Review 22-3-2013 September

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V OL UME

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NO.3

S E P T E MB E R

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THE JOURNAL OF

THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETYOF AUSTRALIA

TAASA Review

BUILDING BIG IN ASIA



3 EDITORIAL: BUILDING BIG IN ASIA

Josefa Green, Editor

4 BUILDING TALL IN SHANGHAI

Anne Warr

7 RELIGION AND CULTURAL NATIONALISM: THE AKSHARDHAM COMPLEX IN DELHI

Christiane Brosius

10 MUSEUMS IN THE GULF STATES – EXTERNAL IMAGE OR INTERNAL IDENTITY?

Leone Lorrimer

14 URBAN LANDSCAPE AND CONTEMPORARY VISIONS OF NATURE:

GARDENS BY THE BAY IN SINGAPOREGeoffrey Douglas

17 HYBRID MOSQUES: MIXING ISLAM AND ‘CHINESENESS’ IN MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA

Hew Wai-Weng

20 VIETNAM’S BAI DINH BUDDHIST TEMPLE

Ann Proctor

22 ‘TROPHY BUILDINGS’ IN BEIJING’S CHANGING URBAN LANDSCAPE

John Courtney with Tina Burge

24 THREE INDIAN FILMS AT THE 2013 SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL

Jim Masselos

25 TRAVELLER’S CHOICE: RECOLLECTING PAGAN

Minnie Kent Biggs

26 BOOK REVIEW: BIOGRAPHY OF RAFFLES

Philip Courtenay

27 HELEANOR FELTHAM (1942 – 2013)

Christina Sumner

28 RECENT TAASA ACTIVITIES

29 TAASA MEMBERS’ DIARY: SEPTEMBER 2013 - DECEMBER 2013

31 WHAT’S ON IN AUSTRALIA: SEPTEMBER 2013 - DECEMBER 2013

Compiled by Tina Burge

C O N T E N T S

Volume 22 No. 3 September 2013

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INTERIOR OF NATIONAL CENTRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS, BEIJING.

PHOTO: JOHN COURTNEY. SEE PP22-3.

TAASA REVIEW

THE ASIAN ARTS SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INC.Abn 64093697537 • Vol. 22 No. 3, September 2013

ISSN 1037.6674Registered by Australia Post. Publication No. NBQ 4134

editoriAL • email: [email protected]

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E D I T O R I A L : B U I L D I N G B I G I N A S I A

Josefa Green, Editor

3

T A A S A C O M M I T T E E

This issue explores a phenomenon evidentacross Asia: the construction in recent decadesof massive building projects, often designed by international ‘superstar’ architects,which are so evidently impacting on its builtenvironments.

There is the seemingly unstoppable contest to build ‘the highest’ – a record currently held by the Burj Khalifa in the UAE. The top 10tallest buildings in the world have mostly been built in the last decade – and all but oneis to be found in Asia.

However, ‘building big’ is not just

about height. We are also witnessing theconstruction of enormous, truly ambitiouscomplexes across much of Asia. What is themotivation behind such constructions? Thisissue cannot hope to cover the ground ortease out all the factors involved, howeverour contributors explore these questions inwidely different, sometimes quirky, contexts.

It seems appropriate to start with an articleon tall buildings in Shanghai – a city whichcurrently features 2 of the top 10 highest buildings in the world. Anne Warr discussesthe technical challenges which had to be facedin ‘building tall’ in Shanghai, given the city’s

locatio o the mud deposits of the ood plaiof the Yagtze delta. Reectig Shaghai’sgrowing economic strength, the Park Hotel, built in 1934, also epitomised the new worldof modernism in its Art Deco architecturaldesign by Laszlo Hudec. It remained thetallest building in Asia until the 1980s.

The intersection of commerce with religion isone aspect explored by Professor ChristianeBrosius in explaining the constructionof the massive Akshardham Complex inDelhi. Completed in 2005 and claimed to be the largest Hindu temple structure in theworld, this 100 acre Complex was build by

a Gujarat based Hindu sect, supported byinternational Gujarati business interests. Shesees this Complex as a ‘hyperbuilding’, a siteof conspicuous consumption for a growingwealthy elite. Offering a potent blend ofreligious tradition and mythology with stateof the art technology, the Complex can be seenas a new expression of Hindu based nationalcodece, teamig political ad ecoomicgrowth with religious zeal.

The largest complex of Buddhist temples inVietnam, the Bai Dinh temple complex southof Hanoi, is also a privately funded project, thistime by a wealthy Vietnamese entrepreneur.

Ann Proctor discusses how this new, grandscale complex has been superimposedon what was once the area of the westerngateway of the former Royal Citadel of HoaLu. But while the former temples on this

site settled gently within the landscape, thisnew complex, covering some 700 hectares,dominates: its oversize structures and largerthan life monuments honour one of Vietnam’snew rich industrialist patrons.

Supported by enormous wealth, culturalaspirations are driving the current ambitiousprogram of museum building in the GulfStates of UAE and Qatar. Leone Lorrimerworked for 7 years in this region, in part asdesign manager for the three museums inthe UAE discussed in her article, planned forcompletion in 2017. As with the Museum ofIslamic Art in Doha designed by I.M. Pei, these

museums draw on the power of ‘brand’ byengaging ‘starchitects’, and by partnering withworld famous museums. She explores the wayin which these projects aim to establish nationalidentity through culture and education.

Geoffrey Douglas’ provocative articledemonstrates how the natural environmentcan also be appropriated to promote nationalaspirations. Aiming to establish the Singapore‘brand’ as a pre-eminent, environmentallysensitive garden city, the recently completedGardens by the Bay urban landscape complexextends over 100 hectares, combiningspectacular gardens and glass conservatories

to create a ‘better than nature’ experience.

In an entirely different context, culturaland political agendas have, in the last fewdecades, iueced the uildig of a seriesof mosques – currently numbering 10 acrossIndonesia and Malaysia – which incorporatethe architecture of old Chinese mosques. Inhis article, Hew Wai-Weng contends thatin Indonesia, these Chinese style mosquesare symbolic markers for the acceptance ofChinese culture and the inclusiveness ofIndonesian Islam while in Malaysia, theyoffer a clear statement that Islam is not areligion for ethnic Malay Muslims alone.

The al exploratio of our theme takes usto Beijing, from where urban planner JohnCourtney regularly reports on its changing built environment. Here, we draw on hisreports to cover two spectacular recentprojects which exemplify the current spate ofmajor iconic building projects by internationalsuperstar architects.

As always, this issue offers a range of shorteritems of interest: Jim Masselos’ entertainingreview of Idia lms i the last Sydey FilmFestival, Philip Courtenay’s review of a new iography of Rafes ad a charmig persoal

recollection of Pagan by Minnie Kent Biggs.

We sadly acknowledge the passing ofHeleanor Feltham, whose enormous legacy ishonoured by Christina Sumner in this issue.

GiLL Green • PRESIDENT

Art historian specialising in Cambodian culture

An n Pr oC to r • VI CE PR ES ID EN TArt historian with a particular interest in Vietnam

todd SundermAn • TREASURER

Former Asian antique dealer, with a particular interest

in Tibetan furniture

dy AndreASen • SECRETARY

Has a special interest in Japanese haiku and tanka poetry

HWEI-FE’N CHEAH

Visiting Fellow, School of Cultural Inquiry, Australian

National University.

MATT COX

Assistant Curator, Asian Art, Art Gallery of NSW

CHARLOTTE GALLOWAYLecturer Asian Art History and Curatorial Studies,

Australian National University, with a special interest

in the Buddhist Art of Myanmar

JO SE FA GR EE N

General editor of TAASA Review. Collector of Chinese

ceramics, with long-standing interest in East Asian

art as student and traveller

AN N GU IL D

Former Director of the Embroiders Guild (UK)

MIN-JUNG KIM

Curator of Asian Arts & Design at the Powerhouse Museum

YU KI E SATO

Former Vice President of the Oriental Ceramic Society of

the Philippines with wide-ranging interest in Asian art

and culture

SUSAN SCOLLAY

Is an art historian and curator specialising in the arts of

Islam and in historic textiles. She is Fellow of the Royal

Asiatic Society of the UK.

CHRISTINA SUMNER

Principal Curator, Design and Society,

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

MARGARET WHITE

Former President and Advisor of the Friends of Museums,

Singapore, with special interest in Southeast Asian art,

ceramics and textiles

S T A T E R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

MELANIE EASTBURN

Curator of Asian Art, National Gallery of Australia

QUEENSLAND

RUSSELL STORER

Curatorial Maager, Asia ad Pacic Art,

Queensland Art Gallery

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

JA ME S BE NN ET T

Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia

VICTORIA

CAROL CAINS

Curator Asian Art, National Gallery of Victoria International



hanghai lies beside the Huangpu River,

a tributary of the Yangtze River near its

exit into the East China Sea. The Yangtze delta

is a wide alluvial ood plai, ad the city

of Shaghai is uilt o the mud of the ood

plai. The rst foreig uildigs uilt alog

the British Bund (the Hindi word ‘Bund’

meaning ‘embankment’) in the 19th century

were of load bearing construction and kept to

a low height to prevent too much subsidence.

By 1900, the rule of thumb was that buildings

could’t e more tha ve stories to survive

upright on the muddy riverbank. Banksemployed engineers to stack the gold and

silver in the vaults, to ensure the fragile

stability of the buildings was not endangered.

When the young architect, George Leopold

“Tug” Wilson (1880 – 1967), arrived in

Shaghai i 1912 to udertake the rst

commission for the Hong Kong architectural

rm of Palmer ad Turer, he decided to use

his newly acquired skills and experience with

the engineers Trollop and Colls, to build the

rst semi-high rise i the city. Together, Wilso

and the engineers devised a system of deeply

driven timber piles topped with a concrete raftfor the foundations. The concrete raft spread

the weight evenly over the site, while friction

between the piles and the mud decreased

subsidence. A steel-framed, stone-clad,

construction system above ground helped

reduce the overall weight. On completion in

1916, the Union Insurance Company Building

at number Three, The Bund, was the tallest

in Shanghai. The success of this building led

to Palmer and Turner securing a further nine

commissions for buildings along the Bund,

more than any other single architectural

company. These included the HSBC building,completed in 1923 and the Cathay (now The

Peace) Hotel, completed in 1929.

Even the Bank of China, completed in

1939 to a commission by the Guomingtang

Government, was

desiged i the ofces of

Palmer and Turner, albeit

by a Chinese architect,

Lu Qianshou, specially

requested by the Chinese

clients. The story goes that

the Guomingtang insisted

that the Bank of China be

the tallest on the Bund,

while Sir Victor Sassoon,

owner of the next-door

Cathay Hotel, insistedthat his hotel should

remain the tallest. Today,

it is very hard to tell, even

on close inspection, which

building is taller. When

the Peninisula Hotel was

being proposed in 2004,

as the rst ew uildig

on the Bund since 1946,

the local government’s

measurement for height

control was that it not

be taller than the Bank

of China. Palmer andTurner’s and Trollop and

Colls’ foundation system,

however, did not prevent

some subsidence, and buildings along the

Bund were routinely built one foot higher than

their aticipated al level. The city cotiued

to sink and by the 1960s Shanghai was sinking

at a rate that, if not controlled, would have left

the city below sea level by 1999.

The Government responded by setting up a

monitoring system of 12 supervision stations

and 379 observation wells which, through acomplicated groundwater pumping system,

reduced the annual subsidence dramatically,

although the Bund has reportedly sunk 400mm

since the 1960s. As Shanghai lies within an area

of cyclone activity and is now only 4 metres

above sea level, there is concern about the

combined physical weight of skyscrapers in

the city coupled with the risk of major oodig

and the effect of global warming.

One of the miracles of present day Shanghai

is that all of the pre-1949 buildings along the

Bund have survived – something unlikely to

have occurred in a capitalist driven economy.

The Shanghai government values the historictreasures along the Bund, giving them all

Municipal protection status and ensuring

that near-by high rise and unsympathetic

additions do not spoil the heritage values of

the area. In 2004, American Architect Michael

4

S

B U I L D I N G T A L L I N S H A N G H A I

Anne Warr

T A A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 2 N O . 3

UNION INSURANCE COMPANY BUILDING, NUMBER THREE THE BUND, SHANGHAI

1916, PALMER & TURNER ARCHITECTS, WATERMARK PRESS 2007

PANORAMA, THE BUND, SHANGHAI 1930S, PROPAGANDA POSTER MUSEUM SHANGHAI


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Graves was engaged by client Handel Lee

to upgrade the 1916 insurance building and

add a roof top restaurant. The Municipal

government required that the addition at

Three, The Bund not be visible from the street

– and indeed, it is not.

Although the British Bund was synonymous

with the power of the British empire, pre-

1949, a rival city centre had been developing

since the 1920s – located around the Shanghai

race course at the junction of Nanjing and

Tibet Roads. This was the social heart of

Shanghai where businesses closed down for

a week during the racing season and hotels

and clubs jostled for prominence on the roads

encircling the racecourse.

