The SEALG Annual Meeting and Conference will take place in Frankfurt am Main on 28-29 June 2024 at J.W.Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, Bibliothek Sprach & Kulturwissenschaften (BSKW).
In preparation of the SEALG Annual Meeting 2024, SEALG invites proposals for papers on three themes to choose from:
– collections, archives and library work as well as recent developments in the field of South East Asian Studies – acquisition, storage and access of born digital material – contested heritage and providing access to heritage communities
A paper presentation should not exceed 30 minutes (including time for questions / discussion). Paper abstracts should be no more than 200 words and must include a title, author’s name and affiliation, as well as contact details.
Please submit your paper proposal including abstract to Holger Warnk or Marije Plomp not later than by 31 May 2024. We encourage submissions from library and archive staff as well as from scholars and graduate students. Please help spread this Call for Papers.
The Annual Meeting will take place in hybrid form to allow colleagues who cannot travel to Frankfurt to participate.
A six-year collaborative research program in global and diplomatic history that investigates the often overlooked role of international treaties in imperial expansion is currently being hosted by Linnaeus University in Kalmar and Växjö, Sweden. Historical Treaties of Southeast Asia is a project to systematically analyse all of the approximately one thousand bilateral treaties concluded between a European, American or Japanese imperial power on the one hand, and a Southeast Asian state or sovereign on the other hand, from the middle of the eighteenth to the early twentieth century. The project aims to develop new ways of understanding the causes and effects of colonialism in Southeast Asia and beyond. The program started in 2022 and runs for six years, until the end of 2027. The core research team consists of historians from Europe and Southeast Asia, and research assistants.
The program organises a conference and several online seminars this year, starting with a Conference on Treaty-Making and Cross-Cultural Diplomacy in Asia (16th-20th centuries) on 29/2/2024-2/3/2024 in Manila. Details about the upcoming online seminars and registration can be found on the project’s events page.
Presented on the project website are also news and blog posts summarising research activities of members of the project team, conference reports and related topics, as well as publications most of which can be accessed freely online. The program also offers research opportunities for guest researchers, graduate students and people with particular language skills.
It contains the following reports, articles and a book review:
SEALG Annual Meeting, Marseille 2023. Report (Marije Plomp and Jana Igunma)
The collection of the late Prof. Dr. Wilfried Lulei in the Library of Southeast Asia Studies at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (Holger Warnk)
The Japanese occupation of Singapore, schooling, books and libraries for children in the civilian gaols at Changi and Sime Road, 1942-1945: The remaking of historical memory in SEA (Lim Peng Han)
Henry Alabaster’s “Catalogue of Siamese Manuscripts” (Jana Igunma)
The use of Chinese paper for manuscripts from the Malay world (Annabel Teh Gallop)
The Southeast Asia Museum at the University of Hull (Victor T. King)
Burma to Myanmar: 1500 years of connection and isolation (Exhibition curated by Alexandra Green) – which can be visited at the British Museum until 11 February 2024
มหากาพย์ชนชาติไท “เต้าตามไต เต้าทางไท” (The Tai Epics), Bangkok: Chonniyom 2023. (Review by Jana Igunma, translation to Shan by Sai Hlaing aka Myo Thant Linn)
Shan New Year 2118/2023: Conference Report. SOAS, University of London, 9 December 2023.
Your feedback and enquiries are very welcome. Please get in touch using the contact details on the SEALG website.
The British Museum, London, 2 November 2023 – 11 February 2024
Curated by Alexandra Green
Burma to Myanmar locates the country within global narratives of interaction, exploring inter-cultural engagements through art and culture across time and acting as a case study for understanding the role of objects in such exchanges. The exhibition presents Myanmar’s interactions in four sections – geography and natural resources, a landscape of states and networks, the British colonial take-over, and the independence era.
A golden letter, Central Myanmar. Archived at George II’s request in his personal library in Hannover, Germany 7 May 1756. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Bibliothek, Hannover, Germany, Ms IV, 571a
Located along major maritime and overland trade routes and rich in natural resources (even today), Myanmar’s resulting wealth facilitated participation in regional networks and at times to dominate the region. The 11th–13th centuries saw parts of Myanmar participate in a widespread Buddhist world reaching across northeast India, the Himalayas, and Sri Lanka, which resulted in the establishment of religious concepts and art styles, many of which lasted into the 19th century. After the 13th century, a number of kingdoms, principalities, chiefdoms, and trade and kinship networks became increasingly powerful – Arakan, Hanthawaddy, Shan states, the highland regions, and central Myanmar, each with distinct art forms that also reveal extensive interactions with each other and places further afield. As the British annexed the region piecemeal in the 19th century, there were substantial artistic changes in decorative form, religious engagement and imagery, and textile production, as well as the introduction of new art forms, such as film and cartoons. The imposition of the Census and differing forms of colonial rule established rigid ethnic and territorial boundaries that helped set the stage for the conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Second World War enabled early independence from Britain, but at great cost as in 1948, Myanmar was still physically and economically devastated from the Japanese Occupation and the fighting. Finally, the post-1948 period is explored from a special silver tea service and the return of the royal regalia to digital media and contemporary art to gain a better understanding of Myanmar today.
