Monastic mural painting is ubiquitous throughout Thailand, and older murals have become a national treasures. Books are continually produced in both Thai and English documenting the murals and calling for the murals' preservation. Most of these works are centered on monastery murals in the central region of Thailand with many of them focusing on royally sponsored monasteries. However, Bonnie Pacala Brereton and Somroay Yencheuy's work focuses on monastic murals in the region of Isan or northeastern Thailand. Few works exist in both Thai and English on this subject matter, making this work a welcome addition to scholarship on mural painting in Southeast Asia.
Brereton and Yencheuy focus on a group of monastic murals located in the provinces of Khon Kaen and Maha Sarakham in Isan. The goal of the work is to look at several murals created during the mid-twentieth century that are still well preserved. The authors research murals by looking at the features that are stylistic, thematic, and iconographic characteristics specific to the Isan region. The work highlights Isan's distinct style which combines the many influences of Thai, Lao, and Cambodian culture. Readers familiar with the region and Theravada Buddhism can see how nationalistic classifications of culture become blurred within in this region. The authors' research establishes the uniqueness of Isan culture convincingly by using evidence contained within the mural images along with the types of architectural features and images at the monastery, such as the distinct architectural style and the use of nagas, mythical snakes distinct to the region.
The work moves from the Isan culture surrounding the monastery and into the murals and the details within the murals. The first couple of chapters briefly give an overview of the religious culture of Isan focusing on the religious practices within the region. The work then examines the monastic buildings composing the monastery but focus on the sim, or ordination hall, where the murals are typically painted. A chapter titled The Setting of Isan establishes and explains for the reader the diverse cultural matrix that exists within the region. The authors persuasively display the roles of various forms of material and visual culture influencing the creation of the murals by establishing the use of shadow puppets and cloth paintings used in religious rituals. This repertoire of materials used is distinct to the region of Isan. Images of local culture are integrated into narratives of the life of the Buddha, past lives of the Buddha, and the Ramayana. The iconography, bodily gestures, mural layout, and the material used to compose the paint show the distinction between Isan and the murals of the central region of Thailand. Throughout the work, there is an underlying agenda to show the difference between the central region's murals and northeastern murals, in order to establish that they are separate entities from different cultural traditions.
Unfortunately, this work is too brief and leaves the reader wanting to know more about the rich subject matter of Isan murals and a more critical analysis of the materials by the authors. The exquisite photographs show the very intricate and complex details of the mural paintings. The book focuses a great deal on the details and finer points within the murals. By focusing so much on these intricate details, however, the authors neglect to give the larger macro view of the whole mural and the experience of viewing the mural. The figure captions need to be analyzed further, giving the reader more information about the details of the murals that which are photographed. Brereton and Yencheuy use a plethora of Thai sources on mural painting to construct their narrative, which helps provide a the general understanding of Thai mural scholarship for the English-reading audience. Students and scholars familiar with scholarship on mural painting in Thailand will notice that the way the work is written and laid out is similar to books on mural painting in the Thai language, including maps showing the route to the specific monasteries. These types of works are often written as guides to the mural paintings. The general layout helps to prove the most compelling and original argument, that murals are pilgrimage sites.
This work is of great value to students and scholars within not only the area study of Southeast Asia but also Asian studies because it a well-written and concise introduction to Isan culture and the role of Theravada Buddhist images and ritual practice within the region. Scholars of religion will find this book insightful due to the explanation and exploration of the religious practices of Isan especially the role of material and visual culture in creating a distinct religious space within the unique region of Isan.
