Exhibition: 'Asia - East and Southeast'
A major exhibition of Asian-language materials from the Asian Studies Research Collection is on display in the Monash Library's Rare Books
exhibition area until early December. The exhibition is being held to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the formation of the Asian Studies Research
Collection as a special collection within the Monash University Library. The exhibition includes materials from the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and
Indonesian, Khmer, Malay, Thai and Vietnamese collections. It also draws on some of ASRC's special collections, the David Chandler collection on
Pol Pot-era Cambodia, the Norodom Sihanouk Archival Collection and the Burma Democracy Movement collection.
Supplementing the Asian Studies Research Collection material in the exhibition are select items from the Asia-related holdings of the Music
& Multimedia and Rare Books collections. The former includes scores and recordings belonging to the Japanese Music Archive, contemporary Asian film
on video and DVD, and a large collection of sound recordings on vinyl, cassette and other formats of traditional and popular music from all regions
of Asia. Rare Books collections represented in the exhibition include the Suetsugu collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century Japanese books,
Indonesian Batak and Balinese manuscripts, and the Dutch East Indies collection.
The exhibition presents a multi-dimensional perspective on East and Southeast Asia. It includes materials representing both traditional and
contemporary Asia: the 'old' and the 'new' Asia, especially as they coexist today. It is organised around three very broad themes that are important
areas of Asian studies research at Monash University: political events and movements, popular and traditional culture, and women. Sub-themes
develop particular topics, juxtapose different perspectives and periods, and draw connections between items or themes, for example, popular or
traditional culture in the employ of politics, or women as 'actors' in politics or popular culture.
The exhibition was opened at a function on Thursday September 8 and Dr Penny Graham (Director, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies) gave an
opening address, in which she spoke about the history and development of the ASRC collections and their value for research. Dr Wang-Zheng Ting gave
a short musical performance on the sheng.
A virtual version of the exhibition and the exhibition catalogue can be viewed at
http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/exhibitions/asia/
Donations
We have received some major donations of Japanese books. 569 items on Japanese and Australian sociology were donated by Professor Yoshio
Sugimoto, from the School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University. 1477 items on Japanese literature, history and culture were donated by Professor
Hiroaki Yamashita of Nagoya University. These donations were in addition to smaller donations and donations from the Korea Foundation, the National
Library of Korea and the Japan Foundation.
Staff activities
Asian Studies Research Collection staff have attended a variety of conferences and library meetings in the last 6 months. Jung-Sim Kim attended
the Korean Studies Association of Australasia Conference, Auckland (NZ), 14-15 July; the 43rd Annual Korean Library Association Conference, held in
Kyonggi-do Ilsan, Korea, 19-21 October; and a workshop for overseas librarians organised by the Korea Foundation and the National Library of Korea,
23-30 October. Ayako Hatta attended the final Annual CJK meeting, held at the University of Western Australia, 22 September. Aline Scott-Maxwell
participated in the Asian Studies Research Forum, organised and hosted by the National Library of Australia, 24 October.
Asian Libraries in Melbourne (ALIM)
Asian Libraries in Melbourne's new brochure and name were launched at Monash University by University Librarian, Cathrine Harboe-Ree, at the
ASRC exhibition opening on September 8. One item in the exhibition, an early nineteenth century Japanese book on the use of whale products in pest
control (Jok?roku, by Nagatsune ?kura, 1826), is on loan from the University of Melbourne's Special Collections, Baillieu Library. This book is
included in the exhibition as a symbol of the ongoing collaboration between the Asian Studies Research Collection and the University of Melbourne's
East Asia collection, which together form 'Asian Libraries in Melbourne'. Images from this book appear in Asian Libraries in Melbourne's new
brochure.
The first stage of ALIM's current major project, a survey of Asian language resources held by other libraries in Victoria, was completed
earlier this year. It comprises a database of Asian language holdings in Victorian public libraries, which is available from the ALIM website
(http://alim.monash.org/). The second stage of the project, a survey of Asian-language holdings in Victorian
academic libraries (besides those at Monash and Melbourne Universities) is presently underway.
Visitors
- His Excellency Hideaki Ueda, the new Japanese Ambassador to Australia, accompanied by the Embassy's Second Secretary
- Mr Shisei Kaku, the Japanese Consul-General for Melbourne, and Mr Katsunori Ashida, the Director of the Japan Information and Cultural Service
- Mr Julio Jeldres, personal ambassador and official biographer of His Majesty, former King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia
We also received visits from some overseas librarians:
- Uraiwan Viputtikul and Chantanee Pongcharoen, Acting Director and Deputy Director of Mahidol University Library and Information Centre, Thailand
- Ch'ng Kim See, Head of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Library, Singapore
|