Ambitious Alignments: New Histories of Southeast Asian Art, 1945-1990

This new volume explores the art and architecture of Southeast Asia in the postwar period. Ten essays by emerging scholars draw upon unexplored archives and works of art, bearing witness to rich local histories and uncovering complex artistic exchanges across Cambodia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and beyond. The collection sheds new light on the significance of architecture, painting, installation, photography, and sculpture in the historical narratives of this period and offers fresh insights into artistic production and reception within the cultural and political contexts of postcolonialism and the Cold War, the legacies of which continue to shape the region today.

This book will appeal to readers interested in intersections of art history and the histories of modernism, postcolonialism, and the Cold War; the disciplines of architecture, photography, installation; and the histories and cultures of Southeast Asia.