November 15, 2013

Mark your calendars! Join Assoc Prof John Miksic for his talk on Volunteer Archaeology in Singapore on Saturday, 7 Dec 2013. This event is organised as part of The Mapping Series: In Conjunction with Singapore Biennale 2013.

Speaker: Assoc Prof John Miksic (Dept. of Southeast Asian Studies, NUS)
Date: Saturday, 7 December 2013
Time: 2:00pm – 4:30pm
Venue: Visitors’ Briefing Room, Level 1, National Library Building

Synopsis
Who in Singapore cares about archaeology? Quite a few people, to judge by the number who have contributed their time, sweat, and energy to the subject over the last 30 years. The pursuit of archaeology has been an informal way of spending time for hundreds of volunteers since excavations began in 1984. Academics, soldiers, school children, visiting air crews, artists, secret society members, mystics – the list of participants encompasses nearly the entire spectrum of society. The unofficial nature of archaeology in Singapore has been in many ways a boon to the pursuit of knowledge about the past of both Singapore and Southeast Asia, since almost anybody who wants to has been able to play literally in or near their own back yards.

Register for this event here.