South and Southeast Asian religious bronzes: A multi-faceted exploration

This in-person short course focuses on a carefully selected range of religious bronze sculptures originating from South and Southeast Asia.

The course brings together a wealth of research developed in recent years. Not only will you hear from museum curators and conservators, building on the scholarship of two recent major exhibitions: Asian bronzes, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (27 Sep 2024 – 12 Jan 2025); and Angkor Royal Bronzes: Art of the Divine, Musée Guimet, Paris (30 April – 8 September 2025). 

You will also learn about these manificent metal sculptures through a series of lectures exploring the bronzes from art historical, archaeological, and scientific perspectives, as well as learning from the creative insights of a bronze casting artist. Alongside this wide range of specialist lectures you will gain hands-on experience via two practical study sessions.

The four-day programme covers a wide range of topics. Your lecturers will provide a survey of a selection of iconic, important metalworks from South Asia (including south and north India, Kashmir, Nepal, Tibet) as well as Southeast Asia (including Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia). We will go on to offer a critical analysis of selected bronze works — with a mix of secure and uncertain origin, exploring their meanings, functions and possible past contexts. 

This critical examination will be further developed by a practical introduction to casting, conserving and restoring metal sculptures. This practical examination will be explored in conjunction with a study of “regional technical style”, discussing the materials, casting methods and surface decoration techniques used when fabricating these works. The course culminates in a combined examination of both art historical and technical considerations in dating bronze objects.

This specialist short course offers a practical, multi-faceted approach, through which you will forge a better understanding of these celebrated bronze works.

This course is convened by Dr Phyllis Lau-Casson (co-convenor of the Arts of Southeast Asia modules of the SOAS-Alphawood Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art, which next runs in-person 4 May - 22 July 2026).