http://7junipers.com/log Asian Art and Culture Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:00:58 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://7junipers.com/log/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 ... http://7junipers.com/log/indonesia-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 ... http://7junipers.com/log/indonesian-kris/ This image of Borobudur in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. is from shapeshift's photostream. . Some posts related to Southeast Asia: [catlist=9] . http://7junipers.com/log/borobudur-java-indonesia/ 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 ... http://7junipers.com/log/rod-puppet-jester/ While we're at the Walters Art Museum (see the previous couple of posts), let's check out this interesting Boddhisattva. As you can see from this detail, the enigmatically smiling figure has an oddly square face and jaw, with very wide eyes. Features such as these, along with the drapery on ... http://7junipers.com/log/standing-bodhisattva/ Here's another great Ganesha from the Walters Art Museum in Baltimor. This one was made in Bihar in the eleventh century, during the Pala dynasty. The material is muscovite biotite schist. Gift of J. Gilman d'Arcy Paul, 1967, 25.49. . http://7junipers.com/log/ganesha/ Here's another great dancing Ganesha. This one is in the collection of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. From Uttar Pradesh, it dates from the ninth or tenth century. I took this photo of a detail of the sculpture when I was visiting Baltimore recently. The label includes this charming ... http://7junipers.com/log/dancing-ganesha-2/ This image of an unusual kite in Bali, Indonesia, comes from sektordua's photostream. . http://7junipers.com/log/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, ... http://7junipers.com/log/indonesian-jester-semar/ I posted about Zhan Wang's San Francisco landscape made of pots and pans before. For this image I used this nifty technique for removing color cast. (Compare the color to this image.) . http://7junipers.com/log/zhan-wangs-san-francisco/ 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. . http://7junipers.com/log/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 ... http://7junipers.com/log/walter-spies/ This photo of a rice farmer in Bali comes from wYnand!'s photostream. . http://7junipers.com/log/bali-rice-farmer/ Indian painting is hot these days. Francis Newton Souza's Birth (oil on board, 48 x 96 in., 1955), shown above, recently sold for $2,487,931 at an auction at Christie’s London, a record price for modern Indian art. Souza spent much of his life in London and is the only Indian artist ... http://7junipers.com/log/birth/ "Take advantage of what exists." -- Laozi Pico Iyer on Tibet, China and the Dalai Lama Revisiting Phnom Penh Chinese art on bubble? "Life and Marriage in Skya rgya, a Tibetan Village Philadelphia Museum of Art: Multiple Modernities: India, 1905-2005 Astro Boy made from recycled train tickets . http://7junipers.com/log/friday-roundup-18/ This image of the Taj Mahal, the mausoleum constructed by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the seventeenth century, is from Stuck in Customs's photostream. . http://7junipers.com/log/photo-wednesday/   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. . http://7junipers.com/log/blai-art-blog/ "Take advantage of what exists." -- Laozi Christie's sets record with Asia art sales Passion drives rough diamond (Ling Yaqian) Meet Tibetan artist Karma Phuntsok Sudarshan Pattnaik's global warming sand sculpture wins prize The Contemporary Tea House: Japan's Top Architects Redefine a Tradition Iranian Cinema Balinese artist Ketut Budiana's Dance of the Witches . http://7junipers.com/log/friday-roundup-17/ The image above is a Daruma doll. The owner of such a doll paints in one eye and makes a wish. When the wish is fulfilled, the other eye is painted in. An operation took 7 Junipers out of operation. I had a little trouble with one of my eyes. Happily, I ... http://7junipers.com/log/eyes-and-dolls/ 7 Junipers is on medical leave and will return next week. http://7junipers.com/log/back-soon/ This photo of a bride bedecked and bejeweled for her wedding is from riceFR's photostream. . http://7junipers.com/log/photo-wednesday-indian-bride/