Alphawood Alumni at Big Archaeology Conference at Chaing Mai, Thailand
SOAS Alphawood Alumni were everywhere at the 22nd Congress of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association (IPPA) in November conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They were there from the opening plenary, with a presentation by alumna Udomluck Hoontrakul, to Prof. Elizabeth Moore’s awarding the prize for the best poster at the closing dinner. The conference was rich in content, with more than 800 international participants in five parallel panels running from 8.30-5pm throughout the week.
Panel 47 on day three, chaired by Elizabeth, was entitled ‘Issues in the Historical Archaeology of Burma 11th to 19th Century’ with ten participants presenting from Myanmar. More alumni hoped to come but only half were able to safely travel for the conference. There were three Alphawood Alumni -- Sulatt Win, Theint Theint Aung and Pwint Phyu Maung [Figure 1] and three members of the Myanmar Archaeology Association, Kyawswar Oo, Soe Win Naing and Naing Soe.
Figure 1. Pre-conference touring of wooden architecture with (l-r) Sulatt Win, Naing Soe, E.Moore, Pwint Phyu Maung and Theint Theint Aung (Photo Kywaswar Oo, Panel 47)
Before the conference opened, our Myanmar group explored the beautiful temples of the city, while arranging a zoom link to enable other alumni in Myanmar to participate virtually. It was a bittersweet moment for all that not everyone could be together in person in Chiang Mai. Some in Myanmar participated intermittently due to frequent power cuts. Several however managed to join in live Q&As. It was a brief but deeply appreciated reunion thanks to Zoom. Although their absence was felt from the extraordinary gathering, the conference was an undoubted success, paying off our work over the previous months to pre-record the sessions. [Figures 2-6]
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Figure 2. SOAS Alumni and Myanmar Archaeology Association (MAA) (l-r Phoeng Dara, Tho Thon, Pwint Phyu Maung, Heidi Tan, Theint Theint Aung, Soe Win Naing (MAA), E.Moore, Ohnmar Myo (MAA), Nguyen Thi Tu Anh, Sulatt Win and Naing Soe (MAA) at IPPA (Photo Kywaswar Oo, Panel 47) |
Figure 3. E.Moore with Theint Theint Aung, Chaw Yeh Saw and Pwint Phyu Maung (Photo Sulatt Win, Alumni) |
Figure 4. Alphawood Alumni Sulatt Win at IPPA (Photo Sulatt Win, Alumni) |
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Figure 5. Panel 47 at Chiang Mai: Alphawood Alumni (Pwint Phyu Maung, Theint Theint Aung, Sulatt Win), E. Moore, and Myanmar Archaeology Association (Naing Soe, Soe Win Naing and Kyaw Swar Oo) |
Figure 6. Theint Theint Aung delivering her paper (Photo E.Moore) |
One of the Myanmar Alphawood Alumni, Theint Theint Aung, has created an innovative online lacquer fashion brand combining ancient and contemporary techniques. On social media it’s called 𝐋𝐚𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬 - 𝙰𝚝 & 𝙻𝚊𝚌𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝙱𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚗. She brought some examples to IPPA and set up a temporary stall. All pieces had sold out within the first lunch hour. Alphawood Alumna Udomluck Hoontrakul was one of the lucky ones. [Figure 7]
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| Figure 7. Theint Theint Aung with 'Laksharas' stall and Udomluck Hoontrakul wearing new bracelet (Photo Pwint Phu Maung, Alumni) | |
The welcome arrival of some of the Myanmar Alphawood Alumni also provided the opportunity to begin initiating cooperation frameworks in Chiang Mai, briefly Laos and ASEAN for our new project, “Buddhism, Kingship and Trade: linking cities of Central Myanmar, Lanna and Yunnan in the 14th to 18th century”. In our planned colloquy and publication outputs, we will be exploring the material culture across the Burma-Lanna-Lao and one day Yunnan sphere, in assessing the interchange and trade enabling patronage and stimulating change within the local Buddhism(s) of the region. [Figures 8-9]
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Figure 8. Post Conference comparing lacquer and images of the Buddha, Wat Xiengthong, Luang Prabang (Photo Theint Theint Aung, Alumni) |
Figure 9. Post conference survey, a group of Burmese at Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai (Photo Theint Theint Aung, Alumni) |
Panel 47 overlapped with the SOAS Heidi Tan and Stephen Murphy panel S47 on ‘Key Issues in the Curating and Museology of Southeast Asia. S60, the third SOAS group, on Khmer Water management, was on a different day, so Stephen and I were able to attend. Chhum Mengkong, alumni liaison in Cambodia, chaired the session of papers given by four archaeology alumni working at the Cambodia APSARA Angkor Authority for restoration: Phoeng Dara, Chhay Rachna, Yav Huon, Thon Tho. [Figure 10]
Figure 10. Panel 60 Water Management Cambodia:l-r Phoeng Dara, Chhay Rachna, Yav Huon, Thon Tho, Chhum Menghong, Stephen Murphy, E.Moore) (Photo Panel 60 attender)
This heartening reunion, bringing so many Alphawood alumni together, and also into contact with their expert peers from around the world, ended with a memorable closing dinner. [Figure 11]
Figure 11. SOAS Alphawood Alumni at Closing Dinner: Pwint Phyu Maung, Sulatt Win, E. Moore, Theint Theint Aung, Heidi Tan, Suppawan Nongnut (Bangkok), Chaw Yeh Saw (Photo dinner attender)
Contact
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