This week’s blog comes to us from Diann Lui, Art Centre Manager at Erub Arts, following a recent research visit to SOAS Special Collections, to use material held in the London Missionary Society Archive. Erub Arts works with the local community to maintain a strong Erubian identity, by promoting their culture through contemporary art. You may not know where Erub is or why we visited SOAS. Erub, an island in the Torres
The first edition of this work (abbreviated drawings of birds and beasts), by Kitao Masayoshi (1764-1824) was printed in 1719, but this 1813 edition is still a superb impression (never judge a book by its cover!) A pupil of Kitao Shigemasa, and later Kano Yosen’in Korenobu, Masayoshi worked as an ukiyoe artist under the name Kitao Masayoshi. He then became official painter to the daimyo of Tsuyama and worked in
This week’s blog hi-lights an exciting new collection for SOAS Archives – a personal collection of Mail Art by the contemporary visual artist, Hassan Musa, donated to the Library by Elsbeth Court. Many of the pieces are featured in a new exhibition at the Brunei Gallery, ‘Hassan Musa: the artist’s stamp’, which runs from 24th January to 23rd March 2019. Hassan Musa (b.1951), is well-known for his complex textile paintings and subjective calligraphy. For many years,
In the heat of the summer, one of our researchers found these beautiful illustrations of moths and insects in an album held in one of our library collections. The album, entitled ‘Album of Paintings of Insects: Moths’, contains watercolour illustrations of moths and other insects (reference: CWML MSS 506). Dating from the early 19th century, an ornate label adhered to the inside cover identifies these as being produced by the
SOAS Archives are rich in the life-stories of individual women. To mark International Women’s Day 2018, we take a look at the life and work of Lilias Trotter (1853-1928), a talented artist who became a missionary in North Africa. Papers relating to Lilias Trotter can be found with the papers of the Algiers Mission Band – a new collection for SOAS Library, deposited in 2017 by Arab World Ministries. Lilias Trotter
This week’s blog comes from Jiyeon Wood, Subject Librarian for Arts & Multi-Media, and celebrates the Chinese New Year through SOAS Library’s fascinating collection of Chinese woodblock prints. Are you familiar with the lunar calendar? In Korea, where I’m from, the lunar calendar is still used. For example, my parents’ birthdays are set by the lunar calendar, which means that they celebrate their birthdays on a different day every year
This week’s blog looks more closely at a fascinating collection of miniature portraits found in the archive of the London Missionary Society, which are currently undergoing conservation treatment to ensure their long-term preservation. The archive of the London Missionary Society is rich in visual materials, including photographs, drawings, paintings and engravings. Amongst this material is a unique collection of 165 miniatures dating from around 1798 to 1844, primarily watercolour on
To mark Black History Month 2015, this week’s blog highlights the presence of art works by two renowned Malagasy artists, Emile Ralambo and James Rainimaharosoa, in the collections at SOAS Archives, and reflects more broadly on the strength of the Madagascar collections at SOAS, which have attracted the interest of academic researchers from around the world and also the Malagasy community within Britain, through our contact with the Anglo-Malagasy Society.
SOAS Archives is pleased to announce that the papers of the anthropologist and museum curator Dr Johanna Agthe (1940-2005) are now available to researchers at SOAS Library, University of London. The following biographical overview of Johanna Aghte and description of her papers (Ref: MS 381135) is taken from the catalogue overview authored by Elsbeth Court (SOAS Subject Lecturer in African Art). SOAS Archives would like to acknowledge Elsbeth’s excellent work
As SOAS marks Black History Month we continue to highlight historical collections held by SOAS Archives, which reveal the long-standing Black presence in the UK, as well as the contributions and achievements of Black peoples in local, national and international arenas. This week we look at the archives of africa95, a registered company with charitable status founded in 1992 to organise a nationwide season of the arts of Africa to be held in the UK in the last
