Pages of Asia Book Chronicles Evolution of Southeast Asian Art
Manila Times
February 2006

How does one get a complete grasp of an extremely diverse Asian culture?

For the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the best way to present and understand Southeast Asia’s complex arts and culture is to come up with a book—one that would present the evolutions, orientations and makeup of the region’s most dominant and influential traditions.

After years of research, such a book has finally arrived. The "Southeast Asian Art and Culture: Ideas, Forms and Societies" is the product of a collaboration among the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information (ASEAN-COCI), the NCCA and ArtPostAsia Books.

"The artistic traditions of Southeast Asia are so varied, complex and diverse that it is a difficult task to find the underlying philosophy and animating principles that weave them together," the book states. "There seems to be as many artistic standards as there are religious and cultural orientations. These cultural diversities are articulated in this new publication."

Formally launched on February 23 at the Yuchengco Museum, the book was written by respected art historian Prof. Aurora Roxas-Lim, former dean of the Asian Center, curator for the UP Vargas Museum and deputy director of the Special Project in Archaeology and Fine Arts of the Southeast Asian Ministries of Education.

Featuring the cultures of the 10 different countries of Southeast Asia, the book also contains photographs by award winning travel photographer George Tapan and book illustrations by Aman Santos.

The book would be of particular interest to students, historians, teachers and scholars searching for reference materials explaining Asian culture from an Asian perspective, with contemporary contexts of globalization. It offers a framework that may guide readers in projecting Asian culture, aesthetics and civilization.

For book inquiries, e-mail publications@artpostasia.com. The book is now available in local bookstores.