“View from the Shore: the cultural impact of globalization on Indonesia during the Age of Spices”, by James Bennett (Curator of Asian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia and co-curator of Treasure Ships: Art in the Age of Spices).

Date: 21 October
Time: 6:00pm
Venue: Theatre Auditorium, University Club, The University of Western Australia
Register: Free, but RSVP required. To register or for more info, see: http://www.ias.uwa.edu.au/lectures/bennett.

The first Europeans arriving in the Indonesian archipelago in the 16th century encountered wealthy multicultural societies whose maritime networks stretched halfway around the globe. In the emporiums of the great ports of Melaka, Banten and Makassar were Middle Eastern, South and East Asian merchants trading in spices as well as imported luxury products, such as brilliantly dyed Indian textiles and Chinese porcelain.

This environment of commercial vibrancy ensured that the coastal Malay and Javanese sultanates established close connections with the international world of Islam. Muslim identity inspired the development of a sophisticated cultural milieu whose art forms defined an era now known as the pesisir, meaning ‘coastline’. The subsequent ascendancy of the Dutch East Indies Company traumatically impacted on the sultanate rulers’ ability to maintain patronage of the visual and performing arts. By the 18th century, Melaka, Banten and Makassar were reduced to half-deserted provincial towns. A new style of city landscape, nurturing its own distinct Eurasian population and hybrid aesthetic fashions, arose at Batavia, modern-day Jakarta, the Company’s capital in the East Indies.

In this lecture, James Bennett will explore the Indonesian pesisir art featured in Treasure Ships: Art in the Age of Spices. He will discuss the cultural impact of globalization on the art of the archipelago that resulted in 19th century European colonial rulers perceiving its aesthetic identity merely as ‘traditional craft’.

James Bennett is Curator of Asian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia and co-curator of Treasure Ships: Art in the Age of Spices. He has worked as a professional theatre designer, textile arts lecturer and community arts adviser at Milikapiti on Melville Island, NT. His batik textiles are represented in public collections around Australia. His major exhibitions and catalogue publications include Crescent Moon: Islamic art and civilisation of Southeast Asia (2005), Golden Journey: Japanese art from Australian collections (2009), Beneath the winds: Masterpieces of Southeast Asian art (2011) and Realms of wonder: Jain, Hindu and Islamic art of India (2013).