Karen tunic (hse), probably lower Myanmar, before 1863. Collected by Morden Carthew, the divisional commander of Pegu (Bago) province between 1861–3, or his son of the same name, the civil administrator for Moulmein (Mawlamyine) and then deputy commissioner for Mergui (Myeik) province from 1858–60. Cotton, felted wool, Coix seed. British Museum, As,+.6880
Manuscripts and artworks from Southeast Asia are varied and to some extent differ significantly from those found in other parts of Asia. For example, palm leaves, bamboo slats, tree bark, ivory and metal sheets, fabrics, and paper made from mulberry tree bark or from bamboo shoots have been popular materials used for writing and illumination of texts. Manuscripts as well as artefacts were often lavishly decorated with gold, lacquer, mother-of-pearl, ivory, precious and semi-precious stones, glass and mirror-glass. Paints made from minerals and plants, gum, tamarind seed, and other aqueous media have been used for the fine line and minute detail in paintings and manuscript illustrations. Such works require specialised care and conservation techniques, and in the past years conservators, researchers and curators have been working together to find the best methods for the preservation of such rare and unique objects. Numerous case studies have been shared online, giving detailed accounts of the composition of the objects, grades of deterioration, conservation techniques used to restore items and to make them presentable and safe to handle, as well as preventive care and storage in libraries, archives and museums.
In the blog post Conserving a Burmese Offering Vessel Maxim Chesnokov reports about his student placement in the Organic Conservation Studio at the British Museum in London, where he was involved in preparing one of a pair of Burmese hsun-ok for display in the exhibition Burma to Myanmar. A hsun-ok is a vessel for holding gifts and offerings made by lay Buddhists to monks and monasteries, and this particular item was intricately crafted from coiled bamboo strips with a decorative surface in the spectacular hmanzi shwe cha style – a Burmese term to describe a technique where gilded relief work is set with coloured glass. The magnificent object can currently be seen in its fully restored beauty in the above mentioned exhibition at the British Museum.
Burmese offering vessel in the British Museum exhibition “Burma to Myanmar”. Photo: Jana Igunma
A Burmese Manuscript Conservation Success has been announced from the Royal Asiatic Society in London. This blog post describes conservation work that was carried out on one of the Society’s Burmese manuscripts and its rare woven braid (sazigyo). The manuscript’s plates were in relatively good condition, but its coloured textile wrapper needed close attention. Much of the fabric was fraying, and had to be stabilised; the threads were loose and unravelling; and one of the bamboo slats was broken. Especially the sazigyo needed attention as it became discoloured over time and suffered the effects of staining and dirt. Even more serious were several abrasions and disruption to the weave, which meant it was in danger of unravelling. The project was completed successfully and the manuscript with its textile elements is available for research.
The Chester Beatty Library in Dublin reported on the challenges of Figuring out Folds: Conserving a Thai Buddhist manuscript. A number of Thai folding books at the Chester Beatty had suffered damage, including detaching lacquer covers, delamination and breakage along the folds, as well as flaking and powdering of pigments. One of the manuscripts, dated 1795, was in very poor condition, as a result of previous water damage and handling. It needed extensive conservation treatment, especially of a large number of tears in the paper and cracks of the lacquer coating, to prevent any further damage and to ensure it could be safely handled and displayed in an exhibition on Thai Buddhist Tales; Stories along the Path to Enlightenment (2019-20).
Details of the conservation treatment on two Buddhist paintings (temple banners) at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, are presented in the blog post Recovering the Glory of Southeast Asian Buddhist Paintings. Before entering the museum, these 19th-century paintings – one from Thailand and one from Cambodia -had divergent histories of display and ownership that impacted their condition. While the Thai banner had been framed and backed with drafting linen using photo mount adhesive to keep it flat, the Cambodian painting had been displayed for a long time in a temple, resulting in significant amounts of soot from candles and incense on the surface. The fine details of the painting were lost beneath the soot, grime, and insect debris. In addition, the painting had been split in half at some point and various tapes were applied to keep it together. Because of the extensive damage and severely weakened areas, it was not possible to safely lift or display the painting. After physically stabilising the paintings, the extensive losses in the painting media especially of the Cambodian item were addressed. After many hours of conservation work, both paintings can now be handled safely.
Carolina Jiménez Gray gives insights into the Conservation of a Thai painting: testing a new consolidant for underbound matt paint at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. A framed Thotsachat (Ten Birth Tales or Jataka) painting from a set of eight by an unknown artist, originating in early nineteenth century Bangkok, was found to have a very fragile off-white ground layer with a thin blue priming. Paint was dramatically lifting and flaking off the support, and many paint losses had already occurred. Consolidation treatment was urgently needed to prevent any further loss. The conservation process is explained in detail, highlighting the fact that HPMC proved to be a very useful material for the consolidation of matt underbound paint. It was possible to secure the paint and to restore the former glory of this fine artwork.
In a blog post with the title The Marriage of East and West: Conservation of a Photographic Album from Burma Iwona Jurkiewicz reports about the successful conservation of a Burmese photo album at the British Library, London. Covered with brightly coloured Burmese textile, known as luntaya acheik, and leather, the album contains a collection of photographs taken by Felice (or Felix) Beato in Burma in the 1880-1890s. The leather on the spine was fragmented; sewing exposed and broken, while the boards were only kept in place by an added cotton band. Most photographs in the album had some distortions caused by water damage and by heavy glue application to corners; with some tears present where the pull of the adhesive was too strong. After restoration of the covers and binding, the album with which Beato combined the attractive Burmese content and textile covers with Western binding and handmade paper, is now safe for consultation by library users.