In 1934, Shanghai’s tallest building to datewas completed on Nanjing Road overlooking

the racecourse. Designed by architect, Laszlo

Hudec for the Joint Saving Society, at 22

stories (83.8 metres) the Park Hotel remained

the tallest building, not only in Shanghai, but

in the whole of Asia until the 1980s. Chinese

American architect, IM Pei, claims it was

the Park Hotel that inspired his passion for

architecture. In 1934, the 16 year-old Pei had

been taken by his uncle to see a movie at

the Grand Theatre. On emerging from the

show, Pei noticed the newly completed hotel

next door and was so captivated that he

immediately took out a pencil to sketch it.

Architect Laszlo Hudec arrived in Shanghai

in 1918 at the age of 25, having escaped from

a Russian gulag at the end of the First World

War, precariously making his way south to

the safe haven of Shanghai. A graduate of the

prestigious Royal Joseph Technical University

in Budapest, he easily procured a job in post-

war boomtown Shanghai with the leading

America rm of R. A. Curry, efore settig

up his own practice in 1925. He designed a

number of memorable buildings in the Beaux-

arts style before moving whole-heartedly

into the new world of modernism in the

1930s. As a stateless refugee of the former

Austro-Hungarian Empire, he straddled theworlds of the British, French and American

establishments, as well as the increasingly

iuetial world of the wealthy Chiese

entrepreneurs.

Hudec’s client for the Park Hotel was the Joint

Saving Society, JSS, an amalgamation of four

Chinese banks that by 1930 had become one

of the 10 largest banks in China. Believing that

China’s participation in global markets would

be good for business, the overseas-educated

Chinese owners introduced not only western

style banking methods to their clients, but the eets of overseas travel y istallig travel

agencies in their banks. When it opened, the

Park Hotel included a JSS bank on the lower

two oors as well as a hospitality school, ad

boasted all the latest technical innovations

such as the fastest lifts and most advanced

dish washing machines in Shanghai.

The exterior of the rst three oors are clad

in polished black granite from Shandong

Provice, while the upper oors are ished

with dark brown brick and ceramic face

tiles laid at 45 degrees to make a diamond

patter. The tapered seve-oor tower at thetop of the building housed apartments for

the Bank’s directors, while the space behind

the tower accommodated a ballroom which

originally had a retractable roof for dancing

under the stars. The overall form of the

skyscraper alluded to that giant of the New

York skyline – the Gothic Art Deco American

Radiator Building (1924, Raymond Hood

architect) – which Hudec had visited and

sketched on a trip to America in 1928.

Hudec’s biggest challenge in the design of

the hotel was how to construct a 22-storey

building that would not sink into Shanghai’s

muddy sub-soil, a problem he investigated

with the help of engineers at TungChi-

Universitat (now Tongji University). On the

building’s opening, Siemens advertised that

the skyscraper consisted of their materials

‘from head to foot’ including the “Larssen”

steel sheet piling system chosen by Hudec to

THE PARK HOTEL SHANGHAI, 1934, LASZLO HUDEC ARCHITECT

WATERMARK PRESS 2007

ADVERTISING HANDBOOK FOR OPENING OF PARK HOTEL, 1934, LUCA PONCELLINI COLLECTION


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prevent subsidence. Steel sheet piles had been

developed in 1902 by Mr Trggve Larssen, State

Chief engineer at the city of Bremen, Germany,

and consisted of a U section with riveted

interlocks, later evolving into corrugated

proles. The idea of iterlockig sheet pilescame about in 1914 and is still used all over the

world as one of the most popular steel sheet

piling systems. Hudec’s research into the best

technology for a piling system paid off, as the

Park Hotel, unlike the buildings along the

Bund that used timber piles, did not sink.

The title to tallest building in Shanghai was

claimed by the Jin Mao Tower when it was

completed on the Pudong side of the Huangpu

River in 2000. It was the tallest building in

Chia ad the fth tallest i the world reachig

a height of 420.6 metres. Designed by thedoyens of tall buildings, Skidmore, Owings

ad Merrill (SOM), it cosists of ofce space

o the lower 50 oors ad a 555-room hotel o

the top oors with a hotel atrium startig at

the 53rd oor ad extedig 152 metres to the

87th oor. Advaced structural egieerig

protects the building from typhoons and

earthquakes while steel piles prevent it from

sinking. The foundations include over 1,000

steel piles bored over 80 metres into the

subsoil – the longest steel piles used in a land

based buildings to that date - beneath a four-

metre-thick concrete base. Impact-absorbing

mechanisms include steel shafts that haveshear joints to cushion lateral forces imposed

by winds and quakes and the weight of the

water i the swimmig pool o the 57th oor.

While sipping cocktails at Cloud Nine on the

87th oor, it may e possile to feel the earth

move – up to 75cm.

Descried as the world’s est skyscraper

since the Chrysler Building, the Jin Mao

incorporates both a pagoda and an Art Deco

tradition with complex elegance. The Tower

has 13 arig setacks ad four recedig

oes ad is crowed with a starurst ial.The spidery framework of aluminium alloy

pipes that cover the glass facade reect the

constantly changing skies. Like a mirrored

chadelier, the alumiium framework reects

the sunlight, making the building shimmer,

even on a dull day. At night the illuminated

crow ca e see oatig over Pudog’s

surreal landscape.

The Jin Mao did not retain its highest building

status for long. Since its completion in 2000,

it has been out grown by the 492 metre high

World Financial Centre, completed in 2008 to a

design by Kohn Pedersen Fox, and the soon to becompleted Shanghai Tower, designed by Gensler

Architects, which will stand at 632 metres and

121 stories high when it opens in 2014.

Anne Warr is an architect currently undertaking a

PhD at UNSW on Women and the Modern City:

Shanghai 1930s. Anne earned a Master of Arts in

Heritage Conservation from the University of York, UK

and worked for many years in Sydney in the field of

heritage conservation. From 2003-2010, Anne Lived

in Shanghai, where her book, Shanghai Architecture

was published in 2007.

Much of the information for this article was

obtained by the author when working with the

Hungarian consulate in Shanghai during the ‘Year

of Hudec in Shanghai’ project in 2008. The author

gratefully acknowledges the assistance of theresearch of architect Luca Poncellini whose thesis

on Hudec was published as a book in 2010, co-

authored with Julia Csejdy, as part of the Holnap

series on ‘Masters of Architecture’. Material has

also been drawn from the Laszlo Hudec archival

collection at University of Victoria, Canada.

REFERENCESDenison, E & Guang, YR 2006, Building Shanghai, Wiley-Academy,

Chichester, West Sussex, England.

Denison, E & Guang, YR 2008, Modernism in China, Wiley-

Academy, Chichester, West Sussex, England.

Hibbard, P 2007, The Bund Shanghai, China Faces West, Odyssey,

Hong Kong.

Pan, L 2008, Shanghai Style. Art and Design Between the Wars,

Joint Publishing Co. Hong Kong.

Warr, A. 2007. Shanghai Architecture, Watermark Press, Sydney.

JIN MAO BUILDING, SHANGHAI, TOWERING OVER THE HUANGPU RIVER AND THE FORMER BRITISH BUND, 2000,

SKIDMORE OWINGS & MERRILL ARCHITECTS, EXTERIOR FROM CLOUD NINE BAR, 87TH FLOOR, WATERMARK PRESS 2007



“Akshardham has happened at the dawn

of 21st century with the commitment and

dedication of one million volunteers. What

has happened today at Akshardham inspires

me and gives me the condence that we can

do it! The realization of developed India

is certainly possible before 2020 with the

millions of ignited minds like you.”

his statement by the then President of

India, Abdul Kalam, made at the opening

speech of the Akshardham Complex in 2005is emblematic for a new urban landscape,

emerging in the context of economic

liberalisation in India. This architectural site

is y o meas the rst ad oly spectacular

one on the subcontinent; there is a ‘wave’ of

initiatives to construct mega-buildings and

sites for residential, commercial, leisure and

religious purposes.

With fewer than 10 million people in 1991, the

urban agglomeration of the Delhi National

Capital Region (NCR) counts more than 21

million people today and is growing at an

increasing pace, creating enormous tensionsin relation to construction activities, and

access to and battles around physical space.

Akshardham Complex epitomises this in a

decade in which India has risen from ‘Third’

to approaching ‘First World’ country status, as

the largest democratic nation with a substantial

aspiratioal ad afuet middle class of more

than 200 million people. Moreover, it is a

fascinating example of a cultural nationalism

in which religion features centrally, entangled

with a capitalist consumer culture.

In November, 2005, the Akshardham (lit.Heavenly Abode of the Supreme) Complex

opened its gates to the public on the

embankment of the sacred river Yamuna

that ows through Delhi. built i oly ve

years, the 100 acre-Complex is the work of

ten thousand volunteers, sadhus and laymen

of the Bochasanwasi Sri Akshar Purushottam

Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), and of

artisans from western India.

Since the opening it is said to have attracted

over 25 million visitors from all over the

world, evoked attention by international

media and researchers and is now an essentialpart of ofcial tour guides’ repertoire. The

Guinness Book of World Records declared

the Complex as the largest Hindu temple

structure in the world in 2007, followed by

Reader’s Digest magazine calling it one of the

‘Seven Wonders of the 21st Century’ in 2011

(www.akshardham.com/news/2011). This

has added to the branding of the Gujarat-originated sect as the fastest-growing Hindu

sect in the world, with an active and growing

transnational network, particularly in

countries with Gujarati economic activities,

such as the USA, Canada, the UK and East

Africa. It has also contributed to the ‘branding’

of Delhi as a ‘global city’. This challenges us

to rethink the construction of spectacular, big

architectural projects and ‘hyperbuildings’ as

not merely the product of “corporate capital

in the colonization of urban markets” in new

economic hubs like the Emirates, Singapore,

China or India (Ong 2011: 205): we needalso to consider the role of religion in such

transnational urbanization processes.

To see this Complex as a ‘hyperbuilding’ in

the context of the vast emerging landscapes

of the Asian metropolis makes sense in three

ways. Firstly, there is the pressure for Indian

megacities to gain international and national

visibility and recognition as ‘world class’

(Brosius 2010). This is accompanied by the new

middle class’ search for sites of conspicuous

consumption and status declaration.

Secondly, the Akshardham Complex is partof a network of spiritual and leisure projects

that manifest themselves in large architectural

initiatives in India and internationally,

poitig to the gloal ow of acial ad

religious capital that underpins a search for

the marriage of ‘tradition’ with ‘globality’.

The Complex in Delhi is a sign of “capitalist

icoicity that iueces the quality ofexperience” (ibid: 208), both in Delhi and with

a whole network of new temple constructions.

Furthermore, the Complex must be

understood in the context of the particular

history of Delhi as former capital of both

Mughal and British colonial rule, moving to

a new expression of Hindu-based national

codece. As a ‘hyperuildig’, it speaks

to the itese growth of ura prolig

and real estate development in India since

the new millennium, and to the ‘tagging’ of

urban landscapes with physical landmarks ofsymbolic meaning that stage (Hindu) India’s

sovereign power and, particularly in this

case, ‘civilisational’ greatness or superiority.

Political rhetoric and economic growth are

thus teamed up with religious zeal.

The Akshardham Complex is interesting for

its combination of ancient religious traditions

and Hindu heritage with state of the art

technologies and leisure facilities. This way, it

speaks alike to devout pilgrims, foreign and

Indian tourists and families seeking a pleasant

outing away from the stressful city. It hosts a

Monument, also referred to as ‘temple’ (or

mandir in Hindi) at its centre, standing on 234

ornately carved pillars, rising 43 metres from a

platform and measuring more than 90 metres

T

R E L I G I O N A N D C U L T U R A L N A T I O N A L I S M : T H E A K S H A R D H A M C O M P L E X I N D E L H I

Christiane Brosius

AKSHARDAM COMPLEX, CENTRAL TEMPLE STRUCTURE



diagonally. It further consists of 20,000 statues

of saints (sadhus), devotees, spiritual teachers

(acharyas) and deities (murtis), is coveredwith pink stone or marble friezes ( pith),

and assembling under its nine ‘cathedral-

like’ domes (mandapam) an ‘inner sanctum’

( garbhagrah , or womb) with statues of Lord

Swaminarayan and his successors, as well as

a collection of relics and illustrative paintings

from Swaminarayan’s life and teaching.

Twice a day, ‘ofcial’ worship takes place

in the inner sanctum, allowing visitors to

worship The Lord, teachers and deities from

the Hindu pantheon. Placed around the

Monument are step-wells and arcades, severalsites for ritual performance such as taking a

dip in the Sacred Water Lake, and at another

ritual site for paying reverence to the statue of

Lord Swaminarayan as young boy Neelkanth.

The Complex’ homepage and captions at the

site stress that every aspect is entrenched with

Hindu practice and thought, thus evoking

the notion of each visitor engaging in Hindu

worship. There is a large cinema hall showing

Neelkanth Darshan (worship of young Lord

Swaminarayan), a boat ride through ‘India’s

Glorious Heritage’ (Sanskruti Vihar; Culture-

City) and ‘The Hall of Values’, with largedioramas featuring audio-animatronics

depicting ‘Hindu life’ in the 18th century.

