Sukhothai Art – lecture

A Siam Society Lecture

Art and Architecture in Sukhothai:

Focussing on Wat Si Chum

Talk by Pierre Pichard and Peter Skilling

• Thrs 22nd Jan, 2009 7:30pm
• Siam Society, 131 Askoke Road, Sukhumvit
• (5 mins walk from Asoke BTS and MRT Stations. Located 300 meters along Asoke road on the left)
• Free of charge for Students with valid Student IDs and Siam Society Members
• Non-members 200 baht
• More info:  info@siam-society.org

Wat Si Chum, one of the major landmarks of Sukhothai, has been an object of fascination for several generations of scholars. In past issues of the Journal of the Siam Society, various authors have attempted to explain the unique features of this exceptional monument. In 2003, a team of scholars composed of Prapod Assavavirulhakarn, Pattaratorn Chirapravati, Peter Skilling, Pierre Pichard and Santi Pakdeekham undertook a thorough field survey of the site. For the first time its architecture was precisely surveyed and analyzed, and the surviving 86 stone slabs depicting the past lives of the Buddha were systematically photographed, placed in their art historical and cultural contexts, and examined in relation to their ancient captions. Based on the survey, this lecture will present the latest evidence and propose new interpretations of the monument. After the lecture, Dr. Prapod Assavavirulhakarn, will give the concluding remarks.  

 

Dr. Pierre Pichard, an architect with the École française d’Extrême-Orient for over thirty years, has participated in conservation projects in Thailand, Burma, Bhutan, Laos, and Viet-Nam. He is author of Vingt ans après Tanjavur: Gangaikondacholapuram (2 vols., Paris, 1994) and of Inventory of Monuments at Pagan (8 vols., Paris, 1992 – 2001).

 

Dr. Peter Skilling is Maître de Conférences with the École française d’Extrême-Orient, Bangkok and Paris. He has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Harvard, Oxford, and California (Berkeley). He is editor of Mahasutras: Great Discourese of the Buddha (2 vols., Oxford, 1994, 1997)

 

Dr. Prapod Assavavirulhakarn obtained a PhD in Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 1990. He is Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Eastern Languages at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, where he is also director of the Confucius Institute.