Giuseppe Tucci - Explorer and Extraordinary Scholar
Celebrating Asian Cultures
Hosted by Monash Asia Institute, the Italian Institute of Culture (Melbourne) and the Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente
Friday 1 October 2010, 10:00 am - 5:35 pm
Room H1.16, First Floor, Building H, Monash University Caulfield Campus
900 Dandenong Road, Caulfield East, Victoria 3145, Australia
DOWNLOAD Abstracts
(The abstracts of both the workshop and symposium are included in this document. They are presented in alphabetical order by contibutors' names.)
About the symposium
The last great European explorer in Asia, Giuseppe Tucci (1894–1984) walked through the sands and the mountains of Asia in search of the vestiges of ancient cultures. He mastered languages including Latin, Chinese, Sanskrit and Hebrew and discussed philosophical problems in Sanskrit with Indian pundits.
Ahead of his time, he recognized the internationalist nature of Buddhism, and charted its spread into areas that scholarship had not yet investigated. He had profound knowledge in the fields of philology, history, philosophy, psychology, history of religion, and ethnography. His dignified, literary writing style was highly regarded by his fellow scholars. He initiated research in anthropology, archaeology and history in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nepal. Tucci is remembered internationally for his contribution to the study of Tibetan culture, history and religion, fields in which he was the pre-eminent scholar over several decades.
The lead-up to the symposium will include a series of films about Tucci, Italian culture and explorations of Asia at the Institute of Italian Culture in Melbourne, and a two-day workshop for HDR students and Researchers before the main event.
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| Giuseppe Tucci in Western Tibet (Gu-ge, Kho-char / Khojarnath) in 1935. Photo by Eugenio Ghersi | Giuseppe Tucci reading the inscription with the genealogy of the Khasa Malla kings at Dullu near Jumla in Nepal, 1954. Photo by Francesca Benardi | Giuseppe Tucci in Nepal in 1954, reading a Sanskrit manuscript, next to him, on the right, is Tucci's wife Francesca Benardi |
Speakers
| Mr Zahiruddin Ahmad | The Historical status of China in Tibet: 13th-20th century. |
| Prof Greg Bailey (La Trobe University) |
The implication of Giuseppe Tucci's work for Epic and Puranic studies. |
| A/Prof Gustavo Benavides (Villanova University) |
Orientalism and Colonialism in Giuseppe Tucci’s work. |
| Dr Claudio Cicuzza (Webster University Thailand Campus Cha-am) |
Working on Tucci’s Buddhist manuscript legacy: the Laghutantratika by Bodhisattva Vajrapani and its description of the rotation of yoginis. |
| Dr Francesco D’Arelli (IsIAO) |
A glimpse of some Archives on Giuseppe Tucci's scientific expeditions to Tibet (1929-1939). |
| Dr Andrea Di Castro (Monash University) |
Tucci and archaeology: On some Swat, Gandharan and Kashmiri goddesses. |
| Prof Erberto Lo Bue (University of Bologna) |
Tucci and Tibetan art historical studies |
| Dr Andrew McGarrity (University of Sydney) |
Giuseppe Tucci on the relation between philosophical reasoning and spiritual practice in Buddhist philosophical systems. |
| Prof Francesco Sferra (University of Naples “L'Orientale”) |
Method and result: Tucci's contribution to Buddhology and Indo-Tibetan studies. |
| Dr David Templeman (Monash University) |
Tucci and 17th century Tibetan politics: a re-evaluation? |
| RSVP (essential for catering purposes) | http://www.meetings.com.au/cmoeoi/fillsurvey.php?sid=7 |