Moreover, a sculpture garden displaying

‘Great men and women of history’, a musical

fountain, a multi-cuisine food court and

a shopping mall allow for less religiousactivities at the site.

The Complex is thus a magicet story-

teller of a particular version of India’s past,

predominantly, as a Hindu past. Merging

religious, mythological and national narratives,

it aims at shaping a new form of national

citizenship in the visitor, a kind of cosmopolitan

traditionalism, that frames the temple as a

model of globalised cultural nationhood. This

repositioning is interesting since the religious

temple had ee replaced y Idia’s rst Prime

Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who had sought toproject the dams and factories of the young

nation-state of the 1950s as ‘new temples’ and

sites of national pride (Singh 2011).

At the Complex the recent fascination with

ancient tradition and religious practice is

paired with a remarkable attention to state-

of-the art technological progress, order and

hygiene. Visitors of Akshardham Complex

can witness all kinds of machines engaged

i efciecy: moeychagers, law mowers,

oor cleaers. Ad they are emedded i a

rhetoric of security and order: signboards

and guards ask visitors to remain silent inthe Monument and refrain from speaking in

‘rude language’, video-surveillance (CCTV)

allows observation of every movement at

the site, security guards ensure a smooth

uidirectioal ow of visitig crowds.

Already at the entrance, a substantial and

highly ritualised amount of space and time is

spent on ordering visitors according to gender,

checking their clothes, asking them to leave

everything but their purse behind, even their

mobile phones, and follow a dress code (no

knee- and shoulder-free dress, ‘no burkhas’).

The reasoning is that this makes for the most

attentive and safe visitor. In the age of digital

cameras, the Complex manages to control

even this, thus remarkably keeping control

over its own representation. During one of my

eldwork visits i 2011, two bAPS-ru photostudios were allowing visitors to have their

photographs taken – though only there.

This deserves mentioning because the

pedagogic management of visitors’ experiences

is a crucial element of this particular space.

Criticism is rarely raised, possibly also because

after several ‘terrorist attacks’ in the city, the

nation, and worldwide, people have generally

become disciplined to endure security checks,

at airports, in museums, shopping malls,

government buildings. Akshardham Complex

seems to aim at increasing its status as an

iconic site through such measurements. And itlooks like a fortress: watchtowers, a high wall

and a patrolling zone along it surround the

premises.

AKSHARDAM COMPLEX, LOTUS SHAPED SUNKEN GARDEN



Having passed the security check, and

succumbed to the order of the Complex, one

can enjoy vast greenery, musical fountains,

reasonably priced, clean food, dioramas,

boat rides, education and entertainment,

contemplation and spectacle, an impressive

sight of trees ad owers framed y yovers,

the metro station, the Commonwealth Games

Village built in 2010. The Complex is like a

safe haven, set back from the noise and chaos

of Delhi’s streets, where green and wide

space, clean air and ‘silence’ often seem to

be a luxury good. Akshardham Complex isthus a precious space, to be protected, and

almost ritually marked through the fortress

aesthetics. But in this way, following urban

theorist Sharon Zukin (2005), an ‘aesthetic of

fear’ is created, polarizing a ‘morally clean’

community of ‘initiated’ insiders against an

uncontrolled crowd of outsiders.

“The Taj Mahal used to be the undisputed

champion of India architecture, but a new

contender has now stepped into the ring:

Akshardham Temple”, writes Reader’s Digest

(July 2011: 52), a quote strategically placed onthe website of the Complex.

The architectural concept underpinning the

Complex highlights a ‘new era’ of (Hindu)

heritage buildings as iconic ‘hyperbuildings’.

The Complex merges latest construction

techniques with millennium old traditions of

carving, quoting from ancient and medieval

Hindu temple architecture and assembling

canons from sites across India such as Ellora,

Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram), Konarak.

(Singh 2011: 56). Sompura artisans and architects

from a famous craftsman caste in Gujarat were

commissioned; they have also designed thetemples in Houston and Chicago (ibid: 60). The

key concept, proposes Singh, is that all elements

are pre-Mughal and thus also pre-colonial.

Despite the reference to the Monument

as temple, Kavita Singh speaks of the

marginalisation of its “ritual value”, thus

being “less like a shrine and more attuned

to the logic of the archaeological park or

museum”, a “Hindu wonderland” (ibid: 76).

To be sure, temples have been connected to

secular entertainment and consumption for

hundreds of years, so the presence of a mall

or the foodcourt as such is not surprising.

But there is a sophisticated holistic planning

behind the Complex that has led many to

argue that it is more of a western ‘theme park’.

Although the planners of the Complex, mainly

sadhus, were indeed inspired by Disney Land

(USA), Holy Land (Orlando) or Chinese theme

parks, this spectacular themed environment

must also be seen as corresponding to, or even

in competition with, other spectacular religious

architectural sites on the subcontinent, such as

ISKCON’s Sri Radha Krishnachandra Temple

or the Vishalakshi Mandap at The Art of Living

Foundation’s International Centre, both in

Bengaluru (Bangalore) or the vast Chhattarpur

temple complex en route to a Delhi satellitecity Gurgaon. Moreover, monumental sites

and parks have also been built by secular

protagonists, further branding the NCR,

such as the controversial Ambedkar Park,

inaugurated in 2011 by Mayawati, then Chief

Minister of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, after

cutting down hundreds of trees.

To Akshardham Complex’s role as a means

of city branding, spiritual compensation for

an emerging consumer-society and a national

emblem must be added another important

facet: that of demonstrating a transnational

coectivity ad codece that asserts itself ilarge architectural complexes built by the BAPS

global network, be it in Atlanta, London or

Nairobi. Such large temple constructions come to

mark a new, globalised ‘Indianness’, underlining

the importance of urban centres, management of

crowds, and high-tech entertainment.

Indeed, temples have interestingly become part

of the creative management of global cities,

allowing Delhi in this case to depict the Yamuna

river precinct as a ‘Paris of the East’, with real

estate development following suit, resulting

i the risk of getricatio ad further lad

grabbing for urban planning (including the

eviction of dense squatters’ settlements along

the river) (Baviskar 2012). The phenomenon of big buildings and larger architectural sites in

India therefore requires a challenging analysis

of the role of religion, nation and culture in

rapidly developing urban environments in

India and the wider ‘Global South’.

Prof. Dr. Christiane Brosius is Cluster Professor of

Visual & Media Anthropology at the Karl Jaspers

Centre for Transcultural Studies, Heidelberg University,

Germany. Her most recent books, published by

Routledge in 2010 are on “India’s Middle Class” and

“Ritual Matters – Dynamic Dimensions in Practice”.

REFERENCESBaviskar, Amita. 2012. “Spectacular Events, City Spaces and

Citizenship” in Jonathan Shapiro Anjaria and Colin McFarlane

(eds.). Urban Navigations: Politics, Space and the City in South

Asia.: Routledge: 138-161, New Delhi.

Brosius, Christiane. 2010. India’s Middle Class. New Forms of

Urban Leisure, Consumption and Prosperity. Routledge, New Delhi.

Ong, Aihwa. 2011. “Hyperbuilding. Spectacle, Speculation, and

the Hyperspace of Sovereignty” in Ananya Roy and Aihwa Ong

(eds.). Worlding Cities. Asian Experiments and the Art of Being

Global. Blackwell:205-226, Malden/Oxford.

Singh, Kavita. 2011. “Temple of Eternal Return. The Swaminarayan

Akshardham Complex in Delhi” Artibus Asiae 70(1): 47-76

Zukin, Sharon. 1995. The Culture of Cities. Wiley, Sussex.

For the Reader’s Digest: see http://www.akshardham.com/news/2011/readersdigest/index.htm

SECURITY MEASUREMENTS SURROUNDING THE COMPLEX. PHOTO: C. BROSIUS 2009

GUIDELINES FOR VISITORS, SIGNBOARD AT THE

ENTRANCE OF THE COMPLEX. PHOTO: C. BROSIUS 2010



aadiyat Islad i Au Dhai, low ad at,

edged by white sand, turquoise water

and dark green mangroves, may seem like an

unlikely setting for the ambitious designs and

curatorial programs of some of the greatest

architects and museum bodies in the world.

Having lived in Qatar and the UAE for 7 years,

what may seem like an audacious concept to

outsiders appears perfectly in keeping with

the vision and cultural aspirations of the Gulf

States. The central question is why? And what

do they hope to achieve? Why would the UAE

and Qatar, who only a few decades ago weresimple desert societies, embark on such an

ambitious program of museum building?

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was formed

in 1971 under the leadership of Sheikh Zayed

bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Whilst the initial focus

for the newly established government was

on the health and education of its citizens,

growing wealth from oil exports, combined

with the increasing levels of education, led to

debate about identity: cultural, religious and

historic. Abu Dhabi draws its wealth primarily

from oil exports (replacing pearling), whilst

Duai draws its wealth from trade, aceand tourism. Abu Dhabi, the national capital,

has developed a 2030 pla that ideties

Saadiyat Islad as the locatio for a sigicat

new cultural district.

The Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim

in Bilbao have proven the power of a single

building to establish a brand identity for a

place. In Dubai, the image of the Burj Al Arab

7 star hotel has proven the principle closer

to home. On Saadiyat Island, the master

plan draws on the power of brand, with

the engagement of world famous museuminstitutions and ‘starchitects’ to design a

series of iconic buildings, currently planned

for completion by 2017: Frank Gehry and

Guggenheim Foundation for Guggenheim

Abu Dhabi; Jean Nouvel and Agences France

Museums for the Louvre Abu Dhabi and Sir

Norman Foster and the British Museum for

the Zayed National Museum.

The independent State of Qatar was also

established in 1971. With wealth from oil

and gas, high levels of education and health

are a clear national focus. Qatar has also

taken a leading role in foreign affairs, witha high prole role i the Uited natios, as

a regional facilitator and as the home of the

news broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Soon after Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

became Emir in 1995, a number of leading

international universities were invited to

establish campuses in Doha. His wife, Sheikha

Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned engaged

internationally famous architects, including

Arata Isozaki and Legoretta+Legoretta, to

desig a series of high-prole uildigs

for Education City, the Qatar Science and

Technology Park and the Qatar National

Convention Centre. The quality of the

architecture gives physical expression to

Qatar as a regional knowledge hub.

Complementing the major education

programs in health, science, journalism and

technology, Qatar Museums Authority, led

by Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin

Khalifa Al Thani, the daughter of the Emir

of Qatar, and the prominent collector and

art patron Sheikh Hassan bin Mohammed

Al Thani, plans an ambitious range of

museums and galleries. The Qatar National

Museum, designed by Jean Nouvel, is under

construction, scheduled to open at the end of

2014. Hovering above its prominent corniche

site and drawing its design inspiration from

the desert rose, the museum will strongly

utilise audio visual installations.

The Museum of Islamic Art, designed by I.M.

Pei and completed in 2008, draws inspiration

S

MUSEUMS IN THE GU LF STATES – EXTERN AL IMAGE OR IN TERN AL IDEN T ITY?

Leone Lorrimer

FAÇADE OF MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART (TOP) AND GRAND STAIRCASE SEEN FROM MAIN ENTRANCE (BOTTOM).

COURTESY OF THE MUSEUM OF ISLAMIC ART



from early Islamic buildings to create a very

simple imposing white building. Its cubic

shapes, which descend from the dome inchanging geometric patterns, create an

interplay between the strong sun and deep

shadows. The museum is located on an

articial islad liked y causeway to the

corniche. Internally, the 65m high atrium is a

cathedral to art, and the galleries and cabinets

are as exquisite as the objects themselves.

The contrast between the simple external

expression and the richness of the interior

experience is extreme. What is its impact both

locally and globally?

Whilst an older generation of Qataris was

educated for extended periods in the USA or

UK, many young people in Qatar have grown

up with the distraction of material wealth and

internet access. As a result, this generation’s

personal inquisitiveness about culture

and identity was losing focus. Soon after

the Museum opened, school children and

university students were brought through the

museum in great numbers and asked to write

essays on their experience. After the visit to an

extraordinarily rich collection of Islamic art in

all its forms, from silver and precious stones,

to carpets and calligraphy, to jewellery and

body decoration, the essays communicated

how these young people were left awe-struckand proud of a heritage that they had not

previously appreciated or valued.

On the global scene, the Museum of Islamic

Art is a catalyst for global debate on the history

and craftsmanship of Islamic art. The biennial

Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic

Art, for example, rst held i 2004, rigs

together speakers from a range of disciplines

such as architects, artists and scientists, in

addition to art historians to explore a single

theme in Islamic art and culture. Its 5th

symposium will be held in Palermo, Sicily

from 9 – 11 November this year.

Many other museums are planned, including

the Orientalist Museum, which will house

Qatar’s collection of Orientalist Art, one of

the best in the world. This museum is also

planned to be a major centre for education,

not just for Qataris but for students and

specialists from around the globe. The topic of

Orientalism has polarised debate in different

forums so it is highly commendable (and

certainly not surprising with Qatar’s history

in international affairs) that the Qataris are

taking the lead to investigate and celebrate

the different lenses through which the Orientis viewed.

In the UAE, the iconic designs of the museums

and the proposed performing arts centre on

Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi have already

achieved global recognition. The museums

are however part of a much deeper education

program that includes a substantial campus

of the New York University and a range of

other initiatives in archaeology, collecting oral

history and establishing collections.