Burmese photo album by Felice Beato after successful conservation treatment. Photo: Iwona Jurkiewicz.
Emily Keppel and Katrina Ben from the State Library Victoria in Melbourne write in their blog post Islamic Bookbinding about an Islamic Book Binding Workshop that took place at the Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia (IAMM) in Kuala Lumpur from 24 to 28 July 2017. The workshop was presented by Book Conservator Dr Karin Scheper who has carried out extensive research on the Islamic collections held at the University of Leiden in The Netherlands and who authored the first major book in English on the conservation of Islamic manuscripts, The technique of Islamic bookbinding. The workshop provided knowledge of the structure and materials of Islamic manuscripts, the various region-specific types and characteristics, and helped to develop practical skills in the conservation of Islamic manuscripts.
Lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlay are frequently found in artworks and manuscripts from mainland Southeast Asia. In this context, Dana Melchar’s blog post with the title Lustrous Surfaces collaborative conservation project may be useful for conservators working with such items, although it does not specifically cover Southeast Asian lacquer works. Preparations for a display Lustrous Surfaces: Lacquer in Asia and Beyond at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2017-18, which included objects from Burma, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Tibet as well as objects made in Middle Eastern and European countries emulating the Asian tradition, provided conservators with the unique opportunity to work on lacquer from various cultures simultaneously, enhancing the Museum’s expertise in Asian lacquer. In collaboration with two Korean lacquer conservation experts, black and red lacquer decorations on several items were consolidated, large cracks were filled, areas where lacquer had been lost were rebuilt, and loose mother-of-pearl decorations were replaced successfully. The blog post highlights the importance of collaborations with experts and organisations in the countries where artworks originated from to learn from their expertise and to achieve the safest and best possible outcomes.
Mother-of-pearl inlay on black lacquer (detail), on a wooden cover of a palm leaf manuscript from Northern Thailand, 19th century (British Library, Or 16077). Photo: Jana Igunma
One of the first European photographers to visit Laos soon after the 1975 revolution was Klaus Morgenstern (1939-2012), a German photographer from Leipzig. He was a graduate of Leipzig University of Graphics and Book Art and worked first as a photographer and photo laboratory technician with the East German “National People’s Army” in Thuringia. From 1972 on, he worked for the East Germany’s most important magazine, the Neue Berliner Illustrierte (NBI). During that time he travelled to the newly founded Lao People’s Democratic Republic to document everyday life and the country’s first steps in the transition to socialism in 1976-77. The East German interest in Laos goes back to the 1960s when aid was provided to the Pathet Lao. However, the first diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Laos and the Federal Republic of Germany were established on 31 January 1958.
Vientiane 19.12.1976 Two monks walking in front of a tailor shop in the capital of the Lao PDR. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/
Aside from material aid during the Vietnam War, the German Democratic Republic (official name of East Germany 1949-90) also helped to develop professional training in Laos – a move that later developed into one of the pillars of Lao-East German cooperation. Following the Paris Peace Accords of January 1973, the provisional coalition government between Lao Royalists and the Pathet Lao began to establish official diplomatic relations with socialist countries, among them the GDR. Dietrich Jarck was the first East German ambassador accredited to the Kingdom of Laos in December 1974. After the proclamation of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic on 2 December 1975, the East German government aimed to strengthen their diplomatic relations with Laos and more concrete plans of bilateral cooperation were formulated. Relations with West Germany, on the other side, almost came to a standstill until the reunification of Germany in October 1990.
Vientiane Province 17.12.1976 A family travelling in a buffalo cart on a sandy path. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/
The digital photo collection of Klaus Morgenstern – comprising of over 700 photos taken in Laos – is held in the DDR Bildarchiv, a Berlin-based picture agency that has digitised the press photo archives of East German newspapers and private collections of photographers.
Morgenstern’s Laos collection covers seven topics of wider interest: Buddhism, education, health care, urban life, rural life, trade and crafts, Hmong people. The photographer’s mission was to create a realistic documentation of everyday life in Laos, with some images highlighting shocking truths of post-war poverty. This is contrasted by large amounts of photos depicting smiling and learning children as a symbol of hope for the country’s future.
Vientiane 09.01.1977 The curious gaze of three girl’s at the photographer’s camera. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/
About one tenth of Morgenstern’s photographs depict Buddhist monuments, monks and lay people in their everyday activities, including monks during their alms rounds and lay people making food offerings, monks gardening, monks and novices in schools. Among the Buddhist temples and monuments depicted in the photographs are the That Luang, Wat Sisaket, Wat Si Mueang, Wat Ho Pha Kaeo, Xieng Khuan Buddha Park – all located in or near Vientiane.
Vientiane 21.12.1976 Interview with Venerable Maha Thongkhoun Anantasountone, President of the Lao Buddhist Fellowship Organisation, on the role and situation of Buddhism in the Lao PDR. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/Vientiane 21.12.1976 Monks and novices working in their monastery’s garden in Vientiane. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/
Education and the fight against illiteracy were seen as the major forces to drive social progress and economic development in socialist countries, so it is not a surprise that Morgenstern focused on documenting the efforts to establish schools across the country, for both children as well as adults. He also captured the teaching of vocational skills to adults in correctional facilities.
