19 June 2019, Ballroom 1, 1030-1200 hours

Convener: Dr. Lia Genovese
trinacria_1955@yahoo.co.uk

This panel explores female archaeologists involved in research in Southeast Asia in the 19th and 20th centuries, to the present time. The panel also invites papers on museum practitioners operating in the region in the same period. Earlier examples involving female geologists would also be welcome. Comparative analyses are also welcome between female archaeologists in Southeast Asia and their female counterparts outside this region. Papers should explore perceptions, treatment, working conditions but also advantages and disadvantages of early and contemporary female diggers. Instances of seemingly incongruous behaviour would also make for interesting presentations. For instance, how to rationalise the intrepid Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), pioneer of Iraqi archaeology and skilled political officer, with her role as honorary secretary of the British Women’s Anti-suffrage League?

Madeleine Colani and Katherine Routledge: Two pioneering archaeologists born in 1866

Lia Genovese
Independent scholar
trinacria_1955@yahoo.co.uk

Madeleine Colani was born in Strasbourg in 1866, the daughter of a biblical pastor of modest means. She will forever be associated with the large-scale survey and documentation of the Plain of Jars, the first of its kind for these archaeological wonders spread over two provinces in Laos. While teaching in Vietnam, Colani conducted geological fieldwork and progressed to a doctorate awarded by the University of Paris. On the strength of her extensive excavations at caves and rockshelters in Southeast Asia, in 1929 she was invited to join the École Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) to take charge of its programme of study on the prehistory of Indochina, including the Plain of Jars. Also born in 1866 was Katherine Routledge, the daughter of wealthy Quaker industrialists from northern England. In her late 40s, Routledge (née Pease) masterminded the construction of a yacht together with William Scoresby Routledge, the Australian anthropologist she married in 1906. Together, in 1913 they set sail from England bound for Easter Island, whose archaeology and ethnology Katherine mapped with the help of an islander. Her rich collection of lantern slides from Easter Island is preserved by the British Museum in London. Whereas Colani achieved a measure of fame and recognition for her work on the Plain of Jars, Routledge came into conflict with her husband, who ultimately had her admitted to a mental institution. This paper will trace the fates of Colani and Routledge and their very diverse lives and endings after a common start date in their year of birth.

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Women seen through the Gaze of Colonial Narration in Sonobudoyo Museum, Yogyakarta, Indonesia | Perempuan dalam Pandangan Narasi Museum Kolonial di Museum Sonobudoyo

Ayu Dipta KIRANA
Museum Negeri Sonobudoy, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
dipta.kirana@gmail.com

This article emanates from the work I conducted in 2017 as Assistant Curator at the Annual Temporary Exhibition in the Sonobudoyo Museum (Yogyakarta, Indonesia). The theme of the exhibition was ‘Pengilon: A Women’s Narrative as Cultural Intersection’, aimed at deconstructing the representation of Javanese women in the context of culture. Javanese women are no longer konco wingking, the ancient vision of women as manak, macak, masak (reproduce, doll up, cook). The curatorial work of the exhibition was led by Gregorius Kuswantoro, an architect, with collaborations from an archaeologist, an anthropologist and a Javanese philologist - all three female. They collaborated with the museum to represent its collection which was already in existence in 1929, during Dutch colonial times. No particular difficulties were encountered in selecting a suitable collection consistent with the exhibition concept. Darpana: a bronze mirror from the classic Hindu period; batik; old manuscripts about Srikandi, the female warrior from the Mahabarata epic; jewelry; an antique cabinet to store jamu for beauty products, and even Ratus Vagina, a device to revitalize the female area of Javanese noble women. But the true challenge lay in tracing the printed history of women in the Sonobudoyo management itself. Other than images of women as traditional dancers or mannequins, no other female representations were found in the museum’s photographic collection. In the Dutch colonial period, museum exhibits depicted women through a colonial gaze, a male gaze where women were seen as objects: unique, rare and exotic, but also cold.

