Manjari Sihare shares details of a forthcoming symposium honoring the scholarship of renowned South and South East Asian Art Scholar, Robert L. Brown

New York: The San Diego Museum of Art is gearing up to host a large symposium of South Asian Art from January 18th through 20th, 2013. The symposium is being held to honor the scholarship of Robert L. Brown, Curator of Southeast Asian Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Professor of South and Southeast Asian Art, UCLA. Prominent scholars from across the world will present illustrated lectures on this genre in honor of their mentor and colleague. A brief biography of Professor Brown accompanying the e-invite encapsulates the length and breadth of his genius.

After receiving his Ph.D. in art history from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1981, Robert Brown worked for several years as a curator of South and Southeast Asian art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). In 1986 he returned to UCLA as Professor of Indian and Southeast Asian Art History. In 2001, he was reappointed as a curator at LACMA, a position that he holds concurrently with his UCLA professorship. In the same way that Robert Brown’s career has bridged the institutions of the art museum and the research university, his scholarship has also extended across various geographical boundaries and chronological periods. His research has addressed topics ranging from the visual traditions of 1st century BCE Central Asia to 20th century colonial historiography. Much of his work has focused on the Buddhist and Hindu artistic traditions that flourished during key historical periods in what are now present-day Pakistan, India, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia. His particular concern with the nature of artistic influence between India and Southeast Asia, and also between early Southeast Asian cultures themselves, have contributed greatly to the present understanding of artistic and cultural adaptation and exchange in these regions. His various essays, which present important perspectives on such subjects as pilgrimage, narrative, sacred space, ritual, divinity, relics, the body, miracles, and aesthetics, have also, in their interdisciplinary and cross-national emphases, provided a model of scholarship to his many students over the years. The papers in this symposium, which cover a wide range of subjects, reflect the enduring impact of Robert Brown’s teaching and intellectual generosity upon the work of his colleagues and former students. To learn more about Prof. Brown, click here.

The San Diego Museum of Art has an extensive collection of South Asian paintings and manuscripts bequeathed by their dedicated trustee, Edwin Binney 3^rd.  The Edward Binney Collection is considered to be encyclopedic and unparalleled in any other assemblage of Indian paintings in the United States. In terms of scope and depth, it includes works from nearly every region, time period, religious sect, and court in India, as well as relevant neighboring countries. The symposium is sponsored by the Asian Arts Council and the Committee for the Arts of the Indian Subcontinent (CAIS) at the San Diego Museum of Art. The Committee for the Arts of the Indian Subcontinent (CAIS), established in 2003, is particular supports the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection and works to enhance the appreciation of all the arts of India.

View the symposium scheduled here.