Vientiane 21.12.1976 Adults attending lessons to learn the basic skills of reading and writing. For many women this was the first time they had the opportunity to acquire these skills. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/Vientiane 10.01.1977 Young students in Vientiane. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/
In addition to the educational efforts, the new Lao government paid much attention to building a socialist healthcare system, with the help of partner organisations from other socialist countries, including East Germany and Cuba, for example. A small portion of Morgenstern’s photo collection gives insights into maternity, pediatric and dental care in the capital Vientiane which was much more advanced there than in the rest of the country.
Vientiane 05.01.1977 A Cuban pediatrician examines a toddler at the Mahosot Hospital in Vientiane. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/
Morgenstern spent most of his time during his work trip in Vientiane Province. Apparently only a short trip took him to Luang Prabang as only three photographs were taken there. Roughly one fifth of his photographs depict scenes of everyday life in Vientiane, many of them documenting street scenes, modes of transport, markets and shops, people interacting, few monuments and buildings, and a small series of pictures of a wedding ceremony.
Vientiane 16.12.1976 Family with children riding a Yamaha motorbike in Vientiane, Laos. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/
Alongside other East European countries, the GDR provided development aid in various sectors of the Lao economy, including agriculture, forestry and vocational education. In the 1980s, East Germany provided development aid worth over nine million Euros annually. In addition to promoting coffee cultivation and traditional crafts, the focus was on training around 2,000 Lao students and apprentices in East Germany and 15,000 in Laos itself. It is not a surprise that Morgenstern visited rural areas in Vientiane Province to document the situation of farming and efforts to build a modern socialist agricultural sector. Approximately a quarter of his photographs were taken in rural areas.
Vientiane 27.12.1976 Tractors of the ZETOR 5714 brand were imported from Czechoslovakia to support the modernisation of the agricultural sector in Laos. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/
Other aspects of the post-war economy in Laos that Morgenstern captured in his photo documentation were small trade and crafts. He visited countless markets, workshops as well as newly emerging factories, including a rattan furniture factory, basketry and embroidery workshops, and weavers working at home on the traditional Lao hand-loom. A small series of particularly colourful photographs depict Hmong embroiderers at work and market stalls selling Hmong textiles in Vientiane.
Vientiane 21.12.1976 Women working in a weaving workshop in Vientiane. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/Vientiane 14.12.1976 A Hmong woman selling self-made embroidered patchwork textiles at a market in Vientiane. Photo by Klaus Morgenstern. Source: https://www.ddrbildarchiv.de/
Klaus Morgenstern’s photo collection comprising of over 700 photographs taken in Laos between 1976-77 can be accessed freely on the webpage of the DDR Bildarchiv.
By Holger Warnk (Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt)
In 2018 the Library of Southeast Asian Studies at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University acquired the library of Prof. Wilfried Lulei, former Professor of Vietnamese Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin.[1] Among the more than 1,500 books, journals, maps and other materials was a small book by Georges Norès published in 1930, entitled Itinéraires automobiles en Indochine. This booklet is the third and final volume of a travel guide, being one of the first to introduce tourists to the possibilities of travelling in French Indochina by car.
Illustration 1: Title page
The travelling of Westerners to Southeast Asia has had a long tradition. They came to the region as traders, merchants, colonial administrators, missionaries, military commanders or soldiers, among others, and since the late 19th century more and more also as travellers. Those who were able to visit with no other intention than being tourists were mostly well-off Europeans and Americans such as the British ‘Bengal civilian’ Charles Walter Kinloch (1853) or the well-known German authors Hermann Hesse in 1907 or Max Dauthendey in 1905 and again in 1914 (Hesse 1980; Dauthendey 1924). With the establishment of the European colonies in Southeast Asia, after 1900 the growing tourism became an increasingly important factor of economic progress, including in Indochina where the first local tourist offices were set up on initiative of individuals and hotel owners in 1913 and 1916 (Demay 2014: 76).
While the first touristic activities were directed chiefly to Europeans who were already living in the colony for a while, the extension to those arriving from overseas became more and more lucrative after World War I. Subsequently, the necessary tourism infrastructure was expanded in French Indochina as well as in other parts of Southeast Asia, in particular on the island of Bali. The enlargement of ports, the construction and improvement of roads including bridges and ferries, the extension of the railway system and the introduction of bus services, the identification and opening up of antique, picturesque or “authentic” tourist sites, the establishment of suitable accommodation in the major towns and cities and at scenic spots both at the coast and at hill stations went hand in hand with the introduction of tourist information centres alongside the printing of guide books, brochures and maps, the availability of a good medical infrastructure, and all these measures were further enhanced after the 1920s in Indochina (Bui 2021: 43).
