Agenda

Centres

Bangkok

Beijing

Hô Chi Minh-City

Jakarta

In October, the Centre welcomes:

- Sita T. van Bemmelen, author of Christianity, Colonisation, and Gender Relations in North Sumatra (Leiden, Brill, 2018), to work on editing and formatting the Indonesian translation of her book.

- Anna Pineda, doctoral student in the Department of Archaeology at the Australian National University, research fellow at the EFEO.

- Pratiwi Yuwono, doctoral student in the Department of Geoarchaeology at Southern Cross University, research fellow at the EFEO.

- Bernadeta Sardjono, head of Southeast Asian collections at the Paris library, for a library science mission from 6 to 9 October.

Pondicherry

Anjaneya Sarma, S.L.P., gave a presentation on Sanskrit grammar entitled "vyākaraṇaśāstrē- īdūdēdantaṁ dvivacanaṁ pragr̥hyaṁ pā. sū.1.1.11 iti sūtravicāraḥ" during a programme organised by Chatuśśāstrasabhā in Vijayavada (AP) on 2 October. He will give another lecture entitled "vanō ra ca. pā. sū.1.4.07 iti sūtravicāraḥ" as part of a second programme organised by the Chatuśśāstrasabhā in collaboration with the Kanchi-Kamakotipeetham, to be held in Vijayavada (AP) from 29 to 31 October.

S. A. S. Sarma is participating in the 28th European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS), organised by the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University from 1 to 4 October. He will present a paper entitled "Pāṭṭu and its importance in the ritual practices of Kerala". He is also invited as a speaker at the seminar "Voices from the Deep South: The Rise of Pattu Song Cultures of South Asia", organised by the Jagiellonian University in Krakow on 6 October.

Siem Reap

On 5 October, Camille Desruelle will complete her stay at the Centre, which began on 4 August as part of her EHESS Master I internship to conduct research on the "Buddhist shrines and caityas of Phnom Srok and Thma Puok" (under the supervision of Éric Bourdonneau).

In mid-October, the Centre will welcome the new French Ambassador to Cambodia, Mr Olivier Richard.

Vientiane

Researchers

Alain Arrault

Éric Bourdonneau

From 6 to 11 October, Éric Bourdonneau will be in Phnom Penh to give a series of lectures (19 hours) on the social and political history of ancient Cambodia to Master I students at the Royal University of Fine Arts, as part of the Manusastra – Université des Moussons programme.

Nicolas Fiévé

Dominic Goodall

Fabienne Jagou

From 15 to 24 October, Fabienne Jagou is on a mission to London to consult the British National Archives in Kew and those of the India Office at the British Library.

Christophe Marquet

On 17 October, Christophe Marquet will give a lecture on "Ōtsu-e versus ukiyo-e: two competing forms of popular art in the Edo period" (in Japanese), organised by the Association for the Preservation of Ukiyo-e Engraving and Printing Techniques, as part of the exhibition Ōtsu Paintings from the Ōtsu City Museum of History Collection (Rekihaku no Ōtsu-e) at the Ōtsu City Museum of History.

Martin Nogueira Ramos

From 29 September to 2 October, Martin Nogueira Ramos is travelling to Madrid to consult the archives relating to the Jesuit mission in Japan (17th century) held at the Real Academia de la Historia.

On 30 September, he will give a lecture at the Autonomous University of Madrid as part of the seminar organised by Professors David Mervart and Gonzalo San Emeterio Cabañes, Transferencia y difusión del conocimiento en Asia Oriental. His lecture is entitled: "Rastrear un descubrimiento olvidado: los 'antiguos cristianos' del Kansai y el Padre Marin Plessis (1867-1890)".

Daniel Perret

Daniel Perret is conducting archaeological prospecting in the Pahang River Valley from 6 to 8 October with the Pahang State Museum.

Charlotte Schmid

Catherine Scheer

On 23 October, Catherine Scheer is on the thesis jury for Phasy Res, whose doctoral thesis is entitled "The Transformation of Microfinance: Frontier Capitalism, Debt-Related Violence and Local Protest in North-East Cambodia" (University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne).

Saarthak Singh

From 1 to 4 October, Saarthak Singh is participating in the 28th European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS) in Heidelberg, Germany. He will give a presentation entitled: "Stone cenotaphs from the sultanates of western India: Seriality, creativity and community in commemorative micro-architecture" in a panel on the sultanates of India organised by Pushkar Sohoni (IISER Pune) and Riyaz Latif (FLAME Pune).

