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Recalling a Trans-local Past: Thailand’s Mon-language Manuscripts
15 February, 2025 @ 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Background
A large number of manuscripts in the Mon language are kept in the temples of the Thai- Mon community who lives in the provinces surrounding Bangkok. The Thai Mon community has lived in Siam/Thailand since the nineteenth century, and so differ from recent migrants from Burma. Today, the Mon language in Thailand is disappearing, and very few in the Thai Mon community are literate in the Mon language anymore. These manuscripts have lingered for decades and are in danger of disappearing. Among the collections are many texts which do not exist in Burma, where the majority of Mon people live today.
SEA Junction, in collaboration with the Endangered Archives Programme presents Recalling a Trans-local Past: Thailand’s Mon-language Manuscripts at SEA Junction, suite 407-8, 4th Floor, BACC on 15 February 2025 from 5.00-6.30 pm, the program will be in English. This talk will be led by Patrick McCormick, researcher who has been working on translating and preserving these scripts. He will cover the background of the Thai Mon people and provide insights on how the Mon came to have so many villages and temples in Central Thailand, only to be largely assimilated into mainstream Thai culture. Through the generous support of the Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library, Patrick and his team have been able to take digital photographs of approximately 2000 manuscripts and put them online for the scholarly community, and also for the Mon community of Burma. This talk will feature some translation work and the research process in preserving these manuscripts in the form of digitization. Through visuals, Patrick will discuss some of the texts, which include religious teachings and works of literature, history, astrology, and medical treatment from the Mon culture.
Speaker Bio
Patrick McCormick is a writer and academic researcher who has studied some of the languages and histories of Burma, where he lived for sixteen years before moving to Thailand. He has focused much of his time researching the Mon language and the writing of Mon history. He has received funding from the Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library to undertake the project on which his talk is based.
For more information, please email: info@seajunction.org or phone/wa: +66970024140
NB: The exhibition is free, but donations are welcome to support SEA Junction activities.
Organizers
SEA Junction, established under the Thai non-profit organization Foundation for Southeast Asia Studies (ForSEA), aims to foster understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asia in all its socio-cultural dimensions, from arts and lifestyles to economy and development. Conveniently located at Room 407-8 of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center or BACC (across MBK, BTS National Stadium), SEA Junction facilitates public access to knowledge resources and exchanges among students, practitioners and Southeast Asia lovers. More information at http://seajunction.org/.
Endangered Archives Programme of the British Library seeks to preserve cultural heritage and make it available to as wide an audience as possible. To achieve this, they provide grants to applicants to digitise and document archives. These materials are risk of loss or decay, and is located in countries where resources and opportunities to preserve such material are lacking or limited. Primarily, the programme funds digitisation projects to record and preserve the content of archives. More information at https://eap.bl.uk/