Besides seaside resorts and spas especially hill stations turned out to become popular destinations for tourists due to their comfortable climate and the picturesque landscapes they were located in. Such hill stations were not only typical for the French colonies in Southest Asia: in Ceylon (Nuwara Eliya) and British Malaya (Cameron Highlands) such stations were also set up for relaxation and physical recovery, as well as in the Netherlands East Indies (e.g. around Bandung or Malang) and in the Philippines (Baguio).[2] In French Indochina the hill stations and roads to reach them were developed in close relation, directly or indirectly, with military needs: they were introduced as camps and garrisons for establishing the colonial administration, roads and paths for transportation of troops and supply, and later as sanatoriums for military personnel (Demay 2014: 50; Bui 2021: 47). During World War I began the “demedicalization” (Demay 2014: 78) of the hill stations, resulting in their transformation into tourist accommodation where the former medical equipment became less important. As the presence of automobiles increased after the War, it was only a matter of time that these places received the proper infrastructure so they could be reached easily by car. The tourist guides of Georges Norès are obvious proof of this transformation.
Illustration 2: Part of tour description from Ta-Pha to Vientiane and Tourakom
Georges Lucien Constantin Norès (1869–1947) was born in Besanҫon and served in the French Navy from 1889 to 1899.[3] In 1900 he became Inspecteur de 3ème classe des colonies and subsequently made a successful career as colonial administrator in French Indochina. Already in 1902 he was promoted to Inspecteur de 2ème classe des colonies and again in 1905 to Inspecteur de 1ère classe des colonies. In 1912 he was made officer of the French Legion of Honour and became commander of the Legion of Honour in 1922. During his military career Norès served in Madagascar 1895–1896, and during World War I at the Western Front in 1915 – 1916. He became Directeur du Contrôle financier de l‘Indochine in 1922, and towards the end of his service in 1930 Inspecteur général de 1ère classe des colonies. Norès was then posted to Hanoi in Tonkin. With an experience of many years in French Indochina Norès was an expert connoisseur of Laos, Cambodia and in particular Vietnam which enabled him to gather the necessary information for his guide books.
Illustration 3: Part of tour map from Vientiane to Luang Prabang
Each of the three volumes consists of about 100 pages plus a considerable number of maps of the suggested automobile tours. As Norès explained in the introduction, his guide was solely tailored to the specific needs of its users (Ponsavady 2018: 104). Besides some short general information on land, people and administration of Annam and Laos he introduces 10 tours suited for travel by car, covering a distance of 70 to 200 kilometers each. After 1900 the French colonial government greatly expanded the infrastructure in Indochina including the planned construction of a north-south highway from Hanoi to Saigon – which, however, was finished only in the late 1930s. But already in the 1920s the ancient Cambodian ruines of Angkor could be reached from Saigon within 18 hours (Bui 2021: 80). Norès gives the necessary information in a most condensed format. Each suggested automobile tour is described with information on locations of sights and what can be seen whilst traveling by car (see illustration 2): besides short descriptions of sidetrips to picturesque spots Norès also refers to matters of everyday significance like gas stations, mechanics, hospitals, telephone and telegraph offices or lodging. The written text is accompanied by several maps which also show the topographical profile of the roads, which is highly important considering the standards of automobile technology in the late 1920s (see illustration 3). Furthermore, they indicate the location of towns and villages, picturesque landscapes, temples and archaeological sites, but also ferries, railway crossings and stations, waterways or mountain passes. Supplementary maps of the most noteworthy cities and towns (see illustration 4) and an alphabetical index of the featured sites for practical use conclude each of his booklets.
Illustration 4: Plan of Huế and surroundings
The role of the École Franҫaise d’Extrême-Orient as a colonial institution in the promotion of tourism should not be underestimated.[4] The access and development of archeological sites and places of antiquity for tourists and other visitors had already been in the focus of EFEO since the end of World War I. The ruins of Angkor, Cham temples in Vietnam and other archaeological sites were identified by EFEO in the order of their potential as tourist spots, and reported to the French tourist offices in Indochina (Bui 2021: 45; Demay 2014: 106). Consequently, Norès‘ booklets were published by EFEO which secured an excellent print quality for this purpose, a reasonably good binding of the booklets, and a great circulation within and outside the colony.[5]
“Tourism was employed as an effective tool to promote the positive image of the colony”, Bui Thi He stated correctly in her recent MA thesis (2021: 48). These early 1930s automobile itineraries are a vivid proof of this assumption as they intend to show the progress of French colonialism and the perceived superiority of Western civilisation. This does not come as a surprise: their author-compiler Georges Norès had been a colonial administrator with many years experience. In short, these booklets tried to present the achievements of European suzerainty in Indochina to wealthy – and almost exclusively – European audiences who were able to afford an expensive trip to and within Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (Bui 2021: 49).
Bibliography:
Bui Thi He (2021): Tourism and Colonization: Establishment of French Indochina Tourism in the Early 20th Century. MA thesis, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.
Clémentin-Ojha, Catherine and Pierre-Yves Manguin (2007): A Century in Asia: The History of the École Franҫaise d’Extrême-Orient 1898–2006. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet.
Dauthendey, Max (1924): Letzte Reise: Aus Tagebüchern, Briefen und Aufzeichnungen. München: Langen.
Demay, Aline (2014): Tourism and Colonization in Indochina (1898–1939). Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars’ Publishing.
Hesse, Hermann (1980): Aus Indien: Aufzeichnungen, Tagebücher, Gedichte, Betrachtungen und Erzählungen. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.
Kinloch, Charles Walter (1853): De Zieke Reiziger; or Rambles in Java and the Straits in 1852 by a Bengal Civilian. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co.
Norès, Georges (1930): Itinéraires automobiles en Indochine: guide du touriste. Volume 3: Annam, Laos. Hanoi: Imprimerie d’Extrême-Orient.
