|
Tsunami charity party donation
Jan-J. Schmidt
Wachara Tantranont hands over
the cheque to Governor Suwat, along with (from left) Marc Waldner, Michael
Vogt, Khun Senla, Marion Vogt, Dr. Howard C. Graves Jr., Stephen Yarnold and
Pim Kemasingki.
The 640,000 baht which was raised during the tsunami charity party at
Hillside 4 (Chiangmai Mail Vol. IV issue 4) has been formally handed
over to the governor of Chiang Mai. The party, at which over 300 people took
part, was a great success, and the target of 400,000 baht was more than
easily passed. Governor Suwat praised the effort of all involved.
Pinocchio comes to town
Puppets from six Southeast Asian countries on show
Saksit Meesubkwang
Puppet shows were recently staged by the Center of Arts
and Culture Promotions and an exhibition of Southeast Asian Puppetry is on
display during January 21 – February 20, 2005 at Chiang Mai University
(CMU) Art Museum. The theme is “Puppets Unite” and includes seminars and
demonstrations.
 M.R.
Sukhumbhand Paribatra, president of the Chumbhot-Pantip Foundation, tries
his hand at making a puppet at the opening of “Puppets Unite”.
The main objectives of “Puppets Unite” are to set up
an international network for activities in the field of puppetry among
puppeteers, artists, academics and students; to give participants greater
access to the puppetry of the region; to encourage participants to learn the
historical background and to understand and promote the development and the
unique charm of puppetry.
Part of
the Southeast Asian puppet exhibition displayed at the CMU Art Museum until
February 20, 2005.
The two-day seminar and puppets shows presented puppetry from the six
participating countries of Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam and
Thailand.
L’Ecole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient –
an academic jewel in Chiang Mai
Reinhard Hohler
L’Ecole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient (EFEO) or the
“French Research School of the Far East” was first established in
Saigon/Vietnam in 1898 as the Archaeological Mission in Indochina and
received its current name in 1900, when the headquarters were moved to
Hanoi.
The objective of the EFEO was to engage in archaeological
exploration, the collection of manuscripts, and the conservation of
monuments, as well as the study of the linguistic heritage of the region,
which then formed French Indo-China. At the same time, the EFEO aimed to
contribute to the historical study of South Asia, Southeast Asia and
Northeast Asia, from India to Japan.
The new
“traditional” house on the ground of the EFEO in Chiang Mai.
In 1907, and three years after “The Siam Society” in
Bangkok was formed, the EFEO was responsible for the conservation of the
monumental site of Angkor in Cambodia, one of the largest archaeological
sites in the world. As the consequence of the wars and revolution in
Indochina, the EFEO headquarters had to be relocated to the French capital
Paris in 1960.
Since then, the EFEO has opened the following branch
offices: Pondicherry and Poona in India (1964), Kyoto/Japan (1968), Chiang
Mai/Thailand (1975), Jakarta/Indonesia (1976), Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia (1987),
Hong Kong (1989), Phnom Penh (1990) and Siem Reap (1992) in Cambodia,
Taipei/Taiwan (1992), Hanoi/Vietnam (1993), Vientiane/Laos (1993),
Tokyo/Japan (1994), Seoul/South Korea (1994), Bangkok/Thailand (1997),
Beijing/China (1997) and Yangon/Myanmar (2002).
The Chiang Mai EFEO Center is at 131 Charoen Prathet Road
near Wat Chaimongkhon and was established on the former site of the French
Consulate, opposite the Alliance Francaise, which was the French Consul’s
residence. The French Consulate in Chiang Mai was closed at the beginning of
the Second Word War. Then, in the mid 1970’s, Francois Bizot, a French
researcher on Buddhism, who had to leave Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge
regime, came to Chiang Mai and built a new “traditional” house on the
French ground. He added an office in the early 1990’s. The present
supervisor of this remarkable research institution is Dr. Louis Gabaude, who
studies the history of Thai Buddhism and the impact that the modernization
of Thailand brings along.
The EFEO Center of Chiang Mai offers access to a book collection of more
than 30,000 monographs, periodicals, and newspaper articles, as well as
basic accommodation for short-term research. The library does not only offer
books in French but twice as many in English and Thai. The library
facilities are accessible to Masters and Ph.D. students, research fellows,
scholars and university personnel from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on working days. At
the moment, there is the photographic exhibition displayed “Mysterious
Mekong: From Simao Port to Ho Chi Minh City by hovercraft” running until
January 29 and open from 9 p.m. to 5.p.m. every day. For further
information, please contact Dr. Louis Gabaude by email ga
baudel@loxinfo.co.th
European group helps tsunami orphans
Hans Mandewirth from the ‘AWO’, a charitable
organization in Germany presented 500 Euro (25,000 baht) to Jens Kronberg on
behalf of the “Ray of Hope” a German project in Thailand, (founded in
1995 and supported by a small circle of groups and friends from France and
Germany).
Jens
Kronberg (right) receives the donation from Hans Mandewirth.
They decided to work in Asia, focusing on Thailand, to help those who
cannot help themselves, children and orphans. They set up children homes or
support similar existing projects. The 500 Euro was collected by the senior
members of the social democrats from Neckarstadt-West and will be used to
help the children’s home in Maekachan, currently care of children orphaned
by the Tsunami in Phuket.
|
