New Library Display and October Events

As October begins, we’re excited to unveil a new Library display (both online and physical) showcasing a selection of items from the RAS collections. The aim is to draw on the breadth of the Society’s holdings, spanning different formats, histories and cultures across Asia, to explore a particular theme of interest.

For this display, I chose the theme of worship, a subject that has always fascinated me because of its immense potential to offer insight into an individual’s faith, devotion and spiritual practice. As I conducted more research into relevant items in our collections, I was also struck by the question of how much, or indeed how little, worship has changed over time across different Asian cultures.

The online version of the display can be viewed here: https://juncture-digital.org/ras1823/tracesofworship. To navigate the site, simply scroll through the text panel on the left and the corresponding image will appear alongside it. You can then zoom in or move around the image to examine details more closely. We particularly enjoyed scrutinising the details of the first item – a miniature from the James Tod collection depicting Maharana Bhim Singh, ruler of Mewar, performing the worship of the sword:

If you are accessing the display on a mobile device, click the media icon in the top-right corner of the text as you scroll. An image panel should then appear at the bottom of the screen. The zooming function also works on mobile devices.

In connection with this, we’ve also put together an abridged version of the display for exhibition in our Reading Room. If you’d like to see some of these items in person, feel free to visit during our usual opening hours. Here is an image of the selected items on view in our display case:

We’d like to emphasise that the selection of items for this display is by no means intended to be exhaustive of the myriad ways in which worship has been understood and practised across Asia. We also recognise and respect the sacred significance associated with some of these items and the acts they depict. Instead, we approach the idea of worship in its broadest sense, in the hope that the display will be of interest to a general audience and inspire viewers to explore our collections further.

We hope you’d enjoy exploring this display, whether online or in person. We aim to curate similar displays periodically, resources permitting, both to engage audiences and to ‘activate’ our collections in ways that encourage meaningful discussion. If you have any suggestions for future display themes, or feedback on how we might improve, we’d love to hear from you!

In other news, we’re delighted to welcome Christoph Baumer and Therese Weber for a lecture on rock art on Thursday evening. For their lecture, Baumer introduced a remarkable range of petroglyphs (that is, rock carvings) from the Nordic region and Central Asia to the Arabian Peninsula. It was fascinating to learn how people from millennia ago recorded aspects of their lives and beliefs, from hunting scenes to mythical narratives. Weber then highlighted how these ancient images continue to inspire contemporary artists, drawing on examples from her own work and that of others. Their recent book, Rock Art and its Legacy in Myth and Art, published by Bloomsbury, offers a richly illustrated introduction to this subject and features many stunning images.

There is plenty more to look forward to this October, with several events taking place over the coming weeks:

Tuesday 13 October
Lecture – Professor Pei-Yin Lin: Literary Leftism in Colonial Taiwan: The Cases of Lai He, Yang Kui, and Lü Heruo (details)

Thursday 14 October
Film Screening – Performing Beauty (details)

Thursday 22 October
Lecture – Professor Tania Bhattacharyya: Mughals in Bombay? Border-making and itinerant belonging in a colonial port city (details)

Thursday 29 October
Book Launch – The Art of Drinking Chocolate: Coconut Cups and Other Marvels from the New World (details)

As usual, these events are free and open to all. With the exception of the film screening on the 14th, which is available in person only, all events can also be attended via Zoom with prior registration. We hope that some of these events will be of interest to you, and we look forward to welcoming you, whether in person or online.