In the years leading up to the opening of

the museums, sigicat art ad cultural

programs are being offered free to its citizens

and residents. These include the construction

of the temporary Manarat Al Saadiyat, where

substantial touring exhibitions from the

Louvre Museum, the British Museum and

Larry Gargosian’s private art collection have

been staged.

In 2011, the British Museum’s Splendours of

Mesopotamia Exhibition in Abu Dhabi located

the UAE within a region that was crucial to

LOUVRE, ABU DHABI (MODEL). PHOTO: COURTESY TOURISM DEVELOPMENT & INVESTMENT COMPANY

GUGGENHEIM, ABU DHABI, VIEW FROM SOUTH (MODEL). PHOTO: COURTESY TOURISM DEVELOPMENT & INVESTMENT COMPANY



NORTH EAST ELEVATED VIEW OF ZAYED NATIONAL MUSEUM BY DAY (MODEL).

PHOTO: COURTESY TOURISM DEVELOPMENT & INVESTMENT COMPANY

the development of human civilisation. The

exhibition was part of a series of exhibitions

in advance of the opening of the Zayed

National Museum.

Each of the three museums has a uniquely

different charter. The Louvre will be a universal

museum, displaying art and artefacts from

ancient to modern times. Jean Nouvel’s

artistic conception is based on the idea of an

ancient archaeological site, semi-submerged

under the waters of the Gulf. A collection of

buildings is sheltered from the stark sun by

a oatig dome that heavily lters the light,

reminiscent of the traditional roofs of local

souks that were woven from palm fronds. The

education programs will offer students access

to objects they would normally be deniedwithout overseas travel. Ongoing thematic

exhibitions will be held in the Temporary

Exhibition Gallery. An auditorium provides

the stage for performances, presentations and

debates. The edges of the museum blur as

the architectural forms of the various starkly

white buildings engage with the water and

the waterfront park. A restaurant and cafe

provide respite.

The Guggenheim is designed as an iconic

modern art museum projecting out on a

promontory at the end of the waterfront

park. Frank Gehry’s architecture presents anassemblage of containers as galleries, with

enormous glass and timber cones covering

central spaces. The Guggenheim will engage

with both the public and with corporations. It is

designed to host major events and exhibitions

that may turn the building itself into a canvas.

If the Louvre is ancient and introverted, the

Guggenheim is a celebration of contemporarycreativity. Education programs will occur

in the formal auditorium and throughout

the building. Cafes, viewing terraces and a

restaurant are dispersed through the building.

The Zayed National Museum, designed by

Foster + Partners, will be buried under an

earth moud. Its galleries oat, suspeded

above the public areas illuminated by blades

of strong light admitted through the cracks in

the architecture above. It is a space designed

to feel at once underground and under water.

The themes in the galleries will align withaspects of the life of the extraordinary Sheikh

Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founding father

of the UAE, and aim to link today’s challenges

with his philosophical ideas. The displays will

be dynamic, even including a falconry gallery,

ad there is a sigicat temporary exhiitio

space. One gallery comprises a park that links

the Zayed National Musuem to the waterfront

park and the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

The role of a museum in the modern world

is not static and no government can afford

to keep large buildings frozen in time.

Museums today must be relevant andearn their keep. Permanent galleries are

supplemented by restaurants, cafes and stores

selling merchandise and income is further

supplemented by patronage, memberships,

corporate events and temporary exhibitions.

The museums of the UAE and Qatar are being

designed and built to provide a physical

forum for ongoing debate, education andglobal connection. They engage with the

communities in which they are located,

ivitig visits for evets, e or cafe

dining, entertainment, education programs,

workshops and conferences. They present

a powerful identity through hero shot

photography to advertise the power, wealth

and sophistication of the nations that build

them. They are a catalyst through which

these nations determine how they will talk

about their history, what artefacts and stories

to display or keep hidden, what emphasis to

place on different themes and opinions.

Museums connect with society at a deeply

personal level. The most moving experiences

in museums often come when stories are

revealed and society develops as a result

of recognising its past. One example, in the

Hiroshima museum, is the placement of

brutal personal stories on video of Hiroshima

survivors alongside stark admittance of

Japan’s responsibility for the events in

Nanjing. The Museum of Innocence, created

by Orhan Pamuk in Istanbul, reveals a story

of Istanbul told through personal objects

that are embedded within Pamuk’s novel ofthe same name. Such responses suggest that

small museums will continue to play a highly

sigicat role i society or perhaps we will

see smaller, more personal galleries within

larger museums.

Iconic, large scale museums such as those

currently planned or built in the UAE and Qatar,

however, provide an immediately recognisable

physical identity. What is more important is the

role that they play in establishing a national

identity: in recognising how history plays a

role in establishing culture and how educationenables societies to interpret the past to provide

a vision for the future.

Between 2005 and 2011 Leone Lorrimer lived and

worked in Qatar and the UAE; during the latter

period as the design manager for Saadiyat Island

and its three major planned museums. Prior to 2007,

Leone was the Director of a major international

architecture practice for 19 years, culminating with

the oversight of the construction of the iconic Qatar

Science and Technology Park. On her return to

Australia, she was appointed CEO of dwp|suters,

part of the international network of the Design

Worldwide Partnership.



GLASS CONSERVATORIES WITHIN THE BAY SOUTH GARDENS. PHOTO: CRAIG SHEPPARD

uring the late 20th and early 21st

centuries many Southeast Asian cities

have developed large urban centres with

towering buildings, urban spaces, parks and

gardens. These impressive cities are often

comparable to, or exceed established western

cities in terms of size, scale and wow factor. A

bustling urban centre of glass and steel says

to the world “we’ve made it”, like nothing

else. National identity and pride is frequently

bound up in decisions to create a ‘world class

city’ - and any city wanting to claim its place

on the world stage today cannot do so withouthaving in its arsenal some visionary public

spaces including public parks and gardens.

Singapore’s ‘Gardens by the Bay’ is a large

contemporary urban landscape project fringing

three sides of Marina Reservoir, a water body

adjacent to downtown Singapore. The project

was built over four years and at a cost of over

one billion Singapore dollars. It extends over

100 hectares and comprises three separate

sites, namely Bay East, Bay Central and Bay

South. The largest ad most sigicat of these

is the 54 hectare Bay South gardens, opened

with royal fanfare by the Duke and Duchess ofCambridge in September 2012.

There is no question that the overall impact

of the Gardens by the Bay is spectacular. The

lead design consultant for the Bay South

landscape was well-regarded UK landscape

architect Grant Associates. They have received

international plaudits including awards for

sustainability and master-planning for this

work. As an aside it is interesting that in

June 2013 they were appointed to prepare

a new master plan for the Royal Botanic

Gardens, Sydney, along with Cox RichardsonArchitects, Godden Mackay Logan heritage

consultants and others.

The two glass conservatories within the

Bay South gardens were designed by

Wilkinson Eyre Architects, also from the UK.

Sigicatly, these were awarded the Royal

British Institute of Architects International

Prize for 2013 - a coveted award.

The design for Bay South has it roots in the 19th

century public park tradition, employing a

design language of glass conservatories, exotic

gardens, paths and lakes. However Singapore’sew garde has a sigicat twist through the

inclusion of so called ‘Super Trees’. Eighteen

tree-like structures are located in the centre of

the gardens, varying in height from 25 to 50

metres. These are a sculptural interpretation

of real trees, while actually functioning as

uniquely designed vertical gardens.

In a nod to sustainability the Super Trees

have tree-like functions such as collectingad lterig raiwater, exchagig heat

with the atmosphere (from conservatory air

conditioning) and capturing the sun’s energy

for use on site. At night, lighting throughout

the tree structure turns the gardens into an

almost Disneyland fantasy and the effect is

somewhat like stepping into Pandora, the

eautiful ctioal world created for James

Camero’s popular lm ‘Avatar’.

It has to be said that their design has one

eye on the tourist market and serves the

promotional concept of a clean / green‘brand Singapore’. Observers may question

the real contribution such structures make to

the cause of bio-diversity and sustainability,

which they purport to represent. Nonetheless

Singapore’s National Parks Board argues that

they contribute by way of ‘Edutainment’,

thus communicating and passing on ideas of

‘sustainability’ and ‘bio-diversity’ to visitors.

Bay South’s layout includes a series of

horticultural gardens, namely the Heritage

Gardens and the World of Plants amongst

wandering pathways, lakes and artworks.

The Heritage Gardens include Malay, Indian,

Chinese and Colonial gardens, which present

a historical and horticultural perspective, but

perhaps more importantly, allude to or even

contribute to Singapore’s national identity.

The garden presents the idea of a hybrid pan-

Asian community springing from harmonious

ethnic diversity. In this regard it should be

oted that the atioal ower o which the

plan of the entire Bay South gardens is based

is also a hybrid found only in Singapore – the

Vada ‘Miss Joaquim’ orchid: “…the rst

registered plant hybrid from Singapore….”

(Wright). Here the ower also seems to e a

metaphor for Singapore’s national identity - a

hybrid of cultures, uniquely home grown.

The World of Plants is a collection of gardens

structured around themes including tropical

palms, forest understorey zones and fruit

ad owers. These showcase the relatioship

between plants and people, with a particular

emphasis on bio-diversity.

The centrepiece of Bay South gardens is the two

extraordinary glass conservatories or ‘biomes’.

Located adjacent to the Super Tree grove and

beside Marina Reservoir, these are architectural

icons in their own right and properly take

their place in the broad sweep of glasshouse

history: cold frames, orangeries, greenhouses

and conservatories. Architecturally, they

appear as two giant bug eyes, especially seen

from above. Claimed to be the world’s largest

column-less greenhouses, they respectively

replicate the cool-dry Mediterranean climate

and the cool-moist Tropical Montane climate

zones of high altitude equatorial regions, the

latter considered an endangered ecological

community.

D

U R B A N L A N D S C A P E A N D C O N T E M P O R A R Y V I S I O N S O F N A T U R E :

G A R D E N S B Y T H E B A Y I N S I N G A P O R E

Geoffrey Douglas



The ‘biomes’ work on many levels – as

conservation environments for threatened

species and ecological communities, places of

wonder and pleasure for visitors, and to provide

‘Edutainment’. Reaching a height of 34 and 54

metres respectively they create an inspiring

effect with gracious sweeping lines. They areworthy winners of the Royal Institute of British

Architects (RIBA) International Award - 2013.

It is hard to avoid interpreting the Gardens as

performig a delierate ad sigicat role

in promoting Singapore as clean, green and

environmentally sensitive. This is an image

it wants to send to the world (its customers),

and to its citizens. In this context, it is

interesting to note one government minister’s

view that Gardens by the Bay: “…will boost

the international standing of Singapore as a

premier garden city. It will set us apart andkeep us ahead of emerging garden cities”

(Tan, M. 2006). The people of this city state

have only to look across Marina Bay to know

that Singapore cares about the environment.

The spledid edice of the Gardes y the

Bay becomes part of the national mythology

of who they think they are.

In a recent interview with the New York Times,

Sigapore’s rst Prime Miister Lee Kua

Yew said he set out to make Sigapore “a rst-

world oasis in a third-world region.” (Reed

2012). The Ministry of National Development

summarised his 1960s vision: “ [he was] thedriving force behind Singapore’s development

as a Garden City… which allowed Singapore

to distinguish itself from its neighbours… a

necessary transformation to attract investors…

Today the sight of tree lined highways,

manicured lawns and smartly pruned hedges

convey to visitors and potential investors, the

message that Singapore is a place where things

are doe efcietly, where attetio is focused

on the details, and where investments would be well taken care of.” (MND 2009). The article

observed: “One of Singapore’s most revered

brand assets is cleanliness, there is no litter. The

other is atural plats, owers, grass ad trees

perfectly manicured like you would never see

in another country, all year round.”

The concept behind Gardens by the Bay raises a

wider question about humanity’s relationship

with the natural world in which we live and

on which we depend. In his dissertation on

botanic gardens, Cohen asks: “If we could

invent a means to be independent of nature,

if we could really master it to the point of

creating another nature more convenient and

more pliable, what will happen to what is

called biodiversity, the richness of the plantkingdom and the stability of the biosphere”.

Is our conception of gardens now drifting

toward an idea of an alternative or

‘replacement’ nature that we can go to visit on

a Sunday afternoon? A visual ‘sound bite’ in a

world of 24-hour TV and mobile phone ‘apps’

for the time-poor? Does this vision of nature

as a theme park or as ‘green entertainment’

provide us with a supercial love for ature

VIEW OF GARDENS BY THE BAY, SINGAPORE. PHOTO: DARREN CHIN

INTERIOR OF GLASS CONSERVATORY IN BAY SOUTH GARDENS. PHOTO: CRAIG SHEPPARD



while our very lives of high consumption

and expanding urbanisation (over 50% of the

world now live in cities) replace and destroyreal natural bio-diversity that is now gone in

many areas? Will botanical and ‘edutainment’

gardens be the ‘go to’ natural experience

of the future, in the way that zoos are now

often repositories for remaining fragments

of the animal kingdom? Is it appropriate

for governments to promote their green

credentials as an aspect of national commerce

and marketability? Are we as global citizens

creating a type of ‘nature-speak’ that appears

to promote a saitised ad highly articial

‘natural’ environment while simultaneously

our actions allow its destruction?

