Studying Vietnamese folkloric practices, the artist has crafted objects that reflect the aesthetics of creative subversion and resistance.
Timor-Leste’s deep politics and the enigma of Xanana Gusmao
In 2018, Gusmao's reframing of his modernist vision through a lulik alliance signalled a return to his cultural roots that assisted in regaining his waning charisma.
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.
New Books on SE Asia: Jane Ferguson’s “Repossessing Shanland…”
Literati and politicians have constructed a virtual Shan state that lives on in popular media, rock music, and Buddhist ritual.
Coercing mobility: Territory, displacement & SE Asian Muslim Movements
Displacement is a key contributor to the trajectories of “Muslim” politics around the region...
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?
Remembering HMAS Perth (I) for the future
For Indonesia and Australia, the salvage of Perth has put maritime heritage cooperation into the spotlight, prompting greater bilateral engagement.
Emerging dynamics among Southeast Asia’s Nepali diaspora
Associations and the polyvocality of social media can bring to fore diverse meanings of being in the diaspora
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.
Nick Cheesman in conversation with Sumit K. Mandal on “Becoming Arab”
A discussion on the power and limits of colonial racial categories; Hadramis, Sayyids and Sharifas in maritime Southeast Asia; modernity and cultural hybridity; the descendants of Arabs in the Malay world today;
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.
Perspectives on the Past at New Mandala
Welcoming the University of Sydney's Southeast Asian history bloggers to New Mandala.