries; and the Sukhothai kingdom, generally considered the first major Thai kingdom and the progenitor of the modern Thai state, which flourished from the 13th through the 15th centuries. The exhibition will cover the artistic and cultural developments of three important Southeast Asian cultures (Ban Chiang, Khmer, and Sukhothai) over more than 4,000 years, going from vibrantly decorated Neolithic earthenware ceramics to a dazzling gold Buddhist sculpture.

This exhibition is a chance for the public to discover a major resource in Hawaii for the study of Southeast Asia, and it promotes a greater awareness and appreciation of Southeast Asian cultural and artistic traditions in the Hawaii community.

The exhibition and its educational programs are supported in part by a grant from the Hawaii Council for the Humanities.

Lecture series:
Public lectures by University of Hawaii professors Miriam Stark and Paul Lavy will greatly illuminate the works on view in the exhbition. Lectures will be held on Thursdays throughout October at 4 p.m. in the Doris Duke Theatre. Admission is free.

Oct. 7:From Stone to Bronze and Village to City: Southeast Asia’s Buried Past
Presented by Miriam T Stark, PhD; Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Southeast Asia’s earliest archaeological remains date back more than 1.8 million years. Through the millennia, Southeast Asians crafted their lives and shaped their landscapes in ways that ultimately produced kingdoms and empires. This lecture surveys Southeast Asia’s history from an archaeological point of view, and highlights key developments from the Neolithic through the Classical period.

Oct. 14:Vishnu’s Heavenly Realm: Angkor Wat and Ancient Khmer Architecture
Presented by Paul Lavy, PhD; Assistant Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art History, Department of Art and Art History, University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Angkor Wat (12th century), one of the worlds largest and most complex religious monuments, was built as a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and later transformed into a Buddhist sanctuary. This lecture will examine Angkor Wat’s history, architecture, and symbolism and explore its central role in Khmer (Cambodian) culture.

Oct. 21:Cultivating the Image of Compassion: Power, Propaganda, and the Statuary of Ancient Angkor
Presented by Paul Lavy, PhD; Assistant Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art History, Department of Art and Art History, University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Hindu and Buddhist sculpture was central to both religion and politics in ancient Angkor. This lecture will investigate the intersection of politics, religion, and art at the peak of Angkors power during the reign of its most colorful king, Jayavarman VII, a ruler who cleverly utilized unusual Buddhist art to express both his personal piety and political ambitions.

Oct. 28:Walking with the Buddha: The Art of Sukhothai
The kingdom of Sukhothai (13th-15th centuries) was the first major Thai kingdom and it is often regarded as the Golden Age of Thai civilization. This lecture will provide an introduction to the art of Sukhothai and explore the symbolism and style of Sukhothai Buddha images, renowned worldwide for their elegance and distinctive stylistic qualities.

Teacher Workshop
All teachers are invited to attend a teacher workshop on September 25, 2010 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM in the Museum Lecture Hall. For reservations, please call Betsy Robb 532-3666. This teacher workshop is fully sponsored by the Hawaii Council for the Humanities.

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To reassess the complex interconnections between Brecht’s work and various Asian cultures at the beginning of the 21st century, the International Brecht Society (IBS) and the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa invite scholars and artists in theater, performance, and other cultural fields to Honolulu for the 13th IBS Symposium on “Brecht in/and Asia” from May 19-23, 2010.

Brecht was not the only Western modernist to turn to Asian theater and thought for inspiration, but he was an especially astute observer of the cultural encounter with this “other,” which had such a significant impact on his work. Conversely, Brecht’s own theater and thought returned to inspire new forms of political and aesthetic experiments in many parts of Asia. With the dynamic, ongoing echoes of this mutual relationship as point of departure, the symposium will provide a forum to explore its multiple dimensions.