Projects

DHARMA Project

As part of the DHARMA project, Arlo Griffiths, head of the EFEO Centre in Jakarta, is conducting his fifth epigraphic survey since 2022. From 9 to 17 October, he will visit the provinces of Central Java and Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta with Titi Surti Nastiti, Lisda Meyanti and Andri Restiyadi (BRIN), Tyassanti Kusumo (Mangkunegaran Palace), Tri Subekso (Semarang Kabupaten Cultural Service), Adeline Levivier (visual documentation expert) and Eko Bastiawan (PhD student working on the DHARMA project).

CHAMPA Project

The Vat Phou museum team is continuing to inventory and restore items from the museum's collection and those on display. Under the supervision of David Bazin, it is finalising detailed photographic documentation of the 32 inscriptions counted on the Keson Dok Mai and discovered this summer during consolidation work at Vat Meuang Kang.

A training session on ceramics will be held from 20 to 31 October, led by Nicolas Nauleau, with the participation of Sey Pisith. Representatives from the museums of Vat Phou, Pakse and Savannakhet will attend this session, which will focus in particular on material from excavations of the ancient city as part of the CHAMPA project.

Following David Bazin's mission in September with the Archaeoscape team at the EFEO in Paris, LiDAR data optimisation operations (structure, codification, archiving) are underway with Vladyslav Sydorov to build a shared network architecture with the regional NAS and the Paris NAS. At the same time, discussions on archaeological mapping methodologies are developing, with the support of Adam Wijker and Christophe Pottier.

Lucie Harteaux is continuing her internship from September to December 2025 at the Vat Phou geomatics laboratory in Champassak. A third-year student at the École Supérieure des Ingénieurs Géomètres du Mans (ESGT), she is participating in the topographical mapping of the Tomo archaeological site and updating the topography of the Vat Phou site, supervised by the LIDAR team. At the same time, she will develop a detailed topographic survey methodology to provide training and skills transfer support for engineers at the Vat Phou office.

Conservation work on the pinnacle of the Vat Meuang Kang library by Bounsouang Senphaseuth, a Laotian engineer from the Vat Phou division, and two Laotian technicians, Vansouk Keophan and Kommalien Sivilay, was delayed by incessant rains in September. Finishing work is therefore continuing on the reconstruction of the pinnacle and its original decoration, based on available documents and testimonies.

Lectures

Alain Arrault & Michela Bussotti
- EHESS seminar in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies, Histoire culturelle de la Chine impériale tardive : textes techniques et prescriptions du quotidien, from 10 October

Hugo David
EPHE seminar ("Philosophie et Philologie sanskrite") in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies,  Autour de l'énonciation : linguistique et métaphysique (introduction à la philosophie linguistique de Bhartrhari 2), from 21 October

Véronique Degroot
- EHESS seminar in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies, Introduction à l'histoire de l'art et à l'archéologie de l'Indonésie occidentale: protohistoire et période hindo-bouddhique, from 28 October

Andrew Hardy
- EHESS seminar in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies, Histoire de la colonisation du Vietnam : approches micro-biographiques ?, à partir du 14 octobre

Fabienne Jagou
- EHESS seminar in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies, Le nationalisme tibétain à partir du début du XXe siècle, à partir du 14 octobre

François Lachaud
- EPHE seminar ("Bouddhisme et civilisation japonaise") in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies, La Guerre et ses fantômes: les pièces à Asura (shuramono) dans le théâtre nō [Le Heike monogatari et ses héritages 1], from 4 November

- EPHE seminar ("Bouddhisme et civilisation japonaise") in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies, Le prélat et les guerriers : lectures du Gukanshō (Mes Vues sur l'Histoire) [Penser la guerre au moyen âge I],  from 4 November

Martin Nogueira Ramos
- EPHE seminar ("Histoire du fait religieux dans le Japon prémoderne et moderne (XVIe-XIXe s.") in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies, Sources et histoire du catholicisme japonais moderne (XIXe siècle), from 14 October

Catherine Scheer
EHESS seminar in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies, Faire de la recherche sur le terrain : contraintes, contournements, engagements en Asie du Sud-Est

On October 16, Gabriel Facal (IRASEC) presents "Prise de distance, accompagnement, implication... De quelques choix méthodologiques sur des terrains ruraux indonésiens"

On October 30, Brice Vincent (EFEO) presents "Le programme de recherche LANGAU au Cambodge : retour d’expérience (2016-2025)"

