Southeast Asian arts, the literary, performing, and visual arts of Southeast Asia. Although the cultural development of the area was once dominated by Indian influence, a number of cohesive traits predate the Indian influence.

Southeast Asian arts - Mythology, Rituals, Symbols: The predominant themes of Southeast Asian arts have been religion and national history. In religion the main interest was not so much in actual doctrine but in the life and personality of the Buddha and …

Southeast Asian arts - Indigenous Traditions: The peoples of Southeast Asia were once thought to have shared a lack of inventiveness since prehistoric times and to have been “receptive” rather than “creative” in their contacts with foreign civilizations.

Southeast Asian arts - Sculpture, Textiles, Architecture: Hindu royal temples in Indian styles provide the basis for the architectural and decorative elements found in the ancient monuments of Southeast Asia. But a distinct local aesthetic emerged early on, when builders identified architectural form with cosmological beliefs.

Southeast Asian arts, Literary, performing, and visual arts of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.

The blending of foreign and indigenous styles transformed Southeast Asia’s art during the rise of Hindu and Buddhist states in the beginning of the 1st century ce.

Southeast Asian arts - Thailand, Laos, Crafts: Archaeology has recovered in central Thailand substantial glimpses of the magnificent early layer of Indianized culture, which includes a religious art that was produced between the 6th and 11th centuries by …

Southeast Asian arts - Philippine Music, Dance, Crafts: Whatever indigenous theatrical forms may have existed in the Philippines, other than tribal epic recitations, were obliterated by the Spanish to facilitate the spread of Christianity.

Southeast Asian arts - Malaysian Crafts, Music, Dance: At least three principal cultural influences—Indonesian, Hindu, and Islamic—left their musical marks in Malaysia. The Indonesian influence is seen principally in musical forms, participants, and paraphernalia of the Malaysian shadow play (wayang kulit).

Southeast Asian arts - Colonial, Modern, Influences: The entire region of Southeast Asia, with the single exception of Thailand, fell under colonial rule, and Thailand itself survived more as a buffer state than as a truly independent kingdom.