This MML presents an introduction to the art and architecture of the Maritime Muslim world of Southeast Asia, tracing the historical processes through which Islam took root in diverse societies across this interconnected region, as they simultaneously came to be integrated within an expanding world of Islam over the medieval and early modern periods.

About the speaker:

R. Michael Feener is Professor of Cross-regional studies at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University, and an Associate Member of the History Faculty at the University of Oxford. He was formerly Research Leader of the Religion and Globalisation Research Cluster at the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore, and the Sultan of Oman Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. He has also taught at Reed College and the University of California, Riverside, and held visiting professor positions and research fellowships at Harvard, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris), University of Copenhagen, The Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art (Honolulu), and the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in Leiden, the Netherlands. He has published extensively in the fields of Islamic studies and Southeast Asian history, as well as on post-disaster reconstruction, religion and development. He is currently Head of the Maritime Asia Heritage Survey: https://maldivesheritage.oxcis.ac.uk

The gift of the Frank and Pamela Hickley collection of blanc de Chine, and subsequent acquisitions, have formed one of the strengths of the ACM. Kenson Kwok recounts his friendship with the Hickleys and the evolution of their collecting activities. He describes the conditions of ceramic production in Dehua at two points in the 20C, and the successive displays of the collection in Singapore museums since 1994. The talk concludes with a short re-assessment of the collection in light of on-going archaeological finds.

About the Speaker:

Dr Kenson Kwok is the founding director of the Asian Civilisations Museum and the Peranakan Museum. An architect and environmental psychologist by training, an abiding interest for him since childhood has been the ceramic medium. Landing in the museum world in mid-career was therefore a very happy accident.

In retirement he continues to be active in the museum sector. He was the commissioner for the exhibition Baba Bling: Signes Intérieurs de Richesse at the Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, 2010 - 11, and co-curator of the exhibition A Passage to Asia at Bozars, Brussels, 2010. He is a lecturer for the Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art (Southeast Asian module) at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, and a member of the Museum Restoration Fund Panel of The European Fine Art Fair, Maastricht (TEFAF). He currently serves on the board of the National Museum Singapore, as well as on sub-committees at NMS, NGS, IHC, the Lee Kong Chian Art Museum and ICOM.

In the 17th century both banks of the Yamuna river in Agra were lined with mansions, palatial gardens and tombs, one of the great sights of Mughal India. When his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal died in childbirth, Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the most splendid addition to the riverside –the “Illumined Tomb” or Taj Mahal completed in 1643. After his visits to Agra, the French traveller Jean Baptiste Tavernier claimed that Shah Jahan had begun to build his own tomb on the opposite bank of the river, giving rise to the idea of a black marble ‘Taj’. Instead, recent archaeological findings reveal Shah Jahan’s grand plan, a fragrant Mahtab Bagh or Moonlight Garden. Here on a moonlit night, the Emperor could wonder at two views of the Taj Mahal, the ultimate romance!

About the Speaker:

Pia Rampal studied consumer communication during her Masters at Northwestern University, then as an advertising professional at JWT in Chicago, Mumbai, Bangalore and London. In Singapore, Pia discovered the power of ancient communication at the Asian Civilisations Museum. She has been a docent at the ACM for almost 15 years, co-head of docent training, done several trainings and Monday Morning Lectures, most recently for FOM's new Museum Enthusiasts course. In 2018, Pia graduated with a diploma in Asian Art (Indian, Buddhist, Islamic) with high distinction from SOAS, University of London - hopefully to return someday. The Mughals and their art were a key area of study - the elegant Shah Jahan, with his eye for perfection is one of Pia's icons.

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