PoP Blog

The women entrepreneurs of early modern Vietnam

Their contributions were fundamental to shaping Vietnam’s early modern social, religious, and economic society, but historical scholarship has neglected their experiences for centuries.

Whose history, whose future? Creating a new legacy of shared maritime heritage

Proactive engagement, people-to-people connections, developing mutual trust and respect is essential to protect Perth for the future.

At what cost: The impact of Indonesia’s Omnibus law on underwater cultural heritage

Why, after such a long hiatus, is underwater cultural heritage is once again being considered as an economic, not an archaeological or historical, resource?

Age of Empires II: Rise of the Rajas – playing the past in Southeast Asia

For better or worse, players and game designers are part of the project of making Southeast Asian history.

Writing History in Premodern Java

The materiality of writing has major implications for the practice of history...When you look at a ‘medieval’ Javanese manuscript, it is almost always an 18th or 19th century copy of a copy of a copy ... and so on.

Was Majapahit really an empire?

A critical reflection on the emergence, dominance and legacy of Java’s historic ‘empire’.

Human rights and heritage sites in Myanmar: An irreconcilable juxtaposition or a productive conversation?

What does world heritage inscription mean in a country where human rights abuses are ongoing?

Not the Emperor’s, not the King’s, but the Straits Chinese

Ann Ang discusses the historical context, origins and identity of the Straits Chinese.

The medieval tropics

Medieval artefacts and manuscripts are explored by Alex West to give insight on the deep past of Southeast Asia.

Disappearing Japan: Vajiravudh’s translations of The Mikado and the Thai elite’s admiration of Japan

On what translation can tell us about Thai society and its perspectives on its regional neighbours.

Making and unmaking decolonisation: Civilised by The Necessary Stage (Singapore)

Nien Yuan Cheng continues her commentary on how Singapore artists are responding to the Bicentennial.

“I feel blessed (to be a Singaporean)”: MY Bridge of Light by the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC

Part 2 of this 3-part series on the SG Bicentennial explores MY Bridge of Light, a community play sponsored by the official bicentennial fund.

Bodies of/in water and the reversal of colonialism? Arus Balik at the NTU Centre of Contemporary Art

PoP's Cheng Nien Yuan continues her commentary on Singapore's Bicentennial.

Why we should be funding research on the post-Orientalist arts of the Straits of Malacca*

A personal reflection on the importance of academic freedom

Colonial medicine in postcolonial times: continuity, transition and change

Notes on the first joint meeting of the Asian Society for the History of Medicine & History of Medicine in Southeast Asia, Jakarta, 27-30 June 2018

PoP Picks @ IPPA2018

The most important conference for Asia-Pacific archaeology, heritage & museums is in Vietnam from 23 to 28 September. PoP takes a look at the Southeast Asia sessions & papers we are most excited about.

Raising heritage awareness in Indonesia

Isla Winarto talks to PoP about the Indonesian Heritage Society's efforts to promote heritage conservation at Jakarta's Museum Tekstil

Writing history in the Indian Ocean world

Writing history in the Indian Ocean world was the result of a complex interplay of global norms and local conditions of textual production.

PoP picks @ ASAA

PoP's completely biased top picks for the 2018 Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) conference

The Java Sea Wreck: New research on an ancient ship

New research on an ancient wreck raises important questions about protection and preservation

The Sufi poet and the peculiar whale (part two)

A commentary on the Sufi poem of the peculiar whale, by the 16th-century Malay poet Hamzah of Barus.

The big canvas

A new book on West Sumatran 'angkot' reveals the complex tensions between tradition and modernity in contemporary Minangkabau society

Can our cities survive climate catastrophe? Ancient Asia may hold the key

The fall of great premodern Southeast Asian settlements offers hints about what climate change has in store for today's megacities.