Charlotte Schmid & Saarthak Singh
EPHE seminar ("Épigraphie et iconographie du monde indien") in the framework of the Master's degree in Asian Studies, Écrire, inscrire et mettre en scène : la culture matérielle des textes dans le monde indien, from 9 October

Publications

Maritime Exchange and Localization across the South China Sea examines the changes that characterized the coastal societies around the South China Sea Basin during the Metal Age (500 BC–AD 500) and their links with the formation of a maritime exchange network in the region. Through case studies, the book documents the continuity, change, and expansion of prehistoric and protohistoric cultures as well as the activity of maritime traders and craftsmen and the impact of sea-crossing techniques and materials. Grounded in archaeological and historical analysis, it studies the use and spread of various types of mortuary containers, ornaments, and vessels, as well as megaliths and metallurgy. The volume questions how local communities engaged with and reacted to growing maritime exchanges by incorporating new knowledge, practices, tools, decorative styles, and artifacts originating from abroad. The book also emphasizes the dual role of indigenous agency and outside stimulus in fostering these exchanges, developing local networks, and establishing interconnected social and cultural systems and polities across the South China Sea, offering new insights on the interplay between regional influence and local evolution in protohistoric times.

All EFEO publications are available on the publications website.

Researchers' publications

Catherine Scheer, "Surprising Testimonies: Retracing the Trajectories of Highland Minority Refugee-Soldiers under the Khmer Republic", in the Newsletter of the IIAS (n° 101), in the section "The Focus" on "Republican Archives: Crossed Perspectives on the Khmer Republic and the Republic of South Vietnam" edited by Stéphanie Benzaquen-Gautier.

Research Services

Recipients of allocation on mission

- Violette Dolin is based at the Hanoi centre for a study on "Les Écoles d'enfants de troupe 'indigènes' dans l'Empire colonial français : l'Indochine, exception impériale ?"

- Sett Paing Myo is based at the Chiang Mai centre for a study on "Perspectives traditionnelles, transitionnelles et contemporaines de la masculinité et la situation du genre au Myanmar"

- Anna Pineda is based at the Jakarta centre for a study on "Technological Comparison of Palaeometallic Period Anthropomorphic Burial Jars and Pottery in Island Southeast Asia through Indonesia and the Philippines"

- Xinyue Wang is based at the Beijing centre for a study on "Nouveaux modèles agricoles, mobilités inter-régionales et vies économiques en ruralité. Étude d’une exploitation avicole en Chine contemporaine (Jiangxi-Sichuan)"

- Victor Wright is based at the Beijing centre for a study on "Restaurer le lac Poyang, interventions écologiques et devenir d’une société lacustre"

- Yijun Xie is based at the Taipei centre for a study on "De la puissance à l’acte : le culte des ong ya dans la société hokkien"

- Pratiwi Yuwono is based at the Jakarta centre for a study on "Mortuary practices, health, and diet of insular Wallacean populations since the Austronesian expansion: The case of the Kolana site on Alor Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia"

Library

Bernadeta Sardjono, head of the Southeast Asia collection, is on mission at the Jakarta library from 6 to 9 October.

Sovannara Mey, archivist, is on mission in Athens from 13 to 15 October for the EFE archivists' meeting.

Mai Matsuda, head of the Kyoto Centre library, is on mission at the Paris library during the week of 20 October.

Photo Library

Of particular note

For the EFEO, this multi-year development contract for 2022–2028 sets out an ambitious programme: it aims to consolidate the scientific excellence of field research in Asia, while adapting the institution to recent developments in humanities and social sciences research (digital humanities, promotion, major international projects).

Four strategic priorities guide this contract:

- Objective 1: Adapt the EFEO to national, European and international dynamics in humanities and social sciences research;

- Objective 2: Rethink the organisation of research in light of current and future challenges in the study of Asian civilisations;

- Objective 3: Strengthen collegial governance and management of the institution in order to meet the new challenges of research by 2030;

- Objective 4: Affirm the EFEO's commitment to a sustainable and resilient society, both in France and in Asia.

Through this contract, the EFEO intends to both strengthen its capacity for scientific innovation and consolidate its role within the EFE Network.

This century-old work will be highlighted during the celebration on 8 November, led by leading specialists working in Parisian museums who are committed to the journal's scientific excellence. From the importance of the founding figures to the evolution of discourse on Asian artworks, to the upheavals of history that Arts Asiatiques often reflects, you are invited to (re)discover the history of a community of researchers and curators who have worked for a century to promote Asian art internationally.

Réseau des Écoles françaises à l'Étranger

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