Southeast Asia

For more than a thousand years Indonesians have used wayang theater as a method of addressing the conundrums of life. The lively puppet traditions of South and Southeast Asia have portrayed epic stories that shrank the cosmos down to a miniature world. The vast expanse of the earth could symbolically be reduced to the few feet of a puppet stage. The puppeteer’s lamp became the sun, throwing light on myriad creatures who, in their nobility or baseness, make up the world.

Students will: 1.) analyze the role of the puppet master (dalang) in Indonesian rod puppet theater (wayang golek). 2.) Read a summary of the Ramayana or a scene from this Hindu epic. 3.) Identify the different puppet character types. 4.) construct a rod puppet of a character from the Ramayana or the Mahabharata.

Throne for a Buddha image, 1850–1900. Burma. Lacquered and gilded wood and metal with mirror inlay. Gift from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Southeast Asian Art Collection, 2006.27.1.

Theatrical headdress for the magical deer in the Story of Rama dance-drama, approx. 1950–1960, Central Thailand. Papier-mache, glass, and mixed media. Gift from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s Southeast Asian Art Collection, 2006.27.10.9.

Asian Art Museum storyteller Miriam Mills tells a New Year story from Vietnam in the Southeast Asian galleries of the Asian Art Museum.

Students explore the characters and themes in the Story of Rama, making connections between the epic and their lives today.

Trace the spread of Buddhism through close looking at Buddhist objects from different regions. Explore how artifacts reveal distinct local traditions as well as common ideas and motifs.

Lesson on the individual rituals performed by Muslim pilgrims during the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Learn about the main events and conflicts in the Rama epic.

Why is the epic of Rama a beloved tale in many cultures across South and Southeast Asia? Explore how this story and its characters has remained significant in the lives of millions even today.