Alexandra Green - Böcker

A new take on Southeast Asia’s complex history, expertly told through art objects and cultural artefacts dating from the Neolithic Age to the present. Southeast Asia is home to numerous world heritage sites. Through engaging texts and expertly curated objects from the British Museum collection, arranged chronologically and thematically into seven chapters, this volume offers a new approach to one of the most complex and diverse areas of the world. Every object tells a story in a wide-ranging and accessible selection that illuminates the civilizations, societies and local cultures that have defined Southeast Asia over the past 6,000 years. From the emergence of early agricultural communities and stratified societies to the rise of powerful empires and religious developments in Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, and to the eras of colonial rule and independence, curator and art historian Alexandra Green traces and explores the variety of Southeast Asian cultures. The texts describe the region through a broad range of objects, including sculptures from the historic civilizations of Java, Angkor, Bagan and Sukhothai, as well as ceramics, furniture, religious items, basketry, textiles, popular posters and contemporary art. This book is an informative visual delight for curious minds everywhere.

Reveals the rich and complex histories and cultures of Burma/Myanmar from their early development and powerful imperial expansions to their positions as colonial subjects and then as a war-torn nation. From influential superpower to repressive regime, Myanmar – also known as Burma – has seen dramatic fluctuations in fortune over the past 1,500 years. Interconnected yet isolated, rich in natural resources such as jade, rubies and teak but with many of its peoples living below the poverty line, Myanmar is a country that defies categorisation. Its cultures have been shaped by their engagements with religious networks, expansionist empires and global trade routes from India and China to Africa, the Middle East and Europe. It was once home to different kingdoms, principalities and chiefdoms that interacted with one another and further afield. The colonial period under British rule saw dramatic changes and upon independence in 1948, the various parts of the country were brought together, many for the first time, into a single nation state. Since then Myanmar has been engulfed by long running civil wars. This beautiful book explores Myanmar’s complexities, focusing on the extraordinary and innovative arts of its diverse peoples to create a long history of the region. Featuring objects such as sparkling gems, sumptuous court dress, intricately carved furniture, elaborate silver vessels, satirical cartoons and contemporary art, from the 400s CE to the present day, this book is a testament to the creativity and variety of Myanmar’s many peoples.

World Wonders is a three-level series for 9-11 year olds that capitalises on National Geographic photography and facts via reading texts and DVD clips. It also features an exciting adventure cartoon story for Levels 1 & 2. The course is structured around the Student’s Books that contain twelve eight-page core units plus six review units.

World Wonders is a three-level series for 9-11 year olds that capitalises on National Geographic photography and facts via reading texts and DVD clips. It also features an exciting adventure cartoon story for Levels 1 & 2. The course is structured around the Student’s Books that contain twelve eight-page core units plus six review units.

Skills Booster is a four-level series specially written to teach and develop young learners' listening, speaking and writing skills. While the series has been designed to be compatible with any course book of a similar level, it may also be used on its own. The task types presented are closely linked to the Cambridge ESOL examinations from Young Learners English Tests (Starters, Movers, Flyers) at beginner and elementary level to KET and PET at pre-intermediate and intermediate level.

Rethinking Visual Narratives covers topics from the first millennium B.C.E. through the present day, testifying to the enduring significance of visual stories in shaping and affirming cultural practices in Asia. Contributors analyze how visual narratives function in different Asian cultures and reveal the multiplicity of ways that images can be narrated beyond temporal progression through a particular space. The study of local art forms advances our knowledge of regional iterations and theoretical boundaries, illustrating the enduring importance of pictorial stories to the cultural traditions of Asia. Contributors include Dominik Bonatz (Archaeologist Free University of Berlin), Sandra Cate (San Jose State University), Yonca Kosebay Erkan (Kadir Has University), Charlotte Galloway (Australian National University), Mary Beth Heston (College of Charleston), Yeewan Koon (The University of Hong Kong), Sonya S. Lee (University of Southern California), Leedom Lefferts (Drew University), Dore J. Levy (Brown University), Shane McCausland (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London), Julia K.Murray (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Catherine Stuer (Denison University), Greg M. Thomas (The University of Hong Kong), Sarah E. Thompson (Rochester Institute of Technology), and Mary-Louise Totton (Western Michigan University).

Step into a Burmese temple built between the late seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries and you are surrounded by a riot of color and imagery. The majority of the highly detailed wall paintings display Buddhist biographical narratives, inspiring the devotees to follow the Buddha’s teachings. Alexandra Green goes one step further to consider the temples and their contents as a whole, arguing that the wall paintings mediate the relationship between the architecture and the main Buddha statues in the temples. This forges a unified space for the devotees to interact with the Buddha and his community, with the aim of transforming the devotees’ current and future lives. These temples were a cohesively articulated and represented Burmese Buddhist world to which the devotees belonged. Green’s visits to more than 160 sites with identifiable subject matter form the basis of this richly illustrated volume, which draws upon art historical, anthropological, and religious studies methodologies to analyze the wall paintings and elucidate the contemporary religious, political, and social concepts that drove the creation of this lively art form.