Sushma Jansari – författare

Model of a Summer Camp is an intriguing object with a range of stories to tell. Originating in the Sakha (Yakutia) region of far northeastern Russia, it depicts a yhyakh celebration – a festival of huge cultural importance to the region. This concise book takes a detailed look at the object, revealing the intricacies of the yhyakh and the model’s fascinating journey from Siberia to the British Museum. The recent resurgence of interest around the model is also explored, where creative responses and research have enriched our understanding of its stories.This book gives readers the opportunity to learn about a unique object in the British Museum’s Collection and the rich heritage of Sakha (Yakutia).

Explores ancient India (c. 200 BCE–600 CE) through three of its major religions –Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism – to illuminate how they reflect political power, artistic innovation and changes in peoples’ daily lives. Ancient India was a dynamic, cosmopolitan centre of creativity. The visual traditions of its major indigenous religions were closely interrelated, reflecting political power, changes in peoples’ daily lives and artistic innovation. Exported beyond the Indian subcontinent in antiquity, these three major religions – Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism – are living traditions and their devotional works of art impact on the daily life of billions of people across the world. This major new publication traces the development of religious imagery from around 200 BCE, when it focused on the depiction of nature spirits, to 600 CE, by which time devotional images of Jain, Buddhist and Hindu deities and teachers had taken definitive shape. Moving from symbolic to human form, such imagery employed attributes, divine attendants and animal vehicles that are still recognised across the world today and are found across the global diaspora. Examples of these ancient images are found not only across South Asia, but also in Central, East and Southeast Asia – and they transformed the religious landscape of these regions too. The authors explore fascinating topics such as the first devotional images of the twenty-four jinas (enlightened Jain teachers); the transformation from symbolic depictions of the Buddha to those that showed him in bodily form for the first time; and the formalisation of divine representations and devotional sculpture in Hindu traditions. This beautifully illustrated book reveals the ancient roots of the images and depictions of these world religions that many will find familiar today.