An Introduction
...continued...

Languages of religion and learning also linked the different regions of Asia. Sanskrit, the classical language of India and a sacred language of both Hinduism and Buddhism, was studied by priests, scholars and monks throughout Asia. Arabic attained an exalted status because the Koran, the sacred book of Islam, was seldom translated from the language in which the prophet Muhammad recorded his revelations. In the form of calligraphy, the Arabic alphabet became a universal medium of cultural expression throughout the Islamic world from north Africa all the way to Southeast Asia. In east Asia, people spoke unrelated languages but were still able to communicate in writing by using classiacl Chinese. The ideograms in which Chinese is written (and which are also used widely in Japan) became the basis of another extraordinary tradition of calligraphy.

Although each area of Asia developed its own art forms and styles, these cultural links gave rise to a number of pan-Asian themes and subjects. Images of the Buddha, for example, can always be recognised by certain physical characteristics such as the 'ushnisha', a warrior caste top-knot, later depicted as a protrusion on the top of the head and interpreted as a sign of superior intelligence and great wisdom. Though based on Indian prototypes, many hand gestures, symbolic objects and decorative motifs became common to Hindu and Buddhist art across both India and the rest of Asia. The fine calligraphy and illumination used in making sumptuous copies of the Koran led to the high esteem in which these arts if the book are held in the Islamic world. A literary example of cultural continuity is the 'Ramayana', one of the two great Hindu epics composed in Sanskrit. Both the original Sanskrit version and more localised recensions of this long narrative concerning the legendary King Rama of Ayodhya became a favourite subject for illustration throughout Southeast Asia as well as India. In Indonesia, it is still one of the most popular subjects of the 'wayang' puppet theatre.

Styles and techniques also cross cultural borders in Asia and, in some instances, the techniques themselves have become charged with symbolic significance. Examples of this cultural trade are numerous. Ikat textiles made in India (by dyeing the warp threads before weaving were revered in parts of Southeast Asia as heirloom objects essential for the spiritual well-being of the cultural group who acquired them through trade. The symbolic importance of ikat led to the typical patterns of this type of textile being copied in Southeast Asia in other techniques. Blue and white ceramics made in China were collected throughout Asia (and occasionally imitated), while certain styles of Chinese painting became the passion of Japanese connoisseurs. A number of works of art illustrated in this book were collected far from where they were produced: the spectacular Indian textile painted with a series of large female figures [not included in this project], for example, was treasured as an heirloom on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, while the seventeenth century landscape painting by the Chinese master Lan Ying [see The Art of China page, image no.4] was acquired by a Japanese collector in the late nineteenth century.

The context of art varied greatly across Asia. Some images were worshipped in temples or used as aids in visualisation during meditation. Certain textiles and masks were worn by important personages during ritual performances; other textiles were used as backdrops for such performances. Early royal patrons in China ordered a remakable range of goods to be buried in their tombs for use in the afterlife; later Indian kings ordered historical paintings that bolstered the legitimacy of their rule on Earth. In all these circumstances the philosophical, social and political function of art took precedence over any notion of personal expression on the part of the artist, who often worked within strictly codified systems of iconography and composition. Nevertheless, in certain periods artists did obtain great personal fame and were widely recognised for their individual styles (and their work was often copied and imitated). It is only in this century that the actual personality of the individual artist has emerged as a major factor in the making of art in Asia.

Dramatic political and historical changes in Asia since the middle of the nineteenth century have resulted in radically new ways both of producing art and consuming art in Asia. Each culture has interpreted differently their varied experiences during the period of European cultural expansion. Furthermore, the rise of nationalist movements kennly interested in ideas of national and regional identity coincided with great changes in the patronage of art and methods of art education. New technologies such as photography and new materials such as aniline dyes also had a profound impact on art practices. Of overriding importance, however, was the manner in which each culture engaged with the increasingly international practices of modern art production and criticism. The degree to which art forms from outside of Asia were either accepted or transformed varied greatly from country to country, often in direct relationship to individual rates of modernisation. Arguments as to whether Western art or more traditional local forms should be the model for modern Asian art often pitted a younger avante-garde against more conservative older artists. Political heirarchies and sacred symbols been subverted in the process.

The National Gallery of Australia's collection of Asian arts starts with ancient works from opposite ends of the continent: a ceramic vessel from the middle Jomon period (c.2500 to 1500 BC) in Japan [see The Art of Japan page, image no.6] and a carved stone idol from the Middle Bronze Age in Jordan (c.1500 BC). It ends approximately 4000 years later with a selection of contemporary works. In these and all the other masterpieces in between, the basic conditions of creation remain the same. Each society has developed its own art historical conventions and cultural aspirations but, in the end, it is the artist who contemplates the raw material of art and sets the final creative process in motion. The works illustrated in this study show some of the pathways followed by the artists of Asia.

Source: Traditions of Asian Art. An Introduction by Michael Brand (ed.) - slightly edited version. Published by the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 1995.

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