The newspaper for collectors, dealers, museums and galleries • june 2005 • £5.00/US$8/€10 The newspaper for collecTors, dealers, museums and galleries • sepTember 2024 • £5.00/us$10/€10 ADDED TO HERITAGE LIST I


n July, in New Delhi, the World Heritage committee inscribed 24 new sites (19 cultural, 4 natural, and 1 mixed) on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Seven sites were in Asia (China, India, Japan, Malaysia, and Tailand), and four were located in the Islamic World (Iran, Jordan, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia). A decade after first being listed in


UNESCO’s tentative list, the moidams, burial mounds of the Ahom dynasty (1228-1826) in Assam’s Charaideo district in northeast India, were added to the list. Te moidams are renowned for their pyramid-like structures. Te mound-burial system of the Ahom dynasty comprises the remains of a royal necropolis, set in the foothills of the Patkai Ranges in eastern Assam, the area contains the royal necropolis of the Tai-Ahom. For 600 years, the Tai-Ahom created moidams accentuating the natural topography of hills,


forests and


water, forming a sacred geography. Banyan trees, trees used for coffins,


and bark manuscripts were also planted and water bodies created. Ninety moidams – hollow vaults built of brick, stone, or earth – of different sizes are found on the site, containing the remains of kings and other royals together with grave goods such as food, horse, and elephant


skeletons. Te word


moidam is derived from the Tai Phrang-mai-dam,


or Mai-Tam.


Phrang-mai meaning to put into the grave, or to bury, and dam the spirit of the dead. Tough moidams are found in all the districts of upper Assam, Charaideo, the first capital of the Ahoms, was the necropolis for almost all the Ahom royals. From the 13th century, the Ahom


dynasty ruled over large parts of the tea-growing belt in northeast India. Traditionally and culturally the Ahoms were members of the Great Tai (Tai-Yai) group of peoples. Te Ahoms migrated from Mong Mao, present-day


southwestern Yunnan


province in China, to Upper Assam and the Brahmaputra valley through the Patkai Hills under the leadership


One of the moidams located in the foothills of the Patkai Ranges in Eastern Assam, India © Directorate of Archaeology, Government of Assam


public buildings. Phu Phrabat in Tailand illustrates the Sima stone tradition of the Dvaravati period (7th-11th centuries). While sacred boundary markers for areas of Teravada


Buddhist monastic


practice vary in materials, extensive use of stones is found only in the Khorat Plateau region in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, the Niah National


of a Mong-Mao Shan prince, Sukaphaa, who became the first king of the Ahom dynasty, establishing a capital at Charaideo. By the end of the 17th century, the Ahoms had expanded their kingdom throughout the Brahmaputra valley. Te dynasty ended with the Burmese invasion of Assam


and the subsequent


annexation by the East India Company in 1826. While moidams


are found in other areas within the Brahmaputra Valley, those found at the property are regarded as exceptional. Other cultural sites inscribed this


year are the Beijing Central Axis, running north to south through the heart of historical Beijing, this large axis


consists of former imperial


palaces and gardens, sacrificial structures, and ceremonial and


NEWS IN BRIEF


READINGS FROM 75 YEARS OF MARG


BANGKOK BIENNALE, THAILAND Returning for its fourth edition this October, the Bangkok Art Biennale has announced 30 additional international artists, three extra venues for the Bangkok Art Biennale (BAB), this year entitled Nurture Gaia. Te expansion of artists and venues further enriches the citywide event and continues to spotlight Southeast Asia’s vibrant art scene while also bringing diverse international perspectives to the continent. Nurture Gaia draws its inspiration from the


maternal figure of Mother Earth, symbolising her historical expressions as a nurturer and giver of life across cultures. Conceptually extending upon this, BAB will explore vital contemporary themes such as anthropology, collectivism, ecology, feminism, and the politics of time and place. Te various Biennale-host locations include ancient


heritage sites such as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, the Temple of Dawn, the Museum Siam, and the city’s art galleries. Running from 24 October 2024 to 25 February 2025, the Biennale will showcase 45 leading artists across nine venues.


Order at www.marg-art.org


SULAWESI CAVE ART, INDONESIA Reported in July, scientists have discovered what they believe to be the world’s oldest artwork – depicting three people gathered around a large red pig – in a cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Te image of a ‘warty hog’ is thought to be at least 45,500 years old. Te researchers used a new scientific approach to determine the minimum age of the Leang Karampuang cave painting by using a laser to date a type of crystal called calcium carbonate that formed naturally on top of the painting.


Continued on page 2 asianartnewspaper.com #AsianArtPaper | asianartnewspaper | asianartnewspaper | Asian Art Newspaper


Park caves are a complex of colossal, interconnected caverns is located near the west coast of Borneo Island at the centre of the park. It contains the longest known records of human interaction with rainforest, spanning at least 50,000 years, from the Pleistocene to the mid-Holocene periods. Te rich archaeological deposits, prehistoric rock paintings and boat-shaped burials found at the northern edge of the massif illustrate biological and human life during this time, and contribute greatly to the knowledge of human development, adaptation and migration in Southeast Asia, as well as in a global context.


Inside Profile: the artist and sculptor


2 6 8


10


12 14 16 17 18 20


21


22 23


Kim Yun Shin The Great Mongol Shahnama in Washington DC Sensorium: Stories of Glass and Fragrance, in New York The Asian and Islamic-world artists at this year’s Venice Biennale Borrowed Landscapes, Japan in the British Country House Luxury Objects from China, on show in Paris The Vairocana Buddha in East Asia Salon Culture in Japan, making art, 1750-1900 Asian Bronze, in Amsterdam Gold from Dragon City, the Three Yan culture, in New York and The Art of the Horse in Ancient China, in Paris 50 Years, 50 Treasures, in Cologne, and Lacquerware of East Asia, in Seoul Exhibitions in Tokyo, London, San Diego, and Manila Islamic Arts Diary


Next issue October 2024


Our guide to Asian Art in London


Scan me To visit our home


page. For contact details see page 2


ASIAN ART ROYAL BURIAL MOUNDS

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24