Below are the Southeast Asian focused panels:

Fritz Bennewitz’s Caucasian Chalk Circle in the Philippines
Thursday, May 20 at 3:45 pm in Webster Hall 103
Presented by David G. John, University of Waterloo, Ontario

Linking with the previous presentations by Rolf Rohmer and Joerg Esleben, this paper will first outline former GDR director Fritz Bennewitz’s long association with Philippine theatre through his interactions with indigenous theatre practitioners there, and especially his collaboration with the Philippine Education Theatre Association (PETA) in producing many plays. It will then focus on his 1977 production, with local actors and collaborators, of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle, in Tagalog (Ang Hatol na Bilog na Guhit), staged in Manila with thematic and stylistic connections to the southern Philippine region of Mindanao and its Muslim culture. Bennewitz asserted frequently that this play was an ideal vehicle for mutual intercultural exploration and understanding. Although judged by Philippine critics to be the country’s best production of the year, questions need to be asked as to whether or not it was indeed a successful intercultural venture from points of view then and now.

Since 1974 David John has been Professor of German Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. His major book publications focus on eighteenth-century German theatre, Goethe and Schiller, and he has just completed a book on Fritz Bennewitz’s seven productions of Faust in various countries. He is currently involved in an international collaborative project on Bennewitz in India.

In Contestation over Hegemonic Narrative: Kamron’s Brechtian Theatre and Beyond
Thursday, May 20 at 11:00 am in Webster Hall 103
Presented by Parichat Jungwiwattanaporn, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

During seventy-eight years of parliamentary democracy (1932 – 2010), Thai democratization has gone through a number of significant challenges including coup d’états and the recent call by neo-nationalist royalists for a semi-absolute monarchy. The hegemony of the national ideology of the “Three Pillars” (i.e., nation, religion/Buddhism, and the King) has been so deeply imbedded in the Thai consciousness that any attempt to question the meta-narratives of Thai history can be construed as an act against national security. Since open discussions and criticism about these meta-narratives have been legally, socially, and culturally repressed, live theatre has become an important tool for contemporary artists in Thailand to express their dissent and to create a space in which they can interact live with an audience. For the past three decades, the Crescent Moon Theatre Group (CMTG), led by Kamron Gunatilaka, has been known to use both Thai and Western theatre techniques, especially the Brechtian theatre, to articulate dissent. In countering different meta-narratives, his productions take great risk at criticizing the hegemonic social memory, history, and collective psyche of Thailand. This paper will be a case study of Kamron’s most important production, The Revolutionist, which has been the most frequently performed contemporary theatre production in Thailand since 1987. Thai theatre critics consider it one of the most important Thai plays of the 20th century. The Revolutionist, inspired by Brechtian theatre, depicts a story of the leader of the Thai revolution in 1932, Pridi Banomyong, a progressive intellectual who fell victim to political intrigues. The play also provides historical details that provide a counter-metanarrative to the well-known metanarratives of recent Thai history. Through Lyotard’s postmodern lens, this paper intends to analyze the influences of Brechtian elements in Kamron’s dramaturgy as well as the creative outcomes that resulted from using this approach.

Parichat Jungwiwattanaporn is a PhD candidate in Asian Theatre at the Department of Theatre and Dance, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Since 1999, as a researcher and writer on theatre history and criticism in Thailand, she has participated in a national research project, “Criticism as an Intellectual Power in Contemporary Thai Society.” Her publications include three co-authored books and two books on Thai Contemporary Theatre and Criticism, as well as a number of articles for such journals as ATJ and SPAFA and various newspapers.

These series of classes are designed for those of you who are interested in learning proper cooking or baking techniques and skills. Classes are held in the culinary arts laboratories and lecture rooms at Kapi’olani Community College.

Thai food is amazing! The incredible aromas and flavors that come from balancing ingredients like lemon grass, kaffir lime, coconut milk, chilies and spicy curry will lift your taste buds to new heights! And believe it or not, it’s easier than you think to cook. In this class, you’ll try your hand at another classic Thai menu. We’ll be making a thick rice noodle stir fry, Thai beef salad, crispy fish with a chili basil sauce and black sticky rice for dessert.

