[Tlc] TLC-talk

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Forwarded from Dr. Hiram Woodward.
Thanks,
justin


The British Library and the Royal Thai Embassy request the pleasure of
your company at:


Traveling the Three Worlds
Buddhist Manuscript Painting of Ayutthaya and Bangkok Siam

Memorial Lecture in honour of Dr Henry Ginsburg (1940 - 2007), late
Curator of Thai Manuscripts at the British Library

Delivered by
John Guy
Senior Curator South & Southeast Asian Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Wednesday 15 April 2009 18:30
The British Library Conference Centre



The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB
The lecture will be followed by a reception 19:30-20:30
RSVP by 6th April  T: 020 7412 7717  E: lorna.komenda at bl.uk

This lecture explores the art of Thai manuscript painting through the
extraordinary world of Thai Buddhist cosmologies, canonical and
non-canonical Buddhist tales, astrologies, divination manuals, and other
literary genres which supported the pictorial tradition. Most Thai
Buddhists first encounter Thai traditional painting in the murals on the
interior of their monastery, where the Jataka stories of the previous
lives of the Buddha, or scenes from the historical Buddha's life, are
most frequently illustrated in a continuous narrative mode. Long banner
paintings were in the past hung on festival occasions, illustrating
scenes pertinent to the Buddhist calendar. Finally, richly painted
manuscripts, both of palm-leaf and concertina-folded khoi paper,
provided an important genre of painting, largely for the predilection of
the monastic community who alone had access to these works, both as
ordination manuals (Kammavaca) and as texts for teaching the dharma to
the lay community. 
The story of Thai Buddhist painting will be traced from its origins in
the Ayutthaya period through into the Ratanakosin (Bangkok) era, when
large libraries were created of finely painted manuscripts and elaborate
mural programmes were commissioned in royal temples, under the patronage
of royal donors.

**************************************************************************

Experience the British Library online at www.bl.uk

The British Library's new interactive Annual Report and Accounts 2007/08 : www.bl.uk/knowledge

Help the British Library conserve the world's knowledge. Adopt a Book. www.bl.uk/adoptabook

The Library's St Pancras site is WiFi - enabled

*************************************************************************

The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this e-mail and notify the postmaster at bl.uk : The contents of this e-mail must not be disclosed or copied without the sender's consent.

The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the British Library. The British Library does not take any responsibility for the views of the author.

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
3046 INTN
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu