Singapore has a tradition of vibrant colored buildings with shutters. This great geometric composition comes from swisscan’s photostream.

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Photo Wednesday: Red house in Singapore

Indra, a major Hindu deity, also figures in the Thai Buddhist belief system, where he seen as powerful but limited and subservient to the Buddha (and sometimes as one of the four guardian kings of the cardinal directions). He is recognizable by his green skin.

The image shown is a detail from a large painting of the story of the life of the Buddha in the collection of the Asian Art Museum (Scenes from the life of the Buddha, 1800-1850. Thailand; paint and gold on cloth. Gift from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Southeast Asian Art Collection, 2006.27.122.15).  The painting will be displayed during the museum’s upcoming Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam and Burma exhibition

In an essay I wrote on the subject of translation, I talked about the “middle way” of the Chinese translator Xuanzang (who lived in the seventh century but may be most familiar from his role in the Ming dynasty “Monkey” stories). Xuanzang insisted that translation be both “truthful” and “intelligible to the populace.” In the essay I go on to discuss other advocates of the middle way, such as the Mexican poet Octavio Paz.

In this detail Indra makes a case for the middle way in a charming manner. The Buddha-to-be (shortly before his enlightenment) has been troubled about whether to give up the extreme austerities he has been practicing. Here Indra appears to him and plucks three strings of a lute-like instrument. One string is too slack, and it makes only a dull sound. One string is too tight, and it breaks when plucked. Only the properly tightened string makes a beautiful sound.

Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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Indra’s lute

This image of patterns and reflections at Wat Rajabophit, Bangkok, Thailand, comes from Taiger808′s photostream. The temple was constructed in 1869 under the command of King Rama V.

Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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Photo Wednesday: Wat Rajabophit

This photo of Indonesian officials at an election polling stations is by Andry Prasetyo of Reuters; it appeared in the New York Times. The officials are dressed as puppet theater characters.

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Photo Wednesday: Indonesian election officials

This photo is from Reuters:

Here’s a full view of the temple, via Travel Happy:

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew

This dramatic photo from a Balinese cremation ceremony comes from BALIwww.com’s photostream.

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Photo Wednesday: Bali cremation ceremony

The estimable Peacay of BibliOdyssey has posted a series of images of Filipino men and women in typical costumes. Most of the images, like this one, simply called “Old Woman,” are taken from a 1941 an 1841 book available online from the New York Public Library. While the images have a bit of the whiff of colonialism and the specimen book, they are still fascinating historical documents, not least as examples of the watercolor arts of the nineteenth-century.

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Filipino costumes

While we’re on the subject of Indonesian ritual, here is an image of a Kechak dance from www.viajar24h.com’ s photostream.

This dance tells stories from the Ramayana myth. One of its features is a large chorus of young men, said to represent a forest full of monkeys. The men provide the music for the performance by making percussive sounds.

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Some posts related to Southeast Asia:

• Photo Wednesday: Red house in Singapore
• Indra's lute
• Photo Wednesday: Wat Rajabophit
• Photo Wednesday: Indonesian election officials
• Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew
• Photo Wednesday: Bali cremation ceremony
• Filipino costumes
• Photo Wednesday: Kechak
• The endangered Indonesian dagger (kris)
• Photo Wednesday: Borobudur

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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Photo Wednesday: Kechak

According to legend, Ken Arok, founder of the 13th-century Hindu-Buddhist Singosari kingdom, won his throne through a series of murders accomplished with a wavy dagger called a kris. Ken Arok’s dagger was powerful but it was also cursed, and ultimately it also killed its owner.

In Indonesian trance rituals, celebrants in trance states may stab themselves with krises. (Krises are also found in Malaysia, Brunei, Southern Thailand and the southern Philippines.) I think the stabbing is mostly symbolic, as several observers report they result in little or no blood.

In 2005, UNESCO designated the kris a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. But not everyone shares this appreciation of the ritual object. A Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog reports:

According to Tony Junus Kartiko Adinegoro, head of Panji Nusantara, an organization of kris aficionados, … widespread irrational beliefs negatively impact the ability to preserve the kris as a cultural artifact.

“The preservation of kris in Indonesia is neglected because religious leaders do not understand the underlying philosophy of the kris.”

Believing kris’ have mystical powers and supernatural beings living inside them has caused Islamic leaders to tell people to stay away from them, Tony said.

“The cultural artifacts are thrown into the sea or destroyed, which saddens us.”

Krises are both artifacts of cultural heritage and works of art. They should always be treated with respect.

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Some posts related to Southeast Asia:

• Daido Bunka enso
• What do Americans know about Asia?
• Friday roundup
• Friday roundup
• Friday roundup

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Kris ritual image is courtesy elbisreverri’s photostream.

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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The endangered Indonesian dagger (kris)

This image of Borobudur in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. is from shapeshift’s photostream.

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Some posts related to Southeast Asia:

• Daido Bunka enso
• What do Americans know about Asia?
• Friday roundup
• Friday roundup
• Friday roundup

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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Photo Wednesday: Borobudur

A couple of people were asking for more images of Indonesian jester puppets. Here’s another one from the Asian Art Museum (where the puppets are difficult to photograph because they are displayed in very low light). His name is Togog.

Earlier I posted an image of the jester Semar. There is more information about Indonesian clown puppets at the Museum of Folly.

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The jester Togog, ca. 1800-1900. Ondonesia; Bandung, West Java. Wood cloth, and mixed media. Asian Art Museum; From the Mimi and John Herbert Collection, F2000.85.33.

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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The jester Togog

This image of an unusual kite in Bali, Indonesia, comes from sektordua’s photostream.

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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Photo Wednesday: Bali kite

Many people are familiar with the shadow puppets that are a popular court art of central Java. Rod puppets (wayang golek) are a puppet form that is popular among nonartistocratic audience in western Java and the northern coast of central Java. The puppets perform tales from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, as well as other Hindu and Islamic texts.

This figure is Semar, a jester. Jesters are a popular element of rod puppet performances. This puppet is part of a large collection at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. The is more information about Indonesian rod pupet jesters at the Museum of Folly (and some more images).

The jester Semar, ca. 1800-1900. Ondonesia; Bandung, West Java. Wood cloth, and mixed media. Asian Art Museum; From the Mimi and John Herbert Collection, F2000.85.29.

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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The jester Semar

Lately I’ve been thinking a bit about Bali, so let’s remain there for a while. This fellow comes to us from Beat’s photostream.

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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Photo Wednesday: Bali monkey

The other day I commented on Deb Clearwaters’s new blog on Bali. Subsequently, I found this collection of paintings by the Russian-born German painter Walter Spies. Spies, who was born in 1895, moved to Bali in 1927. His painting swings between mannerist and expressionist tendencies, but often with overtones of the primitivism of someone like Dounier Rousseau. With decent connections to the international art community, Spies helped to popularize the notion of Bali as an idyllic and exotic Shangri-La. This painting dates from 1929.

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Walter Spies

This photo of a rice farmer in Bali comes from wYnand!’s photostream.

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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Photo Wednesday: Bali Rice Farmer

Deborah Clearwaters has begun a blog that will present “musings about the Balinese arts of music, dance, sculpture, painting, and the ephemeral arts of offering making.” This is sure to be a good resource for anyone interested in this topic. Visit Bali Art Blog here.

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Post from 7 Junipers, Tom Christensen's guide to Asian art and culture.
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A new blog on the arts of Bali

flower bowl

This photo of a flower bowl in Bali is from _tris_’s photostream.

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Photo Wednesday: Balinese flower bowl