Making the subject of portraiture in a trans-Asian context ca. 1000–present day

Portraits have commonly been understood as naturalistic likenesses of human beings, centred on the face. 

The work of scholars such as Jean Borgatti, Richard Brilliant (1990) and Joanna Woodall (1997) opened the field in conceptualising portraiture as a truly multi-local genre, foregrounding the relational and performative processes of portraiture. This conference addresses the performative function of portraiture in constructing subjectivities in Asian contexts, in order to reveal important cultural, social, religious, and philosophical ideas key to understanding particular societies and cultures within Asia and its diasporas.

Registration

(*please note that participants will need to register individually for each day)

Day One - Thursday, 5 December 2024

• In-person registration via Eventbrite
• Online registration via Zoom

Day Two - Friday, 6 December 2024

• In-person registration via Eventbrite
• Online registration via Zoom

Day Three - Saturday, 7 December 2024

• In-person registration via Eventbrite
• Online registration via Zoom

Teaser Image: Pha Ouan Aphakaro (right) poses with a wax portrait statue he has commissioned of his preceptor Somdet Pha Sangkhalat Dhammayana Maha Thela, Supreme Patriarch of Laos, in a workshop in Nong Khai or Bangkok, Thailand, 1990. Collection of Vat Saen Sukharam, Luang Prabang. Buddhist Archive No. B8958R.