Ponsavady, Stéphanie (2018): Cultural and Literary Representations of the Automobile in French Indochina: a Colonial Roadshow. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
[1] For a more detailed account of this collection there will be an article in the forthcoming issue of the Newsletter of the South East Asia Library Group.
[2] Actually, German author Max Dauthendey passed away from Malaria in 1918 in a hill sanatorium in the Malang region in East Java (Dauthendey 1924).
[3] For biographical information on Georges Norès see École navale (2022) and Les entreprises coloniales françaises (2014).
[4] On the role of EFEO as colonial institution see Clémentin-Ohja & Manguin (2007: 33–38).
[5] EFEO already had their own printing press in Indochina in 1901 (Clémentin-Ohja & Manguin 2007: 212).
The conference and annual general meeting of the Southeast Asia Library Group (SEALG) took place in collaboration with CNRS / Maison Asie Pacifique at the University Aix-Marseille, on 15-16 June 2023.
It was attended by participants from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The first day, Thursday 15 June, started with a roundtable discussion of organisational news that was opened by SEALG chair Christophe Caudron and Louise Pichard-Bertaux, director of the Maison Asie Pacifique in Marseille.
The roundtable was followed by the annual general meeting, during which the minutes from the annual general meeting 2022 in Paris were approved, and financial matters following the stepping down of Margaret Nicholson as Treasurer last year were discussed. Next a question regarding the possibility to introduce membership certificates was raised and the attending members voted against the issuing of such certificates since the group has no capacity to carry out vetting. Christophe Caudron and Jana Igunma then gave an update regarding the migration of the SEALG website to a hosting platform that is free to use. All the content of the old website had been moved to the new site, except the section ‘Libraries’ which was still in progress of being updated. Plans have been made to improve the website and to make it more useful to researchers and librarians/curators working with Southeast Asian collections. The website is a ‘project in progress’. A link on the new website leads to the SEALG Blog which will be kept for the time being.
It was also discussed to find ways to secure good contributions for the SEALG Newsletter regularly. The participants agreed that graduate students could be invited to contribute, as it is not a peer-reviewed e-publication. To allow potential authors more time to work on their contributions, the Call for papers must be circulated earlier than in previous years. Other discussion points were ways to improve and intensify co-operation with the North American network CORMOSEA (Committee on Research Materials on Southeast Asia) and libraries in Japan, and the possibility of a joint online meetings or a joint online conference in the future.
Reports from the participants’ libraries included the following updates:
Recent completion of digitisation projects of Burmese, Cambodian, Javanese, Lao and Thai manuscripts at the British Library, London
Addition of original scripts to catalogue records of materials in Burmese, Lao and Thai languages, specifically back-transliteration of Romanised Burmese records with support of Aksharamukha at the British Library, London
Chevening project to research and catalogue manuscript textiles from Southeast Asia at the British Library, London, to be completed in September 2023
Provenance research related to an exhibition “Burma to Myanmar” with loans from the British Library to open at the British Museum in London later this year
Community event with a show & tell session for the Rohingya community in the UK to share knowledge about their history, held at the British Library in London
Development of a digital library of publications from Southeast Asia at the Maison Asie Pacifique, Marseille
Cataloguing project of a large donation of over 20,000 publications including many 19th-century materials from Thailand at the Maison Asie Pacifique, Marseille
Completion of the move of the Library of Southeast Asian Studies into the new building of the central library at Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt
Conference on looted artefacts and repatriation was held at UCLA Library, Los Angeles
Community outreach activities that aim at informing different communities about the collections and engaging members of these communities at UCLA Library, Los Angeles
Planning of a future community outreach event with the theme ‘Diaspora’ to inform communities about the libraries collections with the aim to increase usage at UCLA Library in Los Angeles
Development of a new digital finding aid “Collection Guides” in form of a search tool that offers a full text search of 663 Collection Guides at the Leiden University Library
Trip of a delegation from Leiden University and the University Library to Indonesia for the purpose of networking and discussing cooperation in the field of education and research, during which a new cooperation program with the National Archives of Indonesia was signed
Three Lingling Wiyadharma fellowships started in 2022, and another three have been selected to arrive after the summer 2023 for a three-month stay in Leiden to carry out research in the Special Collections at Leiden University Library
Research and support for libraries regarding the application of existing and development of more UNICODE scripts for inclusion in catalogue records of materials in Southeast Asian languages; support with back-transliteration of Romanised catalogue records provided by Jennifer Wong, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco), Paris
Provision of advice for the development of an OCR method for the Digital Buddhist Library for advice on developing OCR for palm leaf manuscripts, Jennifer Wong, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (Inalco), Paris
Celebration of the 100th anniversary of the East Asia Department at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, with contributions of the Southeast Asia section to an anniversary publication and the lecture series „CrossAsia Talks“
Project to improve accessbility of Thai and Vietnamese materials at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, e.g. acquisitions from the 1960s and 1970s. Cataloguing of 500 Thai books with external support by the Thai Embassy in Germany , as well as cataloguing of a donation of approximately 280 Thai books from the collection of Heinrich Damm; online cataloging of futher 500 Thai and 200 Vietnamese titles has started
Project to sort and catalogue a large collection of newspapers from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, mostly in English and a few in French, and a small quantity in Thai and Myanmar languages at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
Expansion of the collection of electronic resources at the Staatsbiliothek zu Berlin and revision and update of two large databases with over 18,000 digitised manuscripts: Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts and Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts, which increased usage numbers drastically.
