A Common ThreadFulbright scholar Osborne ’05 sees academic work come alive in Southeast Asia Barefoot and entranced at the opening prayer ceremony in Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple, Megan Osborne ’05 was enveloped by the intensity of a moment she’d only read about in textbooks. Thousands of miles from her hometown of Redding, Conn., her passion for her double majors of history and anthropology, along with a concentration in Asian Studies, played out in front of her eyes. The recipient of a prestigious Fulbright Research grant in 2005, Osborne was able to realize her goal of exploring the differences between Asian and Western depictions of Asian culture in museums as well as immersing herself in a culture she had long studied. As part of her Fulbright experience, Osborne worked in Singapore’s new Asian Civilisations Museum, designing a permanent exhibit and redesigning a gallery during her stay. She also conducted research using 19th century museum documents to form the basis for a journal article concerning collecting practices of early European explorers of Southeast Asia. The article will appear in the The Heritage Journal. Osborne’s time in Singapore also included time spent within city communities there, where she experienced facets of the culture in a direct and personal manner. At the opening prayer ceremony at the Sri Mariamman Temple, Osborne experienced the religious fervor of the participants accompanied by the incense, lights, and music. She also visited museums in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Cambodia, and participated in festivities for such events as the Chinese New Year and the end of Ramadan. Osborne will give a talk, “Museum Representations of Asia: A Comparison of Singapore’s Asian Civilisations Museum and New York’s American Museum of Natural History” on April 3 at 2 p.m. in the Cantor Art Gallery as part of the gallery’s exhibition, Gold Cloths of Sumatra: Indonesia’s Songkets from Ceremony to Commodity. Susan Rodgers, professor of anthropology in the College’s department of sociology and anthropology, is the exhibition’s curator, and spearheaded the effort to get a comprehensive look at one of Indonesia’s most intriguing and lasting traditions — that of the songket. Songkets are woven cloths made of silk and gold-wrapped thread worn at ceremonial events as head or shoulder wraps or as sarongs. This exhibition is extraordinary in that its scope encompasses all of Sumatra, rather than focusing on the best-known area for songket making, West Sumatra. The songkets on display represent the textile arts of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, as well the gold cloths of Palembang, Jambi, Aceh, and Bengkulu. Fittingly, Osborne’s interest in anthropology and Asian cultures found its beginnings in “Art and Power in Asia,” an anthropology class taught by Rodgers. The course explored the politics and aesthetics of selected Southeast Asian arts. Topics included international art collecting, colonialism and art looting, and museum depictions of Cambodia and Indonesia. The class also visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where Osborne would later intern. Though she had always had an interest in Asia, Osborne says, “Professor Rodgers’ class opened my eyes to the art traditions of Southeast Asia … I was fascinated by the Khmer empire’s capital city of Angkor and the many temples that cover the historic site. Previous to Professor Rodgers’ class, I had never heard of these amazing temples and city structures and I became very interested in the dynamics of art and kingship in this place.” Following graduation, Osborne stayed in contact with Professor Rodgers. They even saw each other several times in Singapore when Rodgers was on her way to Indonesia to do research for the current Cantor show. Osborne, who hopes to pursue a doctorate in cultural anthropology, now lives in Cambridge with her husband Andy Soh, a law student she met in Singapore. Osborne’s talk will address the challenge of representing a culture in a museum, comparing the American Museum of Natural History’s Hall of Asian Peoples to the Asian Civilizations Museum’s Southeast Asian Gallery. Asked to describe the focus of her talk, Osborne says, “It is my belief that the Hall of Asian Peoples largely reinforces stereotypes about Asia while the Southeast Asian Gallery of the Asian Civilisations Museum breaks stereotypes and enables the visitor to envision Southeast Asia in a new light. The talk will explore reasons why these two galleries diverge in technique, content and display.” Osborne witnessed firsthand the merging of tradition with contemporary life in Singapore, the very theme the exhibition seeks to explore. A study trip to Malaysian Borneo, to a village without running water or dependable electricity, also exemplified this relationship well. “I was privileged to go to a kampong [village] and spend time with an anthropologist in the field,” she says. “Here, my original impressions of Malaysian indigenous culture were shattered. While many traditional longhouses typical of the Dayak people still stand, many villagers have moved into modern homes … In essence, what I observed were the complex relationships between traditional and modern practices and beliefs across different generations.” The former Fulbright scholar’s talk will be one of many events surrounding the Sumatran songket exhibition. Three student docents add further depth to the range of information this show provides. Melanie Chapman ’07, Sarah Thibeault ’07, and Colleen Germain ’07 are giving guided tours for groups that seek an individualized experience. Roger Hankins, director of the Cantor Art Gallery, believes that this aspect will offer “more scholarship, more accessibility” to a show that may seem far removed for many in America. Of lessons learned while in Singapore, Osborne says, “While the world is an enormous place, we really have a tremendous amount in common with people worldwide.” By Erin O’Connell ’07 Related Information: |
March 21, 2007|nm