0112, 2016

Academics, Agents and Activists: A history of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1916-2016

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|1st December 2016|Collections & Research|0 comments

Over the next few weeks John Hollingworth, Gallery Manager and co-curator of ‘Academics, Agents & Activists: a history of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1916-2016’, will be introducing this fascinating centenary exhibition currently on display at the Brunei Gallery until 17th December. The exhibition tells a history of the School from the perspective of its people and spaces, highlighting the contributions and experiences of a selection of individuals

1611, 2016

Academics, Agents and Activists: A history of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 1916-2016

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|16th November 2016|Collections & Research|0 comments

2406, 2015

New Collection: The Papers of Johanna Agthe (anthropologist and museum curator)

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|24th June 2015|Collections & Research|2 comments

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

0105, 2015

“Indigenous Australia” & the Dawes Notebooks

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|1st May 2015|Behind the scenes|0 comments

[Note: This blog may contain the names and images of deceased Aboriginal people] “When the British ships arrived, there were about 270 different Aboriginal languages in Australia. Today, only about 60 or 70 are spoken on a daily basis. Of these, roughly half a dozen are considered to be strong and are being passed from adults to their children, according to John Hobson, a lecturer at Sydney University.” (Source: BBC news

2301, 2015

Dr Cyrus Ala’i’s Map Collection of Persia

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|23rd January 2015|Collections & Research|0 comments

To mark the opening of a new exhibition in the Brunei Gallery, Maps of Persia 1477-1925: A graphical journey through the history of Iran, this week’s blog highlights the recent acquisition of unique Persian maps, which are now catalogued and available for consultation in the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room. In January 2013 Dr Cyrus Ala’i presented part of his unique map collection to the Centre for Iranian Studies at SOAS

3110, 2014

Black History Month 2014: Archives of africa95

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|31st October 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

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

1909, 2014

Pirates, Shipping and Merchants on the North China Coast

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|19th September 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

Okay, so we are going back in time a little bit by blogging about this exhibition which we created in October 2012, but it is International ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’! We included some of these items in our recent display of material as part of our Annual Open Day and they went down a storm (maritime related punning purely accidental!), so we thought you might like to hear more

0108, 2014

The Man Who Wouldn’t Run on a Sunday: Eric Liddell in the SOAS Archives

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|1st August 2014|Collections & Research|

As Scotland prepares for the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games 2014, our blog this week looks back on a famous Scottish sporting hero who appears in the SOAS Archive collections. Eric Liddell achieved fame as an Olympic athlete whose life is chronicled in the 1981 film, Chariots of Fire. Born in Tientsin [Tianjin], China, 16 January 1902, to Scottish missionary parents, he was educated at the London Missionary Society

0407, 2014

The Arts of Southeast Asia from the SOAS Collections

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|4th July 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

A new and exciting exhibition in the Foyle Special Collections Gallery of the Brunei Gallery, entitled The Arts of Southeast Asia from the SOAS Collections, is now running until 2 July 2016. The exhibition highlights the breadth of the region’s cultures as represented in the SOAS collections. It demonstrates the long-term engagement of SOAS Staff and Alumni, whose research and travels have brought this variety of objects to the School. Curated

2305, 2014

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: ‘Afterlife’

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|23rd May 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: exploring missionary archives has been running at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, over the past 6 months, and has just closed its doors to the public. This blog series highlights some of the fascinating stories and archives selected for the exhibition from the collections at SOAS Library. The history of how Livingstone’s life has been remembered and reinterpreted is a complex and changing one. Initially missionaries

exhibitions