Finally, suggestions for the annual general meeting in 2024 were discussed. Suggestions included Amsterdam and Venice, with Amsterdam being the preferred option as the host city for the EuroSEAS Conference planned to take place in the city from 22-26 July 2024. Although a final decision about Amsterdam has yet to be taken, one idea for a panel has already come up: scripts and transliteration. It was suggested to await the Call for panels/papers and to discuss a final decision in an online meeting of the committee later this year.
In the afternoon session of that day, the latest research activities of participants were presented.
Maria Kekki, British Library, spoke about “Cataloguing Burmese Titles: The Burmese Script Conversion Project” highlighting work carried out at the British Library to add original script to approximately 20,000 existing catalogue records of Burmese materials.
Jennifer Wong, Associate researcher at ERTIM, Inalco, gave a presentation titled “Adventures with Myanmar Unicode – Challenges & Workarounds” concerning computerization issues faced by researchers working with Burmese, both in natural language processing and general research in Burmese, explaining specific details of encoding Burmese in Unicode, the subtleties of which can create confusion. She outlined some examples of the solutions she’s been using, such as error detection methods and online keyboards.
Christophe Caudron, Maison Asie Pacifique, Aix-Marseille Université, gave a talk on his ongoing research project “The Lao Archive Collected by Arthur J. Dommen. Contents and Valorization: First approach” giving an overview of the collection and approaches to analyse the contents and to catalogue the materials.
Next, Holger Warnk, Department of Southeast Asian Studies, Goethe University Frankfurt, presented his research on “The Collection of Professor Wilfried Lulei”, former Professor for Vietnam Studies at Humboldt University Berlin, which the library of the Goethe University Frankfurt acquired recently.
Marije Plomp, Leiden University Library, discussed new approaches to improving discoverability and accessibility of Southeast Asian collections at the Asian Library of the University in Leiden in her presentation with the title “Where to Find the Finding Aid? and Other Tales on Obstacles on the Users’ Journey”.
Jana Igunma, British Library London, and Noon Methaporn Singhanan, Chevening Fellow at the British Library, gave an overview on the “Chevening Fellowship 2022-23: Manuscript Textiles in the Southeast Asian Collections” which highlighted the discovery of rare and precious textiles in the Southeast Asian collection at the British Library.
Jade Alburo, UCLA, gave a talk on “Collection development of Southeast Asian and Asian American materials at UCLA Library” informing about acquisition strategies of Southeast Asian materials and increasing the involvment of and outeach to Asian American communities in collection development to increase usage.
Noon Methaporn Singhanan and Jana Igunma gave a talk on the “Chevening Fellowship 2022-23: Manuscript Textiles in the Southeast Asian Collections” at the British Library
On Friday, 16 June, the group visited the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer (ANOM) in Aix-en-Provence. Isabelle Dion (Director), Sylvie Pontillo (Assistant Director), Anne Laure Vella and Bruno Poinas (archivists) welcomed the participants and gave an introduction to the collections related to Southeast Asia at the Archives, which was followed by a tour of the public areas where users can consult the archival materials. Afterwards, the group attended an outstanding show&tell session of selected archival materials related to the history of Southeast Asia during which the participants had the opportunity to ask questions about preservation and storage, collection management, digitisation and how to get access to these materials.
Display of archival materials relating to the history of Southeast Asia at the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer
After the visit to ANOM, the group travelled to the Blue Coast at Niolon where a final roundtable discussion gave participants the opportunity to network and to further discuss the presentations and talks from the previous day.
The committee of the Southeast Asia Library group wishes to express their utmost gratitude to the CNRS/Maison Asie Pacifique at University Aix-Marseille for their generous support and for hosting the conference and annual general meeting of the Southeast Asia Library Group.
Report by Marije Plomp and Jana Igunma
Excursion and Round Table discussion at the Blue Coast, Niolon
Retired librarian and longtime member of the Southeast Asia Library Group Margaret Nicholson passed away peacefully at Hull Royal Infirmary on 21 June 2023. Her funeral was held at Hull Minster on 11 July 2023 with a large congregation of family, friends and former colleagues attending, and presided over by the senior clergy of the Minster.
Margaret started her career as Assistant Librarian in the Brynmor Jones Library, Hull, in 1967 where she worked closely with Helen Cordell, Brenda E. Moon, Allan Lodge, Helen Stephens, and Ian Mowat until her retirement in 2004. In this role Margaret was actively engaged with and an expert in the Southeast Asia collections of the library, as these were developed to support Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Hull. She was also the first member of staff to help with the cataloguing of the collections at Blaydes House (now Blaydes Maritime Centre of Hull University).