Dress code: As a safety precaution, participants in all culinary classes are encouraged to wear covered, non-slip shoes (e.g. tennis shoes) and comfortable long pants. Aprons or any other personal items may also be brought to class. The college, however, will not be held responsible, if such items are lost or stolen.

Sign-up: Call the registrar’s office at 734-9211, 8-4, M-F, or fax registration form to: 734-9447. | download registration form

Course Information: 8:00am-12:00pm, Saturday, 29 May 2010; fee: $68

Yuphaphann Hoonchamlong is an associate professor of Thai who coordinates the Thai program drawing upon her 20-year experience teaching Thai as a foreign language. She has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is no stranger to the University of Hawai‘i where she received her Master’s degree in Linguistics. Before coming to Hawai‘i, she taught Linguistics at Thammasat University in Thailand. In accord with the University’s mission of positioning itself as a distinguished resource and leading institution in Asia-Pacific affairs, Hoonchamlong hopes that the Thai program will gain international recognition for its language instruction, as well as for its cultural teachings, which are invaluable for communicative proficiency. To achieve this goal, she is determined to develop effective instructional materials and employ innovative instructional methodology; attract more students and increase community access to the Thai program; strengthen the relationship between students and the local Thai communities/businesses; and increase collaboration between other relevant departments and schools at UH.

Looking for a place to listen to radio from across southeast asia? The CSEAS staff recently discovered radiotime, a free streaming radio program online called radiotime! All the major southeast asian countries are listed, in addition to other countries across the globe. Some countries are even further categorized by locality! Check out the site and be sure to let us know what you think!

Until today, the Muslim Societies in Asia & the Pacific program (MSAP) only had a facebook presence online, so we are very excited to announce their new website: http://www.msiahawaii.com!  We hope our readers enjoy the site as much as we do!

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies would like to recognize the incredible efforts of graduate assistants, Nezia and Effendy, who were instrumental in the building of the Muslim Societies in Asia program.  The quality and success of the current MSIAP is a testament to their hard work and the CSEAS wishes them the best of luck on their future endeavors.

The First International Conference on
HUMAN RIGHTS in SOUTHEAST ASIA

Organized by the Southeast Asian Human Rights Studies Network and the Center for Human Rights Studies and Social Development (CHRSD), Mahidol University, Thailand.

14-15 October 2010
Bangkok , Thailand
www.seahrcon.org

Human rights in Southeast Asia are at a critical juncture. There are a number of positive developments in the promotion and protection of human rights, such as, the institutionalization of the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), formation of national human rights commissions or institutions and the development of a dynamic human rights discourse within the region. These occur, however, alongside a significant amount of human rights violations in a wide variety of areas. There is still much work to do in the promotion and protection of human rights of ASEAN peoples.

The First International Conference on Human Rights in Southeast Asia intends to bring together academics, researchers, graduate and post-graduate students, civil society organizations and government agency representatives who work on the research and greater understanding of human rights in Southeast Asia . It seeks to explore the ways researchers and civil society have begun to make more critical contributions to deepening the understanding of human rights-based framework and actual issues through in-depth engagement with localized sites within the Southeast Asian region. Likewise, as human rights is an emerging area of study at universities and academic institutes in Southeast Asia , the conference also aims to provide a venue for the increasing body of research work being done by academics and graduate students on Southeast Asian human rights.

Possible Panel Themes will include:
1. Universality and particularity of human rights
2. Individual and collective rights
3. Gender, sexuality and women’s rights
4. Rights of vulnerable and marginalized groups
5. Peace, conflict, security and human rights
6. Challenges to human rights in Southeast Asia
7. Media, advocacy and popularization of human rights

Paper Submission Details
Those who wish to present a paper at the conference are invited to submit an abstract of 300-350 words and a short biographical paragraph of 150 words in English by 30 June 2010 to Ms. Saksinee Emasiri at seahrcon@gmail.com. Please indicate to which proposed panel you think your paper would best fall under. The full paper should be about 5,000-6,000 words.

Successful applicants will be notified by 15 July 2010. Full papers are due on 30 September 2010.

