TAASA Review Issues

Jackie Menzies, President

Publication of this issue of the Review has been financially supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation which sponsored the ‘Arts of Mainland Southeast Asia’ symposium organised by the Centre for Asian Art Studies at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on the 9th and 10th October. The Foundation’s generous support enabled the Centre to bring to Australia from America Dr Helen Jessup, curator, co-editor and contributor for the splendid exhibition Sculpture of Angkor and ancient Cambodia: millenium of glory which was held at the National Gallery in Washington last year, and Dr Bob Brown, an expert on Thai art and Professor of Art History at UCLA. Both their papers are published in this issue, together with those delivered by Maud Girard-Geslan (whose excellent scholarship is well known to TAASA readers through her other contributions to the Review) and Myanmar expert, Dr Pamela Gutman. This issue has been guest edited by TAASA Committee member Dr Milton Osborne, himself a respected Southeast Asian scholar who was the first speaker at the symposium, in conjunction with Editor Ann MacArthur who has done her usual exemplary job at compiling the Review. Other articles in this issue, such as the Review of the beautiful exhibition Holy threads, demonstrate the depth of knowledge and the extent of the holdings of Southeast Asian art in Australia, and I would like to thank Gordon and Marilyn Darling whose enthusiasm, vision and commitment made the symposium and this issue of TAASA possible.

Recent TAASA activities, particularly the major symposium on Korean textiles, costume and culture organised by Judith Rutherford, the absorbing afternoon ‘Mapping Southeast Asian Cities’, organised by Pamela Gutman, and ‘Modernity in Japanese Art’ organised by Freda Freiberg, have been important initiatives that offered members opportunities for increased appreciation and access to new knowledge. The forum on contemporary Asian art, organised by Melissa Chiu who was guest editor for our last issue, was a first for TAASA, but one that we hope to do again in response to the growing interest in contemporary Asian art. I am most grateful to all the speakers and organisers of these events, as well as those who have helped in other ways, for it is their contributions, often made freely, that give TAASA its energy and relevance. Thank you everyone!

Gordon Darling

Marilyn and I have been regular visitors to the countries of Southeast Asia for the last ten years. We have made many trips to Thailand and to Bali. We have also visited Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos and are hoping to go to Cambodia. We have been enchanted by the great cultural beauty of these countries and by the friendliness of their people. These visits are amongst the most rewarding activities we have ever undertaken and we are always looking forward to the next one.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales has played a leadership role in Australia with the creation of the Centre for Asian Art Studies and its innovative educational programs which supplement its graphic permanent display of the arts of Asia. The inaugural series of 24 lunchtime lectures last year, ‘The Arts of Asia’, supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation, attracted an enthusiastic and larger than expected audience. Marilyn and I applaud the efforts of Patron of the Centre Goldie Sternberg, Director Edmund Capon, and Head Curator of Asian Art, Jackie Menzies, in making an important contribution to the knowledge and appreciation of Asian art in this country.

The Gordon Darling Foundation was delighted to continue its support of The Centre for Asian Art Studies at the Art Gallery of New South Wales by sponsoring the recent symposium the ‘Arts of Mainland Southeast Asia’ and the publication of the resultant papers in this issue of TAASA Review.