It would be unfair to single out the Gardens

by the Bay or Singapore in this regard. The

majority of Singapore’s natural environment

was razed in colonial times for cash crops,

especially rubber trees. A second wave in the

form of national Housing Development Board

(HDb) ats occurred whe the city state uder

Lee Kuan Yew was established in the 1960s.

Most coutries have experieced sigicat

alteration to their natural environments as

human settlements have expanded wherever

they are. This is a problem faced by all of us.

Sir Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) was the

founder of the English garden city movement,

which iueced early 20th cetury ura

planning throughout the world. In his book

The Garden City of Tomorrow , published at

the turn of the 20th century, he imagineda harmonious relationship between the

natural and built environment. In a recent

paper on modern garden cities, Johnson sees

global cities as being in a competition to ‘out

green’ each other and hijacking Howard’s

ideas of a balance between built and natural

environments. Johnson observes: “The intent

of these landscapes is not to make the urban

environment more habitable, but [to create]

landscapes of marketing and branding”.

(2008)

The environmental debate has moved on sinceHoward. Now we have a greater focus on

seeking a sustainable balance between us and

the world around us. This drama continues

to play out in the rapidly urbanising cities of

Southeast Asia and elsewhere. The Gardens

by the Bay, Singapore is a beautiful place and

worthy of comparison with some of history’s

great gardens. Singaporeans should feel

justialy proud of this ew developmet.

However the international visitor and

Singapore citizens alike should be aware of the

promotional ‘green wash’ and nation building

spin that come with projects like this. For a

real appreciation of our interdependence withthe natural environment in which we live, we

must think and act independently – and that

isn’t just a walk in the park.

Geoffrey Douglas works as a project manager in

Sydney and has an interest in Asian art and culture.

He holds an honours degree in Architecture. Geoffreylived in Indonesia and Malaysia for a number of

years, working on construction projects including the

KLCC Main Park – a 50 ha public garden at the foot

of Kuala Lumpur’s famous Twin Towers.

Authority for reproduction of all photographs received

from Grant Associates architects with thanks.

REFERENCESCohen, M., (undated), BGCI - Botanical Gardens Conservation

International, Botanic Gardens: A Tribute to the Role of Beauty

in Conservation of our Plant Heritage, http://www.bgci.org/

education/1677/ (accessed: 17 June 2012)

Johnson, C., (2008), Proceedings of the ISOCARP Congress 2008,“Green Modernism: The Irony of Modern Cities in South East Asia”,

http://www.isocarp.net/data/case_studies/1364.pdf (accessed 19

June 2013)

MND (2009): [Ministry of National Development], “Singapore: City

in a Garden – Celebrating a century of botanical success”, http//

www.mndlink.sg/2009/2009_May/NParks_article.html (accessed:

4 June 2013)

Reed, C., (2012),“Lee Kuan Yew, the world’s first country marketing

director, built the Singapore country brand”, Singapore Business

Times (6 August 2012) quoting an undated report in The New York

Times. (accessed online: 3 July 2013)

Tan, M.. (2006), Minister of National Development

Speech at launch of the Gardens by the Bay design competition -

20 January 2006, (accessed online: 20 June 2013)

Wright, N., “The Origins of Vanda Miss Joaquim, http://www.

amassia.com.au/debate1.htm#The Origins of Vanda Miss

Joaquim. (accessed: 3 July 2013)

‘SUPER TREES’ LOCATED IN THE CENTRE OF THE GARDENS. PHOTO: CRAIG SHEPPARD



n the last few decades, rising modernist

and puritan Islam, as well as the funding

from the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia,

has led to the ourish of ‘pa-Islamic model’

mosques in both Malaysia and Indonesia.

Instead of traditional ‘Nusantara-type’ with

tiered roofs, many of the recent mosques are

inspired by the architectural design of Middle

Eastern mosques, always equipped with

domes and minarets (Dijk 2009). However,

while Middle-Eastern mosque architecture is

prevalent, other competing mosque designs

are not absent. One of the contrasting formsis Chinese-style mosques. Since 2000, at least

ten Chinese-style mosques have been built in

both Malaysia and Indonesia.

Most of these newly-completed mosques have

adopted the architecture of old mosques in

mailad Chia, yet they are recogured

within local contexts. By discussing the Surabaya

Cheng Hoo Mosque in Indonesia, as well as the

Kelantan Beijing Mosque and the Seremban

Al-Saadah Mosque Complex in Malaysia,

this article examines how and under what

conditions, such mosques play a crucial role in

manifesting Chinese Muslim cultural identity,upholding the universality of Islamic principles,

as well as promoting religious tourism. The

architectural designs of these mosques are

forms of intentional hybridity (Werbner 1997),

where elements of Islam and ‘Chineseness’ are

strategically combined to declare that ‘there can

be a Chinese way of being Muslim’, as well as to

uphold inclusive Islam.

The Suraaya Cheg Hoo Mosque is the rst

Chinese-style mosque built in post-Suharto

Indonesia. Completed in 2002, this mosque

was established by East Java’s IndonesianChinese Muslim Association (Persatuan

Islam Tionghoa Indonesia, PITI). The mosque

architecture was inspired by the Niu Jie (Ox

Street) Mosque in Beijing, which has more

than a thousand years of history. It is named

after the famous Chinese admiral during the

Ming Dynasty, Zheng He (best known as

Cheng Hoo in Indonesia), who many Chinese

Muslims believe played an important role in

spreading Islam in Indonesia.

Different from Chinese temples, the roof of

this pagoda-like mosque is carved with the

word ‘Allah’. Decorations, such as animal-likeornaments, were omitted because they might

be seen as ‘un-Islamic’ by many Muslims. The

main hall of the mosque is 11x9 metres and

has an eight-sided roof ( pat-kwa). The length

of 11 metres symbolises the measurement of

kabah (cubicle shrine within the Al-HaramMosque Complex in Mecca), demonstrating

the commitment to Islamic faith. The width

of 9 metres represents the number of wali

songo (the nine Muslim saints that, according

to local belief, Islamised Java), showing an

appreciation of local Javanese traditions.

Meanwhile, the design of eight-sided roof

( pat-kwa) characterises the philosophy of luck

and prosperity shared by the ethnic Chinese.

By installing a bedug (a drum for summoning

to prayer) and a minbar (a pulpit used by an

imam or preacher to deliver a sermon) in the

mosque, Chinese Muslim leaders appropriate both the elements of Nahdlatul Ulama and

Muhammadiyah (the two largest Muslim

organisations in Indonesia) to show that

the mosque is a prayer hall for all Muslims

regardless of their religious afliatios.

Indeed, the Cheng Hoo mosque, a mixing of

Chinese, Islamic and Javanese cultures, is a

clear statement showing that these identities

are compatible. Yet the strategic design of

this mosque does not represent an existing

ethno-religious reality, but rather seeks

to bring a new reality into being. Chinese

Muslim idetities i Idoesia are uid addifferent individuals have different attitudes

towards their religious practice and cultural

orientation (Hew 2011). Therefore, the

materiality and tangibility of the mosque is

important to make Chinese Muslim cultural

identity unequivocally ‘real’ and to act asunifying force for Chinese Muslims from

different backgrounds.

As a Chinese Muslim leader said: ‘The

population of Chinese Muslims is small,

diverse and scattered. As happened in the

past, our identity will easily disappear or be

assimilated into the Muslim majority. Thus,

we need a physical space – a mosque that

can manifest our identity. The structure of

mosque could stand for long time, and sustain

our uniqueness over a few generations.

Converting to Islam does not mean giving upour Chinese cultural identity. There can be a

Chinese way of being Muslim’. (Interview,

Bambang Sujanto, 27 November 2008)

The intentional mixing of religious

and cultural elements expressed by the

architectural desig, are also reected i the

activities of the mosque. The Cheng Hoo

mosque is an inclusive place where Chinese

and non-Chinese, Muslims and non-Muslims

get together; as well as, a space where religious

and social activities co-exist. For example,

during a Ramadan night in 2008, while

Muslims (both Chinese and non-Chinese)were performing their evening teraweh prayers

(non-obligatory evening prayers which take

place during the fasting month) inside the

I

HYBRID MOSQUES: MIXING ISLAM AND ‘CHINESENESS’ IN MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA

Hew Wai-Weng

CHINESE-STYLE ROOFS OF THE KELANTAN BEIJING MOSQUE. PHOTO: HEW WAI-WENG



mosque, non-Muslims (mostly Chinese)

were practising qigong (Chinese breathing

exercise) at the corridor of PITI’s ofce i

the mosque compound. Various activities

such as performances of traditional Chinese

music, conversion ceremonies, wedding

functions and charity events have also been

held in the mosque. Also parts of the mosquecompound are a few multipurpose rooms, a

kindergarten, a canteen, an acupuncture clinic

and badminton courts.

This mosque would not be a success without

support from both Indonesian Muslims and

non-Muslim Chinese Indonesians. Many

Indonesian Muslim leaders lend their support

towards the Cheng Hoo mosque and see it as a

form ofdakwah (Islamic preaching). Meanwhile,

most of its donors are non-Muslim Chinese

businessmen, as they think the mosque could

help to improve the relationship betweenethnic Chinese and Muslims in Surabaya. Since

its establishment, this mosque is welcomed by

many Indonesians as a symbolic marker of

the acceptance of Chinese culture, as well as a

clear statement of the inclusivity of Indonesian

Islam. Along with recently built pan-Islamic-

design Al-Akbar Great Mosque and historical

Nusantara-style Sunan Ampel Mosque, the

Cheng Hoo Mosque has been promoted as

one of the religious tourist destinations (wisata

religi) by the Surabaya Tourism Board (2010).

Following the success of the Surabaya

Cheng Hoo Mosque, Chinese Muslims have built similar mosques in other Indonesian

cities, such as Palembang (South Sumatra),

Purbalingga (Central Java) and Makassar

(South Sulawesi). Remarkably, not only

Chinese Muslims, but also non-Chinese

Muslims have contributed to the building

of Chinese mosques. In Pandaan, the local

government has built a Chinese-style mosque

to promote social harmony and religious

tourism. In Malang, the latest mosque inside

the campus of the Muhammadiyah University,a university run by a Muslim organization,

also adopted Chinese architectural design, in

order to build a better business relationship

with mainland China.

In Malaysia, the combination of a state controlled

Islamic bureaucracy and an ethnicised Islam

that equates being Malay with being Muslim

has discouraged the establishment of Chinese

style mosques, and even rejected it in some

cases. However, recently, there are positive

developments, witnessed by the establishment

of the Beijing Mosque in Kelantan and the Al-Saadah Complex in Seremban. Interestingly,

these two recently-built mosques were not

initiated by Chinese Muslims, but proposed and

sponsored by the PAS (Pan-Malaysian Islamic

Party)-led Kelantan State Government and

the state-controlled Islamic Council of Negeri

Sembilan (Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Sembilan,

MAINS) respectively. Meanwhile, two other

Chinese-style mosques are under construction

with the support of the Malaysian Chinese

Muslim Association (MACMA), respectively in

Malacca and Ipoh. In addition, working together

with the Islamic Ofce of Federal Territories

(Jabatan Agama Wilayah Persekutuan, JAWI),MACMA is planning to build a grand mosque,

as part of the newly-developed Islamic business

district in Kuala Lumpur.

The Jubli Perak Sultan Ismail Petra Mosque,

or best known by the locals as the Beijing

Mosque, completed in 2009, is arguably

the rst Chiese-style mosque i post-

independent Malaysia. Like the Surabaya

Cheng Hoo Mosque, the architectural design

of this mosque is inspired by the Niu Jie (Ox

Street) Mosque in Beijing. Its prayer hallis decorated with Uzekista-iueced

Islamic geometries. The former Chief Minister

of Kelantan and the spiritual leader of PAS,

Tok Guru nik Adul Aziz is the key gure

behind the establishment of this Mosque. He

told me: ‘Conversion to Islam does not mean

we have to abandon our culture. The Chinese

Mosque shows that Islam is a religion for

all ethnic groups and is not believed by

the Malays only’. (Interview, Nik Aziz, 18

September 2011). This mosque is also a vivid

manifestation of the Islamist party to uphold

its cultural inclusivity, preach the universalityof Islam and promote religious tourism.

Certaily, the beijig Mosque is a sigicat

and clear statement showing that Islam is not

only the religion for Malay Muslims, thus it

helps to ‘deracialise’ Islam in the context of

Malaysia. It is worthwhile to note that many

Malay Muslims in Kelantan have contributed,

oth acially ad physically, to the

construction of this mosque. During my visit

in the mosque, a young male Malay Muslim

told me: ‘There is nothing wrong to build a

Chinese mosque. Instead, we should build

more similar mosques in Malaysia, to showthat Islam is a religion for all’. (Fieldnote, 17

September 2011). The recognition and support

towards Chinese-style mosques, to a certain

IDULFITRI PRAYER AT THE SURABAYA CHENG HOO MOSQUE. PHOTO: HEW WAI-WENG



extent, shows that many Malay Muslims are

beginning to accept that being a Muslim is not

exclusive to being Malay in Malaysia.