Photo taken from flickr user j l t under creative commons license

Friday, April 23 at 12:00 pm in the Center for Korean Studies
Presented by Anusorn Unno, Ph.D Student – University of Washington; featuring Marcus Ferrara, Dr. Ehito Kimura and Dr. Ben Kerkvliet

The Red Shirts’ uprising which emerged right after the 2006 military coup and has intensified over the past four weeks represents significant changes in Thailand’s political landscapes. Streets in Bangkok which were used either by “the student movements” in the early and mid 1970s or by “the cell-phone mobs” in 1992 or by “the Yellow-Shirt Alliance” in 2004-2006, are now occupied by ordinary people from and of the upcountry in their attempt to express their political grievances and concerns. It is also the first time in Thai history that a Prime Minister has been brought to the negotiation table with protest leaders in a television live broadcast, and also the first time that such an uprising has forced the military back to the barracks. Several academic attempts have been made to make sense of these changes. The Red Shirts’ uprising, some argue, shows that the paradigm of an urban/rural divide (which implies that “rural” elects the government but “urban” overthrows it), is no longer tenable. Others maintain that the ruling elite conspiracy theory has also been discounted. In addition, the idea that there is a “class war” has also been debated and critiqued. The panel will discuss a crucial moment in Thailand’s political history and examine it through the perspectives of both Thai and international observers.

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All of us at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa wish everyone a wonderful Songkran/Bpee Mai/Chol Chnam Thmey/Thingyan!

Another Celebratory Photograh of Songkran

Wednesday, 7 April
6:30 p.m. – Korean Studies Auditorium

Thailand, 2007 (92 min)
Dir: Aditya Assarat
Cast: Supphasit Kansen, Anchalee Saisoontorn, Dul Yaambunying

Waves lap up on a deserted beach, the sound of the surf booms in high fidelity. The effect is mesmerizing, sleep-inducing even. An effort must be made to not drift off, because there is a movie to watch. This romantic drama is set in Takua Pa, ground zero for the cataclysmic tsunami of 2004 that claimed thousands of lives in the beach front resort. In Wonderful Town, Na (Anchalee Saisoontorn) works at a rundown but well-scrubbed hotel that doesn’t see many guests these days until the arrival of Ton (Supphasit Kansen), a handsome young architect overseeing a beachfront development. Na and Ton play their parts — she, the curious, reticent housekeeper; he, the shy, grateful guest — but another game is afoot, slipping around the edges of their customary roles. The faintest blush, a lingering look, a gift of oranges from the market, a conversation that goes on a little longer than normal. They’re falling, ever so softly, in love in this carefully calculated, quiet drama with nuanced performances by the lead actors, beautiful cinematography by Umpornpol Yugala and a haunting, awe-inspiring score by Zai Kuning and Koichi Shimizu. Watching the drama unfold feels real, like you are there. Yet it’s also dreamy, with a lyrical, surreal ending. Winner of the New Currents Award (Pusan International Film Festival) and the Tiger Award (International Film Festival Rotterdam) -Thanks to Wise Kwai @ thaifilmjournal.blogspot.com and Nathan Lee, NY Times

IMDB Webpage | NYTimes Article | Rotten Tomatoes Review | Download Poster

HIFF and AsiaPacificFilms.com present a special opportunity to sample the site for one month totally free. AsiaPacificFilms.com offers a film festival experience by streaming a growing collection of over 250 feature films, documentaries and short films from established and emerging across Asia and the Pacific including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Choose to subscribe for a second month, and proceeds directly go to support the Hawaii International Film Festival.

Here’s how to do it:
1. Simply visit AsiaPacificFilms.com and enter this exclusive HIFF coupon code to redeem your free month trial: HIFFohana2010
2. Stay the second month and support HIFF while continuing to watch great movies from Asia and the Pacific Islands. You can cancel at any time.

This offer expires April 15, 2010 so we hope you’ll take some time to visit http://asiapacificfilms.com and take advantage of this opportunity! Mahalo to HIFF for their

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