Perspectives on the Past

Notes on the first joint meeting of the Asian Society for the History of Medicine & History of Medicine in Southeast Asia, Jakarta, 27-30 June 2018

Hans Pols proposes a new perspective on the history of colonial medicine from the viewpoint of indigenous physicians.

The most important conference for Asia-Pacific archaeology, heritage & museums is in Vietnam from 23 to 28 September. PoP takes a look at the Southeast Asia sessions & papers we are most excited about.

A heroine of the Indonesian independence movement emerges from behind her husband's shadow

Isla Winarto talks to PoP about the Indonesian Heritage Society's efforts to promote heritage conservation at Jakarta's Museum Tekstil

PoP reviews an important new book on the relationship between feminism and visual art in Indonesia

Writing history in the Indian Ocean world was the result of a complex interplay of global norms and local conditions of textual production.

PoP's completely biased top picks for the 2018 Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) conference

A forgotten cultural frontier reveals Indonesia's version of mid-century modernism

Contemporary art can reveal insights into the friction between cosmopolitanism and tradition in Indonesia

New research on an ancient wreck raises important questions about protection and preservation

The second in a series of articles by veteran journalist Frank Palmos, reflecting on his time living and working in Indonesia in the early 1960s.

A commentary on the Sufi poem of the peculiar whale, by the 16th-century Malay poet Hamzah of Barus.

Foreign correspondent and historian Frank Palmos reflects on his first translating job in Java in 1961.

A new book on West Sumatran 'angkot' reveals the complex tensions between tradition and modernity in contemporary Minangkabau society

The fall of great premodern Southeast Asian settlements offers hints about what climate change has in store for today's megacities.

Nien Yuan Cheng reflects on the film screening and lecture, "Gender, Crossdressing and Androgyny in Balinese Dance", conducted by ethnomusicologist Edward Herbst under the aegis of the Bali 1928 repatriation project.

Hamzah of Barus was the foremost Malay poet of the 16th century, whose work draws deeply from Sufi imagery and philosophy.

Welcoming the University of Sydney's Southeast Asian history bloggers to New Mandala.

PoP's archaeologist shares his experience about starting a successful postgraduate reading and research group.

The highlights of PoP's two-month special series on the Philippines.

What makes the Philippines tick, and what's the one piece of art, object or artefact that could provide an answer?

A historically-focussed review of the AGNSW's Passion + Procession: Art of the Philippines exhibition.