Operated since 2011, the Seremban Al-

Saadah Complex is another newly-completed

Chinese-style mosque in Malaysia. This

mosque complex was initiated, funded andrun by the Islamic Council of Negeri Sembilan

(Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Sembilan,

MAINS), as a means to preach Islam to non-

Muslim Chinese and to show that Islam is a

universal religion. The architectural design

of this mosque was inspired by another

ancient mosque, the Great Mosque of Xi’an

in mainland China. Various Chinese features

dominate both the exterior and interior design

of the mosque complex, such as the Chinese-

designed entrance gate, the Chinese courtyard

and pavilion, the red pagoda-shaped minaret,

red lanterns and Chinese calligraphy. Themosque complex is divided into three areas

– public, semi-public and private. The public

spaces comprise courtyards and multipurpose

rooms, icludig ofces of negeri Semila’s

MACMA and Darul Saadah Association (a

convert organisation). The semi-public space

is a prayer hall which can accommodate 300

people, while the private spaces consist of

accommodation for Imams, staff, converts

and travellers.

This mosque complex has hosted various

activities, such as religious talks, Mandarin

classes, conversion ceremonies and ChineseNew Year dinners. Remarkably, during the

Idul Adha celebrations in 2011 and 2012,

Chinese Muslim religious teachers presented

their sermons in Mandarin (with translation in

Malay on LCD screen) inside the prayer hall.

The mosque committee has recently invited a

Hui Muslim from mainland China to act as an

Imam. It also proposes to hold regular Friday

sermons in Mandarin, beginning from the

mid of 2013. If this plan comes true, the Al-

Saadah Complex will e the rst mosque icontemporary Malaysia that conducts Friday

sermons in Mandarin.

As Moors (2012) suggested, in the analysis

of the tangible forms in which Islam appears

in public, we should take into account the

cultural politics of nation-states and Islamic

movements, as well as the growing force of

consumer capitalism. Indeed, the emerging

trend of building Chinese-style mosques is

an outcome of several interrelated processes,

such as China’s growing economic power; the

recognition of Chinese culture after the fall ofthe Indonesian New Order regime, the rise of

ura Muslim middle class, the diversicatio

of Muslim consumer markets - as well as the

quest of Muslim activists to preach Islam to

non-Muslim Chinese.

Various actors - state agencies and civil

society, religious and secular publics – have

engaged with the construction of Chinese-

style mosques in contemporary Malaysia and

Indonesia, for different reasons, be it religious,

political and/or economic. Indeed, Chinese-

style mosques are sites of interaction, where

traslocal ows ad local dyamics, as wellas Chinese ethnicity and Islamic religiosity,

are converged and negotiated. They are also

inclusive places where both Chinese and

non-Chinese, Muslims and non-Muslims

intermingle, where both religious and social

activities concur. Whilst it is important to note

that such cosmopolitan practices are not new,

and can be traced back to the interactions

between Islam, Chinese traditions and localcultures in Southeast Asia centuries ago, the

construction of these Chinese-style mosques

marks a new development in the articulation

of Chinese identity within transnational and

inter-ethnic Muslim communities.

Hew Wai-Weng is research fellow at the Zentrum

Moderner Orient, Berlin. He is currently working on

a research project, ‘Sites of Inclusion/Exclusion: New

Muslim Spaces in Malaysia and Indonesia’.

REFERENCESDijk, C. van. 2009. ‘National Pride and Foreign Influences:

The Shape of Mosques in Southeast Asia’, Off the Edge, August

2009: 24-27.

Hew, W. W. 2011. ‘Negotiating Ethnicity and Religiosity: Chinese

Muslim Identities in Post-New Order Indonesia’, PhD thesis, The

Australian National University, Canberra.

Surabaya Tourism Board. 2010. ‘Cheng Hoo Mosque: Islam,

Java and Chinese Architecture’, Surabaya Tourism Website, Online,

Available from www.eastjava.com/tourism/surabaya/chenghoo-

mosque.html (accessed August 2010).

Werbner, P. 1997. ‘Introduction: The Dialectics of Cultural

Hybridi ty’, in Werbner, P. and Madood, T. (eds) Debating Cultural

Hybridity: Multi-Cultural Identities and thePolitics of Anti-Racism,

Zed Books, London, pp. 1-28.

Moors, A. 2012. ‘Popularizing Islam: Muslims and Materiality -

Introduction’, Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and

Belief, 8(3): 272-279.

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ISAN: THAILAND’S ANCIENT

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Isan is the least visited part of Thailand. But thisnorth-eastern region has a distinctive identity and, inmany ways, is the Kingdom’s heartland. Here older

Thai customs remain more intact and sites of historicaland archaeological significance abound. Expatriate

museologist, author, Siem Reap resident and TAASAcontributor Darryl Collins and Gill Green, President

of TAASA, art historian and author specialising inCambodian culture have assembled and co-host

this new journey which includes spectacular Khmertemples such as Prasat Phimai, Phanom Rung

(reputed to be the blueprint for Angkor Wat) andPrasat Meung Tam. We cross the mighty Mekong intosouthern Laos to explore the UNESCO World Heritage

Listed Wat Phu Champasak before concluding inVientiane and the magical UNESCO World Heritage

Listed town of Luang Prabang.

Contact us now for your brochure.

THE SEREMBAN AL-SAADAH MOSQUE COMPLEX. PHOTO: HEW WAI-WENG



three tiered roof is unusual, as most temples

only have two, however the decorative

elements such as the screen on the ridge line

ad the ials that termiate the sweepig

roofs resonate with earlier iconography.

The weight of the roofs and their decorative

elements produce a horizontal effect despite

the overall height of the building. As with

traditional architecture, the building is dividedinto an uneven number of bays, in this case

seven. However, the wide three part staircase

leadig up to the mai oor of the temple,

aked y siuous stoe drago alustrades,

is more characteristic of a Royal Palace than

a Buddhist temple. The regal connection is

emphasized by the sculpted stone ramp in the

middle, which in a Royal palace is the space

over which the Emperor would be carried.

Such features in this Buddhist building,

constructed in the environs of a former

Royal Citadel, by a modern business mogul

operating in a Communist state, carry variousmixed messages.

The main hall houses three gigantic gilded

bronze statues of the Buddha’s of the three

worlds (Tam The), from left to right, the

Buddhas of the past, present and future.

They are just over seven metres in height.

Thousands of niches line the walls of the

main temple, many of which contain donated

Buddha images, including one donated by

the Prime Minister. An unusual feature is

the inclusion of a large marble model of the

Bodhgaya Temple to the left of the main

hall entrance. In the syncretic form thatVietnamese Buddhism takes, most temples

contain a sanctuary to the mother goddesses.

At present there is none in the new complex,

however, there is such a shrine in the ancient

temple.

On a knoll to the right of the main hall is a giant

bronze statue of the Buddha of the future, as

the big bellied ‘Happy Buddha’, said to be

the largest in Southeast Asia. A tall, multi-

storied stupa was under construction in front

of this statue at the time of my visit. Formerly,

sculptures of ancestors or deities were keptinside, decorated with coloured glazes or

gilded and actively attended in worship. With

the exceptio of some guardia gures, they

were not larger than life size. In the case of the

majority Kinh people, such sculptures were

certainly not kept out in the open, although

some tribal minorities placed sculptures

outdoors around funeral areas. However,

in the modern era with the construction of

Christian shrines and churches under French

Colonial rule and then with the introduction

of a socialist realist monument style, there

was a change in placement, size and aesthetic.The new monuments are of much larger

tha life size gures, placed outdoors i

conspicuous public places and typically made

in unadorned bronze, stone or clay.

This project has ee of great eet to

artisanal villages of the region and the local

populace who cater to the thousands of

visitors with, amongst other things, delicious

local wild goat dishes. Ceramics, including

tiles and bricks as well as offertory vessels

were sourced from Bat Trang, wood and stone

have been locally sourced from Ninh Binh

province. The project employed carpentersfrom Phu Loc, and stone carvers from Ninh

Van, while lacquer products were sourced

from Cat Dang and embroideries from Van

Lam. Textiles, lacquer and ceramics are the

historic temple arts in Vietnam.

Since the introduction of a free market regime

i the 1980s, buddhism has ourished as part

of a return to traditional institutions, practices

and ceremonies, in stark contrast to the secular

nationalism of the early years of Communist

party rule. Since the late 1980s a large number of

Buddhist sites have been renovated or rebuilt inkeeping with their historical form. The Bai Dinh

temple, however is part of a paradigm shift in

the size of buildings in Vietnam as well as in the

role of the patron of such structures. Whereas

formerly at this site the ruler and aristocracy

were the patrons, the rich industrialist now

stands in their stead. While the 11th century

buildings used some rare and costly materials

they were at one with nature. The present patron

has dominated the landscape with his complex,

while at the same time creating a site not only

for his ow merit ut for the spiritual eet of

visiting pilgrims and the economic and religious eet of the local populace.

Ann Proctor is an art historian with a particular

interest in Vietnam.

REFERENCESHa Van Tan et al, 1993. Vietnam Buddhist Temples, Social Sciences

Publishing House, Hanoi.

Minh Chi et al, 1999. Buddhism in Vietnam, The Gioi,Vietnam.

Ngo Van Doanh, ‘India – Kinh Bac and Vietnamese Buddhism’,

Vietnamese Studies, no. 3, 2001 (141) The Gioi, Hanoi.

Nguyen Ba Dang et al, 2004.Traditional Vietnamese Architecture,

The Gioi,Vietnam.

Nguyen-Long, K. 2013. Arts of Vietnam 1009-1945, The Gioi

Publishers, Ha Noi.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1i_%C4%90%C3%ADnh_Temple

http://www.vietnam-beauty.com/top-destinations/destination-in-

the-north/196-bai-dinh-the-biggest-pagoda-in-asean.html

ORIGINAL BAI DINH TEMPLE, C. 1136. PHOTO: ANN PROCTOR

BUDDHA’S OF THE THREE WORLDS IN THE TAM THE HALL,

EACH GILDED BRONZE, 7.2 M HIGH. PHOTO: ANN PROCTOR IRON WOOD RAFTERS UNDER ASSEMBLY. PHOTO: ANN PROCTOR



The NCPA, referred to as ‘The Egg’ by

Beijingers, is an iconic building in much the

same way as the Sydney Opera House is

in Sydney. It was designed by the French

architect Paul Andreu who was previously

known for his design of Pudong International

Airport. Andreu was selected in an

international competition to create a grand

architectural statement for Beijing and theNGT has certainly brought a special quality

and identity to the city with its striking design.

The NGT is located immediately to the west

of The Great Hall of the People on Changan

Avenue, the symbolic east-west axis of the

new Beijing. The design comprises a grand

metallic ad glass sphere oatig aove

the water in a large pond. The sphere is 213

meters by 144 meters and 46 meters high (to

match the dimensions of the Great Hall).

Patrons enter the NGT by a tunnel underthe pod ad with light lterig through

a glass ceiling it creates a special ambient

experience. Within the sphere there are

three theatres for music, opera and drama

coected y a grad owig space, agai

with light lterig i through the great

glass windows. The experience within

is uplifting and the arrival through the

Changan entrance is superlative.

ohn Courtney is an Australian urban

planning adviser at the Peking University

Planning Institute, living in Beijing since 2005,

who is attempting to tell the ‘China story’

primarily through, in his words, “the camera

lens of an urban planner”. One aspect of the

story is the impact of major iconic building

projects by international ‘superstar’ architects

on the changing landscape of the city.

In his online report titled Urban Observations

from The Center of The Middle Kingdom , John

Courtney comments that to the foreigner,

heritage conservation is obvious. To the

Beijinger, modernisation and improved living

conditions takes priority, resulting in clearance

and denser development that offsets the costs

of large areas of low income housing on prime

land. While he believes that a better balance of

heritage and modernisation is emerging today,

he also notes that much of Beijing’s current

modernisation is of questionable value: “…

several of the modern architectural icons

by foreign architects highlight the confused

agenda and priorities in Beijing which

has produced a challenging and confused

built environment that requires rationalizing

ad structurig with sigicatly improved

urban amenity”.

Here is an edited version of John Courtney’s

reports on two recent and outstanding

architectural projects in Beijing, one civic

and one commercial: the National Centre

for Performing Arts (NCPA) and the Galaxy

SOHO complex in Chaoyangmen. Our thanks

to John for giving his permission to use his

reports, together with some of his spectacular

images of these developments.

‘ T R O P H Y B U I L D I N G S ’ I N B E I J I N G ’ S C H A N G I N G U R B A N L A N D S C A P E

John Courtney with Tina Burge

J

NATIONAL CENTRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS (NCPA), BEIJING



SOHO Beijing, one of the leading innovative

real estate developers in China, has added

another major iconic architectural work to

its portfolio - Galaxy SOHO. Designed by

Zaha Hadid Architects for SOHO China Ltd,

the largest domestic prime ofce real estatedeveloper has continued its reputation for

building cutting edge modern architecture.

