Central Vietnam: Recent Discoveries on Champa Archaeology and the Exhibition of the Cham Sculpture Collection in Hue Museum of Royal Antiquities Museum

Conveners: Huynh Thi Anh Van and Tran Ky Phuong (trankyphuong.cham@gmail.com)
During the past years, a number of excavations on Champa have been carried out in Central of Vietnam. These discoveries have shed some light to certain new understanding of architecture, sculptural, as well as history of Champa. Moreover, since 1927, a collection of Cham sculptures were gathered and exhibited in the Hue Museum of Royal Fine Arts; however since 1945, this Cham collection was kept away from public view for the next 71 years. It was only in 2016 that the Cham collection was re-open for visitors to gaze upon them. Focusing on materials from Central Vietnam, this panel will explore Champa from various approaches: ethno-archaeology, landscape archaeology, art history, and religious history. To be specific, we will discuss recent excavations as well as historical forming of the Hue collection, their place and contribution to the Cham studies as a whole. The panel aims to spark a relevant interdisciplinary dialogue to enhance our understanding of Cham art, architecture, religion and hence Cham history.