This exhibition catalogue highlights some of the significant landmarks in Buddhist history through the travel records of monks Faxian, Xuan Zang, and Xijing, as well as the spread of Buddhism and Buddhist art at such centres as Nalanda, Gandhara, Mathura, Sarnath, and the Srivijaya kingdom.

On the Nalanda Trail: Buddhism in India, China & Southeast Asia

History

Krishnan, Gauri Parimoo

Asia

Asian Civilisations Museum

Marine Archaeology in Southeast Asia: Adaptation and Innovation presents issues facing maritime archaeology in the region. Essays discuss the importance of the work for understanding the shared history of economic and cultural exchange; case studies from the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia, as well as an update on a new Indonesian heritage law and protective measures for underwater cultural heritage, and perspectives from the private sector as well as the work by non-governmental Centre for International Heritage Activities in Leiden on international collaboration and capacity-building initiatives. The book explores the middle ground between public and private; long-term excavation and emergency salvage; and even the former polarisation between art museums and archaeology.

Marine Archaeology in Southeast Asia: Innovation and Adaptation

Politics & Social Sciences

Archaeology

This richly illustrated, full-colour volume offers an innovative study of the long, painted scrolls of Northeast Thailand and Laos that depictthe Prince Vessantara Buddhist birth story. A 31-metre scroll in the Asian Civilisations Museum provides the focus for this popular narrative. The scroll is reproduced in its entirety, with comparative illustrations from other scrolls. The authors analyze these scrolls in the context of the Bun Phra Wet – the Thai-Lao and Lao ceremony in which they are used – and consider the complex interplay of text, art, ritual, and belief which occur in these performances.

Buddhist Storytelling in Thailand and Laos: The Vessantara Jataka Scroll and the Asian Civilisations Museum

Arts & Photography

Tossa, Wajuppa

Cate, Sandra

Lefferts, H. Leedom

History & Criticism

Principal curator Heidi Tan and a team of scholars produced this profusely illustrated catalogue to accompany the exhibition on Thai Buddhist art at the Asian Civilisations Museum. The book contains highly readable essays on diverse aspects of Thai art and culture, from the aesthetics of devotion and the iconic Sukhothai walking Buddha, to more recent aspects of popular Buddhism, like festivals and collecting amulets. Entries on each of the more than 150 objects on display enrich our understanding of the over 1,500 years of Buddhist art in Thailand covered in the volume.

Enlightened Ways: The Many Streams of Buddhist Art in Thailand

Tan, Heidi

Architecture

This guide to the Peranakan Museum, Singapore, features over 100 fully illustrated entries on ceramics, textiles, jewellery, furniture, beadwork and embroidery, as well as the living traditions that continue in the Peranakan community. The term "Peranakan", meaning "child of" or "born of" in Malay, has come to refer to the descendants of traders who intermarried with local women in Southeast Asia. Over time, a distinctive culture that brought together Chinese, Malay, Indian, European, and other influences emerged.

PERANAKAN MUSEUM GUIDE

Randall, Ee

This book publishes papers presented at a conference on the Kangxi Emperor held in conjunction with an exhibition at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore. Essays cover many aspects of art and culture of the period, from his patronage of the arts and religious practices at the court, to his tours of the empire and foreign policy.

Reign of the Kangxi Emperor: Conference Proceedings

Published in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore, in 2010, this book explores the art of Sumatra. It traces the major streams of influence on the visual culture of the island: the indigenous cultures, as well as contacts with India, China, the Islamic world, and Europe. Sumatra responded in nuanced and complex ways to these traditions.

Sumatra: Isle of Gold

Anthropology

This catalogue focuses on a group of 72 batik altar cloths recently donated to the Peranakan Museum. Families traditionally used embroidered cloths made in southern China, but in the early 20th century, the cloths began to be made of Javanese batik. Essays by Peter Lee, discussing the use and historical context of altar cloths in Southeast Asia, and by Fiona Kerlogue, on the significance of the designs on the cloths, complement beautifully illustrated entries on each cloth.

Auspicious Designs: Batik for Peranakan Altars

Lee, Peter H.

This book chronicles, through an extended interview with the artist, an installation at the Peranakan Museum in 2013. Artist Lee Mingwei explored issues of archaeology, memory, connoisseurship, and rebirth in this work of art that invited visitor participation. Lee's creation was inspired by his first visit to the museum: upon entering, he recalled his grandparents' home, where light cascading from the skylight, sounds, and aromas coming from different floors, "became a sort of multisensory symphony in my mind."

Luminous Depths: Lee Mingwei, A Contemporary Project on the Museum

Chong, Doryun

Tan, Eugene

A profusely illustrated, hard-bound catalogue to accompany the exhibition. Great Peranakans: Fifty Remarkable Lives presents historical essays on Peranakan culture and entries on each of the fifty men and women selected for the exhibition.

Great Peranakans: Fifty Remarkable Lives

Biographies & Memoirs

Guan, Kwa Chong

Yoong, Jackie

Teo, John

Ang, Daphne

Community & Culture

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Books by Asian Civilisations Museum