Zaha Hadid is the winner of the prestigious

Pritzker Prize and is known for her grand

and expensive architectural statements,

including Galaxy SOHO.

Galaxy SOHO is purely commercial

with the asemet ad rst three levels

accommodating retail and entertainment

space ad ofce space occupyig the top

oors. The uildig icludes 333,000 square

meters of space and is 67 meters high.

Galaxy’s cost of construction was 40% higherthan comparable commercial structures and

it is a LEEDS certied uildig.

It is situated at a key location on the second

ring road inside the historic city at the

intersection of two important metro lines

(2&6). Recently opened, Line 6 is the fastest

in the Beijing system that connects east

and west across the inner city area. GalaxySOHO’s location is in a prime development

hub with important major government

complexes nearby (Ministry of Foreign

Affairs) ad SOHO Corporate Ofces.

As for integrating into the old hutong

neighbourhood located on the southern

side of the site, this seems unlikely and

the shadow of Galaxy will overwhelm

the neighbourhood and encourage

redevelopment with the community

relocated to remote areas of Beijing.

23T A A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 2 N O . 3

GALAXY SOHO, BEIJING



he Sydney Film Festival gets larger every

year so it is impossible to see even most

of the lms. I did however make up a mii-

festival of my own of the Indian offerings.

The choice looked promisig: a lm versio

of Salman Rushdie’s magic realist novel,

Midnight’s Children; a competition entry

Monsoon Shootout from a producer of Gangs of

Wasseypur , last year’s full on crime epic, and a

third paradoxical lm - Ship of Theseus.

Midnight’s Children is an established classic.

It won the Booker Prize in 1981, and scoredagain both in 1993 and in 2008 with the ‘Best

of the Booker’ prizes. On paper it seemed

likely its complexity and brilliance would be

recreated o lm. Its Ido-Caadia director,

Deepa Mehta has a formidable reputation for

her trilogy, Earth , Fire , Water – serious lms

that explore lesbian attraction, communal

massacres and the subordination of Hindu

widows. Rushdie was responsible with

Mehta for turning the 446-page novel into

a lm script ad he provides the voice over

arratio. What is i the lm should e all

that Rushdie values in his novel.

The book is a political satire about India, an

allegory for the failure of vision, for dreams

ufullled ad their destructio y evil, the

world of politics. It spans modern India to the

late 1970s and climaxes with Mrs Gandhi’s

imposition of a dictatorial Emergency. The

narrative line hangs around children born

on 15 August 1947 around the midnight hour

when India assumed independence. These

children have the magic potency to realise

the expectations of the times. In the telling,

the children fall by the wayside, lose unity

and are mostly destroyed during Emergency.With them, and through the hero, Saleem, we

follow the choices between good and evil and

the consequences. Despite the overarching

story lie, either the ook or the lm are at

all full of gloom and doom and much is funny,

indeed even rumbustious.

Both open with Saleem’s grandfather, a

doctor in Kashmir, treating a Muslim girl.

He never sees her as a whole but diagnoses

her numerous ailments through a succession

of strategically placed holes in a sheet. Part-

by-part, bit-by-bit he falls in love with a

disaggregated woma. The lm proceedswith gusto, and gives us quirky surreal

images, the doctor riding a bicycle in front of

the Taj Mahal in Agra among them. The mood

changes later, with military dictatorships in

Pakistan, wars, and the intense moments of

slum demolition and enforced sterilisation.

The lm is true to the diversity of the ovel

ut does ot quite capture its overowig

racy inventiveness. It is more a truncatedguide rather than the unstoppable sweep of

epic events and the breathtaking cinema it

might have been.

In contrast Monsoon Shootout , a rst lm from

Amit Kumar , proved a tight exploration of

the underworld of Mumbai crime and of the

police who try to control it. Like Suketu Mehta

in Maximum City Kumar views deep-seated

criminality as characteristic of the city. The

lm works well as a actio story told through

the fortues of Adi, a raw youg police ofcer

cofroted o his rst assigmet with theproblems of enforcement and the deviousness

of corruption. There is insight here and the

lm is a worthy additio to Mumai lm noir.

Monsoon Shootout goes further in exploring

the nature of action and its consequences. The

critical moment is when in a standoff with

an escaping criminal Adi has to make a split

second decision as to whether to shoot or not.

The lm takes us through three possile stories

of what might have resulted from Adi’s choice.

There is a hint of Rashomon in the presentation

of multiple narratives - and a statement about

choice and the nature of inevitability.

Aother deut lm, Aad Gadhi’s Ship of

Theseus , also plays with fractured narratives

and multiple stories. The title comes from

Plutarch’s paradox about whether Theseus’s

ship when its planks were totally replaced

over time remained the same or became a new

ship. Three stories take up the point in a story

line somewhat reminiscent of Jesus of Montreal.The rst looks at a lid photographer who

gets new eyes, in the second a monk gets a new

liver and in the third a business man a kidney.

The three stories are treated extensively, shot

against different backgrounds and locales

according to the particular narrative. Some

images are haunting - the publicity still in the

festival program of a group of monks looking

at sunset from Bandra across to the Sealink

being one. This is powerful cinema and the

al widup with the trackig of illicit ody

part dealers ad a eeciary i Scadiavia

provides another narrative and a conclusionthat questions the morality of obtaining

transplants but accepts their need.

The last two lms are part of the growig

number coming from a new generation of

lmmakers i Idia. They have deep morality

and humanist concern but they also have a

love of cinema as a medium and play skilfully

with its possiilities. They are self codet i

their story telling and in the ideas they convey.

Hopefully we will see much more from them.

Jim Masselos is an Honorary Reader in History at the

University of Sydney.

T H R E E I N D I A N F I L M S A T T H E 2 0 1 3 S Y D N E Y F I L M F E S T I V A L

Jim Masselos

T

SHIP OF THESEUS, STILL FROM FILM. COURTESY: SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL



T R A V E L L E R ’ S C H O I C E : R E C O L L E C T I N G P A G A N

Minnie Kent Biggs

or all the reading, all the photographs, for

all the mental and spiritual preparation, I

was not ready for Pagan. The temples dot the

plai, stud the elds almost like a forest that

has been selectively cut. My head swivels.

There is no one single view.

Everywhere I looked there was another,

different arrangement of pagodas. A sea

of stones, dull brown brick mounds, rich

red brick structures with sandstone carved

facings, soaring whitewashed brick buildings,

some topped with golden domes: 4,000 builtover 200 years. Only 2,000 remain, many

crumbling, in various stages of collapse,

some completely rebuilt after the earthquake

of 1975. But none the less powerful for their

disrepair. I ran through all my superlatives

and there are no words left to describe the

power and the majesty, the peace and the

silence of this magic place.

In all the wonderment, there was an

unexpected surprise. I had read about the

architecture of the Ananda Temple and the

legend of its building. Eight Indian monks

visited King Kyanzittha and told him of theirimaginary cave temple in the Himalayas. They

were able to make the mythical landscape

appear to the king who, so inspired, decided

to build a replica of the snow covered cave

right there in central Burma.

Ananda is in the shape of a perfect Greek

cross. At the centre of the inner cube stand

four large Buddhas, each set back in a sort of

vestibule, facing the cardinal points. There are

two high vaulted corridors running parallel to

each other along the four sides of the temple.

Two tiers of small windows high along thethick walls provide dim illumination from

above.

All along the tall walls of the corridors are

innumerable honeycombed niches containing

Buddha images. One’s eye is drawn by the

light at the end of the corridors, led on and

around as in a perfectly symmetrical maze. It

is in this perfect symmetry that a deep sense

of satisfaction lies. Even as one’s eyes are

drawn up, or to the end of a corridor, one feels

perfectly serene and centred. Crowded with

Buddhas, there is a feeling of space, indeed

immense space.

Though a completely and profoundly

Buddhist temple, I felt myself in a Gothic

cathedral. The glory of Ananda, thoroughly

its own, is also that of Chartres. The golden

age of Pagan commenced in 1044 whenAnawrahta ascended the throne and started

a temple building binge that lasted 200 years,

until the threat of Kublai Khan caused its

al declie. What could the 11 kigs who

reigned in this period have known of Gothic

architecture? What sort of coincidence is it

that more than 600 major churches rose in

France in the same time frame, 1170-1270?

Of course, there is no connexion, no

coincidence, and yet there is every connexion

on the spiritual plane. One is always climbing

up to and looking up in Buddhist templesand pagodas, but Ananda, and several of the

other temples that were inspired by its design,

has a different, lofty, spacious air. Kings and

ordinary people (who can afford to) build

pagodas or repair them in order to gain merit

towards the next life. King Kyanzittha must

have attained instant Nirvana!

I use the words temple and pagoda

interchangeably, but in fact they are different.

A pagoda usually houses a relic of the Buddha

and has a solid centre. A temple is constructed

to house images of the Buddha and is more

a place for meditation. Pagodas often havetemples surrounding them, while many

temples, such as Ananda, are surrounded by

small stupas and pagodas.

Across the plain rumble the ox carts, hauling

water from the river as they have been doing

for thousands of years, the driver dozinglazily against the water tank, as I saw them

drawing the water early that morning. The

main means of transport around Pagan is the

horse and cart. Biblical images abound. The

tracks are deep dust. Exotic birds are at home

in the scrubby trees, pigs wander loose along

the main road.

Whe I rst visited Paga i 1988, there

were only a handful of visitors at any given

time, one of the pleasant results of Burma’s

self-imposed isolation. Returning in 2013,

there were more hotels, more cars and minivans, a few more paved roads, and many

more tourists. But the ox cart driver was still

drawing water. There will always be quiet

corners and more unexplored temples. The

tranquillity and reverence engendered by this

site will survive in the new Burma.

Minnie is a long time member of TAASA. She gardens

in Kurrajong and writes about Asia and Antarctica.

F

26 T A A S A R E V I E W V O L U M E 2 2 N O . 3

THATBYINNYU TEMPLE, PAGAN. PHOTO: MINNIE KENT BIGGS



Raffles and the Golden Opportunity

Victoria Glendinning

Profile Books, 2012

RRP AUS$45; hardcover, 349pp

In an early paragraph of the introduction

to her recent biography of Sir Stamford

Rafes (1781-1826), Rafes and the Golden

Opportunity , Victoria Glendinning states that

the book seeks to demythologise him without

diminishing him, adding that he was not a

genius but, like all ambitious visionaries, he

had a streak of geius. Rafes is the suject

of a substantial body of literature, whichcommenced with his own The History of Java in

two volumes published in London by Black,

Parbury & Allen and John Murray in 1817.

Glendinning’s contribution is the most recent

addition to this literature. These two titles are

separated by seven other noteworthy studies

published between 1897 and 1999 of which

C.E.Wurtzburg’s 1984 edition of Rafes of the

Eastern Isles is twice the length of Glendinning.

Glediig traces Rafes’s life from his irth

in 1781, aboard a West Indiaman, the Ann , off

Port Morant on the Jamaican coast, to his deathin London in 1826 at the age of 45. He was one

of a family of ve, havig four sisters, ad

attended the Mansion House Boarding School

in London where a number of famous men

were educated. He otaied his rst jo as a

`extra clerk’, a post created in the late 1700s to

help deal with an increased work-load at East

India House. Having studied hard in his spare

time, he was posted to Penang (then known as

Prince of Wales Island) in 1804 where he was

promoted to Assistant Secretary to the island’s

Presidency. His mastery over the Malay

language led to his appointment as translator

to the Government of India. He was appointed

Lieutenant Governor of Java in 1811 and, in

1817, was promoted to Governor of Bencoolen,a British possession in Sumatra based in the

area of what is now Bengkulu City.

Rafes’s cocer with the regioal domiatio

of the India-China trade by the Dutch led

to his belief that the most effective way to

challenge them was by the establishment of a

new British base in the region. He convinced

the then governor of the East India Company

of the necessity and reached an agreement

with the newly recognised Sultan of Johore to

establish a trading post on Singapore Island.

The agreemet was ratied with a treaty o

6 February 1819 that formalised the creationof Sigapore city. Rafes moved to Sigapore

in 1822 and left to return to England in 1823.

Glediig descries Rafes’s role as

Lieutenant Governor of Java, but also draws

attention to his non-political achievements.

These include his The History of Java and

his map of Singapore. In the opinion of The

Edinburgh Review of 1818 and 1819, in two

review articles of The History of Java, the

latter was `the best ever compiled’. These

achievements also included the compilation

of a collection of natural history specimens– plats, shells, shes, irds, small aimals –

ad life-like drawigs of fruits ad owers

by a Macau Chinese. Much of this collection

was lost i a re aoard the ship Fame during

its journey to England. However the animal

survivors of the ship-oard re provided

the initial denizens of the Zoological Society

of Lodo of which Rafes ecame the rst

chairman and president.

Rafes and the Golden Opportunity is

thoroughly referenced by a comprehensive 8

page bibliography, is supported by endnotes

to each of its 15 chapters and a meticulous

index and includes two sections of glossy

colour plates. However, despite its detailedreferencing, a basic geographical error occurs

on page 16 where Penang is described as

lying 250 miles southward of Malacca rather

than vice versa! This error probably accounts

for the statements that on page 45 ̀ on leaving

Penang, he and Olivia sailed up the coast to

Malacca’, ad o page 49 that Rafes `was

rushed back down the coast to Penang’.

