Southeast Asian Museums : On a Slow Path to Maturity
The museum in the Western sense was formulated in this region during the 18 th century, but because of social, political, and economic situations has not developed consistently. In the West, the definition of museums has gradually changed, moving from the post-museum (Hooper-Greenhill), to contact zone (James Clifford), and civic laboratories (Tony Bennett), each signaling a particular shift in how museums are imagined (Barrett 2011). These define the museum variously as a gathering place, a venue for collaborative action and interaction, and as a part of the community. Recently, there has been more focus and debate on the relationship between museums and the communities they serve. This kind of definition has not been coherently applied to museums in the Southeast Asian context. It is impossible to address the Southeast Asian museum as a whole, because each country in the region has a specific context and these are quasi-incomparable. In the prenation state, museums in this region were introduced and constructed according to the Western concept, whether by the colonial powers or through auto-colonization. From the colonial period to the present, museums in Southeast Asian have only slightly changed in each country according to their economic and socio-political contexts. This means that Southeast Asian Museums: On a Slow Path to Maturity
Orientalism and the Reality Effect: Angkor at the Universal Expositions, 1867–1937
During the period of the French protectorate of Cambodia, the Khmer temples of Angkor were prominently displayed at the French expositions of Paris and Marseille from 1867 to 1937. Survey and casting expeditions, which were part and parcel of material practices of colonial appropriation, fueled those three‐dimensional reconstructions. This essay investigates the visual strategies and material practices of Orientalism at play in these representations and, in particular, the crucial role of architectural plaster casts made on-site in the construction of the image of colonial Cambodia intended for Western audiences. While plaster casts were materially altered and assembled to create fantasized reconstructions of Khmer monuments, they were simultaneously used to authenticate them—by virtue of their alleged faithfulness to their original referent. This authentication process was emphasized from 1906 onward by performances of the royal troupe of Cambodian dancers, until the contradictions of the French civilizing mission broke through at the 1931 Exposition coloniale at Vincennes.
Effects of the mineral phase and valence of vanadium on vanadium extraction from stone coal
The influence of roasting on the leaching rate and valence of vanadium was evaluated during vanadium extraction from stone coal. Vanadium in stone coal is hard to be leached and the leaching rate is less than 10% when the raw ore is leached by 4 mol/L H2SO4 at 90°C for 2 h. After the sample is roasted at 900°C for 2 h, the leaching rate of vanadium reaches the maximum, and more than 70% of vanadium can be leached. The crystal of vanadium-bearing mica minerals decomposes and the content of V(V) increases with the rise of roasting temperature from 600 to 900°C, therefore the leaching rate of vanadium increases significantly with the decomposition of the mica minerals. Some new phases, anorthite for example, form when the roasting temperature reaches 1000°C. A part of vanadium may be enwrapped in the sintered materials and newly formed phases, which may impede the oxidation of low valent vanadium and make the leaching rate of vanadium drop dramatically. The leaching rate of vanadium is not only determined by the valence state of vanadium but also controlled by the decomposition of vanadium-bearing minerals and the existence state of vanadium to a large extent.