The University of Hull was one of the universities that was allocated funding based on the Hayter Report (1961), with the intention to strengthen area studies in British universities. Hull was allocated a Centre of South-East Asian studies, alongside the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) where posts in the social sciences across the regions, including Southeast Asia, were funded. At Hull the first full time Director of the Centre, Professor Mervyn Jaspan, was appointed in 1967 and university courses started in 1968. They were finally able to appoint a full-time librarian in 1972: Helen Cordell. Although the Centre was moved to the University of Leeds in 2003, most of the Southeast Asian collection remained at the library in Hull, other than teaching materials necessary for the courses at Leeds. Margaret was responsible for the collection until she retired the following year. She had also written a most important 26-page guide produced by the Brynmor Jones Library entitled South-East Asian Studies and Special Collections (1997) in which she covered the history of the collection, the South-East Asia Library Group, Professor Jaspan, Post-Jaspan, the Parker Report, and Recent Developments. She then surveyed the categories of the collection, and provided information on Collections of Archives and Manuscripts Relating to South-East Asia (Dr. David Bassett; Professor Mervyn Jaspan; Dr Roy Bruton; F. W. Dalley, Reverend Dr Harry Parkin; National Council for Civil Liberties; South-East Asian manuscripts; Union of Democratic Control; Commander Edgar Philip Young; and Miscellaneous Collections). These archives are now held in the Hull History Centre.
On her retirement Margaret continued her involvement with the Southeast Asian collections which were left in Hull, following the departure of some of the academic staff members to the University of Leeds. The Southeast Asia Museum remained in Hull and Margaret worked selflessly with Lewis Hill, the Honorary Curator, along with Helen Jaspan, Professor Jaspan’s widow, and Kathie Jenkins, a local College lecturer interested in Southeast Asia, to ensure that the collection would be sustained and developed. Margaret contributed to those efforts and recent news is that the Museum has a positive future at the University of Hull.
As a member of staff, Margaret was present at the foundation meeting of the Southeast Asia Library Group (SEALG) which was held by the Centre for South-East Asian Studies, University of Hull, and the Brynmor Jones Library on 5 April 1968. From these very first days of SEALG on, she has been a stalwart member and supporter of the group. At the SEALG Annual Conference on 25 March 1986 held at University of Hull, Margaret became auditor of SEALG, together with Mr D. A. Pennie from University of Hull. She contributed to the SEALG Annual Conference on 26 March 1990, held at University of Kent in Canterbury, with a talk on “The University of Hull database on Southeast Asian development”. At that same meeting she was also elected to the Committee of SEALG. Only a few years later, Margaret became Secretary/Treasurer at the SEALG Annual Conference that was held on 28 March 1994 at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, London.
Being also a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Studies (ASEAS) in the UK, Margaret helped to plan and coordinate annual meetings of SEALG which occasionally took place in cooperation with ASEAS. She also kept regularly in touch with members of the Committee on Research Materials on Southeast Asia (CORMOSEA) in the US and made sure that details of British Southeast Asia librarians in the International Directory of Southeast Asia Librarians were up to date.
Margaret remained an active volunteer member of SEALG as Treasurer well beyond her retirement until the Annual General Meeting on 1 July 2022, when she announced that she wished to step down from this role. However, she was willing to stay on the committee of SEALG and advise on the group’s accounts until a new Treasurer had been found. Margaret attended the annual meetings of the group as long as she was able to travel, and most recently she participated in an online meeting of the committee on 7 February 2023.
Margaret Nicholson (left) at the Annual General Meeting held at Cambridge University, 10 September 2011
Members of the Southeast Asia Library Group and former colleagues at Hull remember Margaret as a friendly, kind and helpful colleague with a vast knowledge of Southeast Asian materials held in academic libraries in the UK and the histories of such collections. She kept up with developments in Southeast Asian librarianship, and when a website was set up for SEALG in 2008, she contributed an article on the History of SEALG. Margaret also kept an eye on job openings and scholarships for Southeast Asia librarians and alerted younger members of the group to such opportunities. She had a true passion for Southeast Asian librarianship, and as a volunteer for 55 years Margaret was the longest active and most loyal member in the history of the Southeast Asia Library Group.
Jana Igunma (SEALG Committee member), with contributions by Helen Cordell and Victor T. King
Following discussions at the AGM 2022 in Paris regarding the future of the SEALG website, members of the committee and especially the chair of the Southeast Asia Library Group, Christophe Caudron, have been working hard to find a solution for the migration of our old website to a more suitable platform that allows us to preserve and improve all the existing content.
We are now in the fortunate position to launch the new SEALG website with an improved structure and updated content. It is hosted on Hypotheses, an OpenEdition platform for humanities and social sciences. Supported by a French national research infrastructure, Hypotheses offers the option to combine blogs with websites in numerous languages and is entirely free to use.
The new SEALG website retains all the previous content, improved with updates and added content relevant for Southeast Asia librarians. Issues of the electronic SEALG newsletter from 2008 to 2022 can be found in the section “Newsletter”, and in the section “Meetings” the reports of annual general meetings from 2002 onward can be accessed. Most importantly, the section “Resources” has been updated and expanded, and now includes not only links to resources related to cataloguing, but also links to useful tools like script and calendar converters, digital libraries with Southeast Asian materials across the world, as well as projects and archived historical lists of Southeast Asia libraries in Europe which illustrate the development of Southeast Asian librarianship in this part of the world.
While the front page of the new website allows us to post organisational updates in the format of a blog, for thematic blog posts and short articles related to Southeast Asian librarianship and research we will keep our usual SEALG blog (hosted on the WordPress platform) for the time being. A version of the previous website of SEALGdating to February 2022 has been archived in its full extent.
Southeast Asia Library Group (SEALG) 
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