To this reviewer a minor irritant is created by

what is undoubtedly a contemporary practice

in publishing layout where lines of print are

justied y the reakig ad hypheatio

of last words in a line rather than by a slightvariation of word spacing. Page 38 alone

has 9 examples of awkward end-of-line

hyphenations such as misrepresenta-tion,

tran-scribe, lan-guage and recom-mendation.

Glendinning’s particular contribution to the

sustatial literature o Rafes is i providig

a concise biography which recounts his career

chronologically. Each of the 15 chapters is

devoted to a short time period commencing

with Rafes’s irth i 1781 to his death from a

brain haemorrhage in 1826.

Philip Courtenay is a retired academic and occasional

freelance writer, with a special interest in Southeast

Asian ceramics.

BOOK REVIEW: A B IOGRAPHY OF RAFFLES

Philip Courtenay

A revived program of activity for TAASA in

Victoria was triggered by a successful event

at Mossgreen Gallery in South Yarra on

Tuesday evening, 18 June. About 30 members

and guests attended a private preview of the

extensive ceramics on offer at Mossgreen’s

Asian sale, conducted the following day.

TAASA member and ceramics collector, Dr John Yu, travelled from Sydney to introduce

the works on offer while TAASA’s President,

Gillian Green, and a number of Sydney as

well as Melbourne based members of the

TAASA Committee also attended. Asian

art expert Ray Tregaskis kindly remained

throughout the evening to offer interesting

insights into some of the more unusual

pieces on offer and to answer queries from

the group.

TAASA VICTORIA CERAMICS EVENT, 18 June 2013.

JOHN YU (L) AND RAY TREGASKIS WITH TAASA

MEMBERS AT MOSSGREEN GALLERY. PHOTO: GILL GREEN



amily, friends and colleagues gathered in

Newtown, Sydney on 11 July to farewell

Dr Heleanor Feltham, who died peacefully in

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital after combating

myeloma and then suffering complications

from a fall. Heleanor was a great friend and

an exceptional scholar who contributed

substantially to Sydney’s intellectual life, in

particular in the area of Asian arts.

As is well known to our long time members,

Heleanor was one of the four Powerhouse

Museum staff members who dreamed theoriginal dream of forming a society devoted

to deepening our understanding of and

promoting the arts of Asia. The Asian Arts

Society of Australia was thus born in 1992,

with Heleanor as the inaugural editor of our

journal TAASA Review and me as her assistant.

It is largely thanks to Heleanor’s initial vision

that the Review so happily marries scholarship

with readability and it has gone from strength

to stregth uder successive editors. A prole

of Heleanor, based on an in-depth interview

with her, was published in the TAASA Review

of December 1994 and she provided her own

recollections of TAASA’s history in the special“gold” 20th anniversary issue of December

2011. Her numerous writings for the Review

covered such diverse topics as Sasanian silks,

lion rugs and nomadic jewellery as well as

proles, editorials ad lm reviews.

Heleanor was born in Newcastle, where she

very early on developed a lasting love for cats

and chinoiserie. An unordinary childhood in

Papua New Guinea, where her companions

were more often traders, plantation owners

and anthropologists than children her own

age, helped establish Heleanor’s abidinginterest in the exotic and eccentric. More

interested in comparative mythology and

Shakespeare than regular childhood pursuits,

Heleanor was an unusual child who was

already writing poetry and was committed

to being a writer. Today many of Heleanor’s

friends treasure the poems she periodically

sent them.

Working in the University of New South

Wales library and studying part time,

Heleanor gained an honours degree in

English literature in the mid 1960s, by which

time she had married riey ad give irthto her daughter Madeleine. Moving on to an

MA in post war Australian poetry, Heleanor

however found herself going down an

increasingly narrow tunnel into specialisation.

This was anathema to her and, looking

around for broader options, Heleanor realised

that there was only one place in Sydney “and

possibly in the whole of Australia” where her

encyclopaedic knowledge would be put to

good use: the old Museum of Applied Arts

and Sciences with its extraordinarily diverse

collection of cultural icons.

Joining the staff of the Museum as Education

Ofcer, Heleaor was i her elemet: “I got to

do everything I loved doing... whatever we hadon display, I could produce a one to two hour

program on it. It was a wonderful, glorious

licence to research anything I chose.” Heleanor’s

passionate interest in all aspects of human

culture endured as a central force in her life and

was part of what made her such a remarkably

inventive and valuable museum worker as well

as an endlessly diverting companion.

With her prodigious memory and famously

insightful observations she was one of the

intellectual mainstays of the Museum and

its educational programs. Heleanor moved

with enviable ease between the Museum’svastly different but essentially interconnected

disciplines. She thought broadly and deeply

and understood the pivotal role of design and

the interrelationships between the arts and

sciences. She drew freely and effectively on

literary references for science projects, but also

encouraged curatorial staff to consider steam

engines as inspiration for the visual arts and

Wedgwood displays as relevant to science

students.

While equally at home in wildly diverse

disciplines, Heleanor had a particular passionfor textiles and for Asian art and cultures.

Sharing these with her brought us many

opportunities to work together, including three

exhibitions and their associated publications. A

more loyal, stimulating and stalwart colleague

one could not wish for; Heleanor gave

generously of her knowledge, challenged us all

constantly, and was utterly uncompromising

in her advocacy for the visitor. She devised an

astonishingly diverse and entertaining range

of programs, seminars and workshops for

the Museum. Too numerous to list, highlights

must include her own exhibition on trade In

the Eastern manner in 1980, the great Tibetanmadala that grew stoe y stoe o the oor

of the Turbine Hall and set an enduring record

for visitor numbers.

On retiring from the Museum in 2003,

Heleanor enrolled almost immediately in

the PhD program in International Studies at

the University of Technology in Ultimo. Not

surprisingly, given her enduring passion forcats and the Silk Roads, her topic focused on

transformation of meaning in the iconography

of the Asiatic lion. Freedom to exercise her

formidable intellect in charting the course of

these beautiful felines brought Heleanor one

of the happiest periods of her life.

Heleanor Feltham was without doubt one

of a kind, intellectually gifted but down to

earth, loving and loyal, her greatest joys were

always Madeleine and her grandson Patrick.

She was also an avid collector of the rare,

the quirky and the beautiful, especially the

eye-catching jewellery she wore with suchgreat air. Heleaor’s ucay aility to

d the lurkig gem i a pile of otherwise

unremarkable detritus was legendary.

Farewell dear Heleanor and thank you - we

will miss your wit and wisdom very much.

Christina Sumner OAM was formerly Principal

Curator Design & Society, Powerhouse Museum.

H E L E A N O R F E L T H A M ( 1 9 4 2 – 2 0 1 3 )

Christina Sumner

F

HELEANOR FELTHAM. PHOTO: MARINCO KOJDANOVSKI



R E C E N T T A A S A A C T I V I T I E S

VISIT TO THE JOHN SPATCHURST

COLLECTION, 27 July 2013

TAASA is very grateful to members who

graciously allow us to view their collections

and enjoy the host’s recollections, expertise and

advice. This was clearly the case with a visit to

John Spatchurst’s collection. John, the TAASA

Review’s original designer, has an eclectic

collection of objects superbly integrated into

every corner of his living space. Pride of place,

perhaps, is afforded a large 17/18th century

cast brass mukhalinga used as a covering for

a stone lingam. But the collection ranges fromIndian miniature paintings, Burmese lacquer

boxes, village kitchen chapatti rollers and very

interesting examples of beautifully crafted

colonial furniture pieces. A second viewing is

planned for those on an extensive waiting list –

please see TAASA Members’ Diary.

Gill Green

TAASA CERAMICS STUDY GROUP

EVENTS

Josefa Green

KOREAN BUNCHEONG WARE &

THE WORK OF CONTEMPORARYKOREAN-AUSTRALIAN CERAMIC

ARTIST, WON-SEOK KIM

11 June 2013

Held at COFA in Paddington, this event

provided us with a deeper understanding

of Korean Buncheong ware from both an

historical and contemporary perspective.

Powerhouse Museum’s Min- Jung Kim’s

introductory talk focused on the relatively

short period of productio - i the rst half

of the Joseon dynasty - of this unpretentious

but distinctive ware, later so favoured by the

Japanese for use in tea ceremony.

This brief historical review in turn provided

an excellent introduction to the contemporary

work of our guest ceramic artist, Won-seok

Kim. Conducted in the form of an interview

with Min-Jung, Won-seok gave us a sincere

account of what inspires him and how he

goes about producing his spectacular pots. He

talked about producing work which draws on

strongly developed traditional technical skills,

but which is free to follow where the clay leads

him, inspired by Australian materials and

landscapes. The group was clearly entranced

by the ceramic objects, mainly plates and bowls, which Won-seok generously brought

for this event. Finally, we were able to handle

a number of pieces of Buncheong ware and

Japanese tea wares inspired by these Korean

prototypes.

ALL FIRED UP: Peter Rushforth, potter

18 July 2013

Members of the TAASA Ceramics Study Group

were privileged to be offered a private tour of

this stunning exhibition held at the National

Trust’s S.H. Ervi Gallery: the rst major

retrospective of Peter Rushforth’s work since

1985. We were welcomed by the Director of the

S.H. Ervin Gallery, Jane Watters and then taken

through the main aspects of Peter Rushforth’swork by ceramicist Ann-Marie Jackson. Her

talk aly summarised the mai iueces o

Rushforth’s work and how this developed over

time; it was particularly helpful in outlining

the different techniques and materials which

Rushforth used to achieve his remarkable pots.

Co-ordinated by the AGNSW’s Natalie Wilson,

this major exhibition of over 100 pieces was not

only a sheer pleasure to experience but offered

an overview of a lifetime of work by one of our

most famous ceramic artists.

TAASA TEXTILE STUDY GROUP EVENTS

Sarong Kebaya – Plain Women’s Work?

8 May 2013Marianne Hulsbosch took an enticing view

of the breathtaking patterns and designs,

delicate embroidery and tantalizing colour

of Indonesian sarongs. She explored how

Peranakan woman have used their sewing

needle as a device in search of social, cultural,

economic and political distinction. By

T A A S A M E M B E R S ’ D I A R Y

SEPTEMBER 2013 - DECEMBER 2013

Inner Asia symposium -

Saturday 7 September, 10am – 4.15pmPowerhouse Museum, Sydney in associationwith MAHRS.Please see full brochure with this issue.

A Sydney private collection viewing ofartefacts, furnishings and ritual objects, mainlyfrom India - Saturday 21 SeptemberDue to demand, John Spatchurst has kindlyagreed to reopen his house for TAASA members. Sessions available at 10.30 am or 1.30 pm.$20 includes refreshments. Numbers limited.

Ruth Hadlow: Unpacking my Library: TextileTales from West Timor Wednesday 9 October, 6-8 pmCollege of Fine Arts, Oxford Street, Sydney.

This event is in lieu of the usual October TextileStudy Group meeting. TAASA members only.$20 includes light refreshments.

TAASA end-of-year partyWednesday 4 December 6-8 pmKorean Cultural Centre, Elizabeth Street, Sydney.

For further details on all above events andto book, contact Ann Guild at [email protected] or 02 9460 4579.

TAASA IN VICTORIAPrivate Melbourne collection viewing witha particular focus on the Himalayas andMongolia - 3 October, 6–8pmRefreshments provided. $20.00 at the doorfor members, $25 for guests. Address provided

on RSVP.

From Beginner to Expert Symposium4 November, 9.30am – 12.30pmMossgreen Gallery, 926 High Street, ArmadaleFollowing its Sydney success, we will berunning a half day version of this symposiumat Mossgreen’s new premises. Speakersinclude Paul Sumner, Managing Director,Mossgreen Auctions on state of the market forAsian artworks and Sydney collector, ToddSunderman, on his journey from beginnercollector to expert dealer in antique west Tibetanfurniture. Further details TBA. ContactAnn Guild at [email protected] 02 9460 4579.

End of year celebration, TBA To be held at the new premises of the JoshuaMcLelland Print Room and RathdowneGalleries, 310 Rathdowne Street, North Carlton.For more information: [email protected].

TAASA TEXILE STUDY GROUPAll meetings held at the Curatorial Café,Powerhouse Museum, Sydney 6-8pm.

Wednesday 11September - Shared Passions:Textiles of Central Asia: Following theenthusiasm shown for Central Asian textiles atour July meeting, Margaret White will lead a“Show & Tell” evening. Members are invited to bring along their Central Asian textiles to shareor to d out more aout them with the group.

November: TBA – please check the TAASAwebsite early October.

Refreshments provided. $10 members; $15 nonmembers. Email enquiries to Helen Perry [email protected].

29

PETER RUSHFORTH EXHIBITION. PHOTO. J.GREEN

ROSS LANGLANDS DISPLAYING A 20TH CENTURY

BATIK HIP WRAPPER. PHOTO: ROSALIE PAINO

Review 22-3-2013 September

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Transcript of Review 22-3-2013 September