Tulisan ini berangkat dari pemikiran yang muncul dalam salah satu pekerjaan yang saya lakukan pada tahun 2017 lalu sebagai asisten kurator dalam pameran temporer yang diselenggarakan oleh Museum Sonobudoyo dengan tajuk Pengilo: Kisah Wanita dalam Silang Budaya. Storyline dalam pameran temporer ini hendak menghadirkan cerita wanita dalam konteks kebudayaan Jawa yang berupaya mendobrak bahwa seorang wanita Jawa tak hanya manak, macak, masak semata. Kerja kuratorial pameran ini dipimpin oleh Gregorius Kuswantoro, dia seorang arsitek yang bekerja sama dengan para tenaga ahli yang mumpuni dibidangnya arkeolog, antropolog feminism, dan filolog yang ketiganya adalah perempuan untuk menghidupkan pameran ini. Pameran ini menghadirkan koleksi museum sonobudoyo yang telah dikumpulkan sejak tahun 1929 pada masa pemerintahan kolonial Hindia-Belanda.

Tak sulit untuk menemukan benda-benda koleksi yang ada di museum yang berhubungan dengan wanita. Darpana—bronze mirror, batik, naskah kuno tentang Srikandi si wanita panglima perang dalam kisah Mahabarata, perhiasan, lemari untuk menyimpan jamu kecantikan, bahkan hingga ratus vagina kuno yang saat ini sudah tak banyak yang memakainya. Tetapi justru saya kesulitan ketika mencari jejak sejarah perempuan dalam pengelolaan museum Sonobudoyo itu sendiri. Pencarian pada arsip-arsip foto lama museum menunjukkan tak seorang wanita pun hadir sebagai penggagas dari berdirinya Sonobudoyo.

Kisah narasi perempuan Jawa amat kental hadir dalam koleksi-koleksi yang dikumpulkan tetapi justru mereka tak diberi tempat untuk mencerita sendiri kisah mereka. Perempuan yang hadir dalam museum dalam pandang kolonial yakni pandangan maskulin karena melihat perempuan selayaknya objek benda yang langka, eksotis, dan unik. Para perempuan yang penuh kisah itu hadir bertransformasi dalam benda materi, foto, dan manekin.

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An Examination of Experiences in Archaeology of Females and LGBTs in the Philippines

Marie Louise Antoinette Sioco
Archaeological Studies Program, University of the Philippines-Diliman
marielouiseantoinette.sioco@gmail.com

Grace Barretto-Tesoro
Archaeological Studies Program, University of the Philippines-Diliman
mdbarretto@up.edu.ph

Kathleen Tantuico
College of Law, University of the Philippines-Diliman
kdtantuico@gmail.com

This paper is inspired by a discourse between a male senior archaeologist and a female junior archaeologist while on a field excavation in a burial site in the Philippines in 2003. Today, more women are noticeably enrolling in and graduating from Archaeological Studies Program in the Philippines. This paper will present how women and LGBT individuals have changed the directions of Philippine archaeology, our motivations, our struggles, and challenges we face in this traditionally male-dominated field. We will look at power relations, discriminatory practices, attitudes toward women and LGBT individuals, rights and responsibilities in the field and laboratory, research opportunities, intellectual property rights, safe working environment, and other issues that may come out during the interviews. The presentation will discuss how we can better the practice of archaeology for all individuals. More importantly, it will focus on our victories as women and LGBT archaeologists.

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The Status of Women in Southeast Archaeology: Historical Perspectives and Future Directions

Miriam Stark
University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
miriams@hawaii.edu

Archaeology’s first gender equity studies appeared in the 1970s, yet the status of women in Southeast Asian archaeology is rarely discussed. Southeast Asian women archaeologists occupy the same range of archaeological positions as their peers outside the region, yet the field remains predominantly male in both the academic and practicing worlds. This paper contextualizes women in Southeast Asian archaeology by discussing the field’s sociopolitics more generally and examines region-specific reasons why women in Southeast Asian archaeology remain under-represented in their field. Some best practices from world regions with greater gender parity are offered to help us chart our collective future.