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It has been an honour to review the book Decoding Southeast Asian Art: Studies in Honor of Piriya Krairiksh, a collection of essays, jointly published by River Books and the Piriya Krairiksh Foundation on the occasion of the distinguished Thai art historian’s eightieth birthday. Professor Piriya Krairiksh is a renowned but controversial scholar, who has dedicated his career to teaching. He has also conducted fundamental research on Thai and Southeast Asian art and archaeology, which is commendable.

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Decoding Southeast Asian Art has been the collaborative effort of 32 contributors, whose essays are less a single tale than a number of discreet narratives. This form of conveying knowledge ignores contemporary borders and concerns in order to encourage a far more detailed and nuanced understanding of Southeast Asian art and culture from the first millennium BCE until the current era. This volume is thought to be a special tribute to Acharn Piriya Krairiksh whose primary goal was to improve the understanding of other cultures, without 'accepting working hypotheses as facts'. 

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As mentioned in the foreword by the Piriya Krairiksh Foundation, Professor Krairiksh’s views and conclusions differ from mainstream beliefs and as such isolate him from many Thai scholars. However, he will not shy away from changing his own conclusions if new and more reliable evidence were to appear. 

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The topics in this book include a wide range of in-depth studies of early art and archaeology, such as Dvaravati, Borobodur, the Khmer and Mon civilisations, Bagan, Angkor, Ayutthaya, stoneware and porcelain, iconography, photography, and contemporary culture. 

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Both his academic career and publications are listed after the foreword. The first essay can be considered an overview of Professor Piriya Krairiksh’s work from the 1970s to the 2010s in art history. 

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The listed authors are the most eminent academics and researchers in these fields and the more than 450 illustrations make it an essential volume for all lovers of Southeast Asian art and culture. The book is available at the NMV library.

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Author: Jutta Klement  

Photo credits: Tiziana Dall'Antonia-Greger

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