Arts of Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is made up of neighbouring Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, and the island nations of Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore. This book looks at the arts of the region in the context of historical and cultural phenomena shared and distinct responses.

The geographical region of Southeast Asia is made up of the neighbouring mainland states of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam and the island nations of Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore. This book looks at the arts of this fascinating region in the context of the historical and cultural phenomena shared by these countries, and, in contrast, their diverse and distinct responses to common internal and external influences. The continuities and discontinuities that characterize Southeast Asia are clearly reflected in the wide array of exquisite textiles and dress, jewellery and metalwork, ceramics, woodcarving and leatherwork that make up the main corpus of Southeast Asian arts and which are illustrated in the book. Major factors include the strength of indigenous art forms and animist beliefs and the long-term influences of India, China, Europe and the Arab world, and of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam on Southeast Asian cultural forms.