A sculpture is a three-dimensional artwork made by one of four basic processes. These are carving (in stone, wood, ivory or bone); modelling in clay; modelling (in clay or wax) and then casting the model in bronze; constructing (a twentieth-century development). Source: tate.org.uk. AWDB highlighted artist: Han Sai Por.

Seik-ta-za-bagyi means “mad art” – an expression still used in Myanmar to refer to “modern art”. Source: Ocula.com. AWDB Hightlighted Artist: Bagyi Aung Soe.

In Southeast Asian art, self-portraits serve as profound tools for exploring identity, gender, and social status, often blending traditional artistic conventions with modern, intimate perspectives. Rather than merely mirroring physical appearance, they often act as a "diary" to communicate an artist's inner world, social role, and personal truth. Source: AWDB Team. AWDB highlighted artist: Htein Lin.

Shaman is an individual believed to have special magical powers; a sorcerer or witch doctor. A medicine man in ‘primitive’ societies, often with supernatural powers, who was capable of healing or harming. Source: www.oxfordreference.com. AWDB highlighted artist: Choy Ka Fai.  

Refers to a work of art designed specifically for a particular location and that has an interrelationship with the location. If removed from the location, it would lose all or a substantial part of its meaning. Site-specific is often used to describe installation works, and Land art is site-specific almost by definition. Source: AWDB Team and tate.org.uk. AWDB highlighted artist: FX Harsono.

Songket is a traditional form of specialised handwoven fabric, originating from the women of the Malay Archipelago, especially in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. The fabric is typically made from silk or cotton threads, with gold, silver, or metallic threads woven into the design, creating an ornamental effect. Songket is used in ceremonial and traditional settings, such as weddings and royal events, making it a symbol of prestige and cultural heritage. When used in artwork, it is a celebration of cultural heritage, craftsmanship, and the preservation of traditional symbolism through intricate weaving techniques. Source: AWDB Team. AWDB Highlighted Artist: Anne Samat.

Still life is one of the principle genres (subject types) of Western Art. Essentially, the subject matter of a still life painting or sculpture is anything that does not move or is dead. So still life includes all kinds of man-made or natural objects: cut flowers, fruit, vegetables, fish, game, wine and so on. Still life can be a celebration of material pleasures such as food and wine, but it is often a warning of the ephemerality of these pleasures and of the brevity of human life. In modern art, simple still life arrangements have often been used as a relatively neutral basis for formal experiment, for example by Paul Cezanne and the Cubist painters. Note the plural of still life is still lifes, and the term is not hyphenated. Source: tate.org.uk. AWDB highlighted artist: Natee Utarit.

The stupa is the most ancient form of Buddhist art, symbolizing the monumental funerary mounds of ancient India that were appropriated into Buddhism as depositories for Buddha relics.

Source: metmuseum.org. 

AWDB highlighted artist: Pinaree Sanpitak.

 

Surrealism is a twentieth-century literary, philosophical and artistic movement that explored the workings of the mind, championing the irrational, the poetic and the revolutionary. Source: tate.org.uk. AWDB highlighted artist: Louise Lorenzana.