Dr Stephen A Murphy

Stephen A. Murphy specialises in the art and archaeology of Buddhism and Hinduism in first millennium CE Southeast Asia with a focus on Thailand and Laos. 

He has a particular interest in the 7th to 9th centuries CE as well as maritime connectivity between Southeast Asian cultures, Tang China, and the Indian Ocean world in general. His museological focus engages with issues of restitution and curation of Asian art.   

Stephen joined the School of Arts in November 2020. Prior to this he was Senior Curator for Southeast Asia and curator-in-charge of the Tang Shipwreck Gallery at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore (2013-2020). From 2011-2013 he was a research associate at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York for the Lost Kingdoms: Hindu-Buddhist Sculpture of Early Southeast Asia exhibition (April 14–July 27, 2014). 

During his time as Senior Curator for Southeast Asia at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Stephen curated three special exhibitions and two permanent galleries including Raffles in Southeast Asia: Revisiting the Scholar and Statesmen (1 February  – 28 April 2019); Angkor: Exploring Cambodia’s Sacred City, masterpieces of the Musée national des arts asiatique—Guimet (8 April – 22 July 2018) and Cities and Kings: Ancient Treasures from Myanmar (5 Dec 2016 – 5 March 2017). 

In 2015 he curated the Tang Shipwreck Gallery, housing the Tang Shipwreck Collection comprising  of a remarkable cargo of more than 60,000 ceramics produced in China for export to the Middle East during the Tang dynasty (618–907). 

As an undergraduate at Trinity College Dublin, Stephen read Ancient History and Archaeology at the Department of Classics and minored in Biblical and Theological studies at the School of Religion. He did his MA at the Department of History of Art and Archaeology, SOAS in 2001-2002. For a number of years before and after this, he worked as a professional field archaeologist in both Ireland and the UK. 

He returned to SOAS from 2006 – 2010 to undertake his doctoral studies. His thesis, The Buddhist Boundary Markers of Northeast Thailand and Central Laos, 7th-12th centuries CE: Towards an understanding of the archaeological, religious and artistic landscapes of the Khorat Plateau, documented the spread of Buddhism into this region and its subsequent development by focusing specifically on Buddhist boundary markers (Thai, sema/เสมา; Pāli, sīma). 

Stephen’s recent book publication Buddhist Landscapes of the Khorat Plateau: Art and Archaeology of the 7th–11th Centuries, Murphy (uchicago.edu) explores the art historical and archaeological evidence for Buddhism on the Khorat Plateau (Northeast Thailand and Central Laos). This book provides a new picture of the region in the first and early second millennia, adding to our understanding of the development of Buddhism in Southeast Asia, and offering a new basis for other regionally-focused scholarship to thrive – from textual Buddhology to history to anthropology. It also opens up new possibilities for understanding the early spread of Buddhism within different landscapes across Asia. 

Stephen is currently CO-I on a collaborative research project funded by the Getty Foundation’s Connecting Art Histories Scheme: Circumambulating Objects: on Paradigms of Restitution of Southeast Asian Art. This project assembles individuals across the arts, culture, and heritage fields to analyse issues of object circulation, local Southeast Asian epistemologies, and questions of restitution. 

It contributes to wider research on restitution by holding three workshops in-region (Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia). These connect the members of Co-Op with scholars and heritage professionals in these countries. By probing the concept of restitution and looking at practical mechanisms to facilitate it we are contributing to moving this research and debate forward.  

Stephen has also written and presented widely internationally on issues of restitution, Indian Ocean World archaeology and museums. 

• Academia profile 
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