BECOME A MEMBER MAKE A DONATION NEWS & EVENTS MEDIA & PRESS CONTACT US ARCHIVE EXHIBITIONS EVENTS SPECIAL EVENTS CORPORATE PROGRAMME CULTURAL PATRONS PROGRAMME PODCAST PAST EVENTS CURRENT EVENTS MEET THE ARTIST A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan Lecture by Seamus Murphy Wednesday 09 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM LECTURE Interpreting Japanese Culture in the UK Lecture by John Reeve Thursday 10 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM LECTURE - Travel Asia A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop Thursday 17 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM CURRENT AFFAIRS The Real Story of the British Army in Afghanistan by James Fergusson Wednesday 23 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM MEET THE ARTIST Shahzia Sikander In conversation with Nigel Prince, Curator, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham Thursday 31 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM FILM View From a Grain of Sand Wednesday 06 Aug, 2008 6:45 PM CURRENT AFFAIRS Building schools in Afghanistan Tuesday 12 Aug, 2008 6:45 PM     MEET THE ARTIST A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan Lecture by Seamus Murphy Wednesday 09 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM - 7:45 PM Location: Asia House Doors 6.30pm Over a period of 14 years Seamus Murphy photographed the effects of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the tumultuous years of civil war and the historical elections following the fall of the Taliban. Alongside scenes of war and politics, his magnificent photographs capture intimate images of domesticity, work and leisure. Seamus will talk about the photographs in the exhibition and the events he witnessed during his time in Afghanistan. Seamus Murphy has received many international honours including six World Press Photo awards and a World Understanding Award in 2005 for his work in Afghanistan. Organised as part of the Asia House exhibition A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan. Asia House Friends & Concs £5 / Others £8 For booking please call 020 7307 5454 or email > Image: Dasht-E-Qala, Takhar Province: November 2000 © Seamus Murphy LECTURE Interpreting Japanese Culture in the UK Lecture by John Reeve Thursday 10 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM - 7:45 PM Location: Asia House Doors 6.30pm John Reeve, former Head of Education at the British Museum, spent two decades studying and working on the presentation of Japanese art to the western public. Through his work on numerous Japanese exhibitions, two major Japan Festivals and the writing of three books introducing Japanese Arts, John Reeve is in a unique position to reflect on the interpretation of Japanese culture. He will discuss the changing contexts both in Britain and Japan and share his insights for potential dialogue and possible misinterpretation. John Reeve is an international museum consultant and visiting Fellow at the Institute of Education in London. This event is presented in association with the Japan Society. Asia House Friends, Japan Society Members & Concs £5 / Others £8 For booking please call 020 7307 5454 or email > Image: © Colour woodblock print by Kitagawa Utamaro, 1793. © The Trustees of the British Museum (JA 1924, 0327,0.14, donated by R.N. Shaw) LECTURE - Travel Asia A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop Thursday 17 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM - 7:45 PM Location: Asia House Doors 6.30pm Fuchsia Dunlop arrived in Chengdu, Sichuan province, in 1994 with the aim of learning the Chinese language. Today, she is a fluent Mandarin speaker and has published two acclaimed cookery books, Sichuan Cookery and Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook: Recipes from Hunan Province. Her new publication is a memoir, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, which tells the story of her travels around China and her personal journey, through the love of food, into the heart of Chinese culture. In this talk, Fuchsia will take us on a culinary trip from eating fire-exploding kidney flowers in Sichuan to her sampling of every kind of fiery peppers in Hunan province. In western China, she journeys to the Silk Road town of Kashgar in Xinjiang province, where Turkish and Eurasian influences clash with Chinese culture in a melting pot of religious and social contrasts. In eastern China, she travels to eat hairy crabs in Suzhou and sample the fabled delicacies of Yangzhou. Asia House Friends & Concs £5 / Others £8 For booking please call 020 7307 5454 or email > Image: © Pers-Anders Jorgensen CURRENT AFFAIRS The Real Story of the British Army in Afghanistan by James Fergusson Wednesday 23 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM - 7:45 PM Location: Asia House Doors 6.30pm Organised as part of the Asia House exhibition A Darkness Visible: Afghanistan. In April 2006 a small British peace-keeping force was sent to Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. Within weeks they were cut off and besieged by some of the world’s toughest fighters – the infamous Taliban. Far from peace-keeping, the British army has been drawn into some of the fiercest fighting it has seen for decades. James Fergusson’s new book A Million Bullets takes us to the dark heart of this battle zone, analyses the slide into war in Helmand and poses the troubling question of whether this war could have been avoided. James Fergusson is a freelance journalist and foreign correspondent who has written for many prominent publications such as the Independent, The Times, the Daily Telegraph and The Economist. Asia House Friends & Concs £5 / Others £8 For booking please call 020 7307 5454 or email > MEET THE ARTIST Shahzia Sikander In conversation with Nigel Prince, Curator, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham Thursday 31 Jul, 2008 6:45 PM - 7:45 PM Location: Asia House Doors 6.30pm Artist Shahzia Sikander talks with Nigel Prince, curator of her new exhibition at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham - her first solo show in the UK. The discussion will focus on the main propositions within her practice and on recent work developed from research visits in Laos. As a student in the 1980s at the National College of Art, Lahore, Shahzia Sikander studied the tradition of miniature painting. She was amongst the first to create international visibility for the reinterpretation of this genre, reinvesting it with her own present-day images and concerns. Recent exhibitions of Shahzia Sikander’s work include solo exhibitions at MCA, Sydney and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2007) and The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia (2006). Event supported by Ylva Taseer. Asia House Friends & Concs £5/ Others £8 For booking please call 020 7307 5454 or email > FILM View From a Grain of Sand Wednesday 06 Aug, 2008 6:45 PM - 9:00 PM Location: Asia House Documentary by Meena Nanji follows the last 30 years of Afghanistan's history as lived by three Afghan women. For booking please call 020 7307 5454 or email > CURRENT AFFAIRS Building schools in Afghanistan Tuesday 12 Aug, 2008 6:45 PM - 7:45 PM Location: Asia House Doors 6.30pm Greg Mortenson talks about his work as described in his book Three Cups of Tea. For booking please call 020 7307 5454 or email > Site credits > Asia House 63 New Cavendish Street London W1G 7LP Tel: +44(0)20 7307 5454 Fax: +44(0)20 7307 5459 Email >