Eleven international academics and museum curators contribute nine chapters examining the functional, ritual, and everyday contexts of art works produced in different parts of Asia, in
particular Indonesia, Japan, and South Asia. The authors examine how works that are seen as art objects today were experienced, handled, perceived, categorized, and conceptualized by the people
who produced and used them; what aspects art historians, collectors, and museum goers miss when viewing objects removed from their original contexts; and how the ways of experiencing, thinking
about, and handling art have changed through the centuries. The chapters demonstrate that modern definitions of art as autonomously beautiful, universal, and devoid of practical purpose are
often very inadequate when considering local forms of cultural production, such as Javanese shadow puppet theater or the Japanese tea ceremony. For Asian art historians, historians,
anthropologists, collectors, and readers interested in museum studies and material culture studies. Annotation 穢2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
