click on the links below or go to Events page for more info

14 November 2009 - 5 September 2010
Southeast Asian Ceramic Society's 40th anniversary exhibition
@ NUS Museum, Singapore and launch of SEACS' new publication:
"Southeast Asian Ceramics: New Light on Old Pottery"

14 November 2009 - 5 September 2010
Guided Tours of exhibition "Southeast Asian Ceramics: New Light on Old Pottery"

11 August 2010
"Revealing the Magnificient Tang Dynasty Secrets of Famen Temple"
a talk by Patrica Bjaaland Welch

New on this website
"Traveller's Tale: A SEACS Study Tour of Historic Kiln Sites in Fujian and Jingdezhen" by Linda McLaren (This article has been reproduced from the June 2010 issue of the TAASA Review, the quarterly journal of the Asian Arts Society of Australia)

exhibition: “From China to Arabia: Ancient Treasure Ships and the Great Oman Voyage” A review by Natalie SY Ong

A talk by Lim Yah Chiew: “Five Dynasty Treasures: Chinese Ceramics found in the Indonesian Cirebon Shipwreck." Synopsis and commentary by Natalie Ong

Photo Album of SEACS Study Tour to Fujian and Jiangxi, China

Lecture by Rose Kerr: "Chinese Export Ceramics for the Southeast Asian Market
in the Victoria & Albert Museum." Synopsis by Natalie Ong

Formed in 1969, the Southeast Asian Ceramic Society’s purpose is to widen appreciation and acquire knowledge of the ceramic art of China and countries adjacent to China, especially those of Southeast Asia. To pursue this aim, local members meet for periodic discussion, to hear talks by experts and to study and compare ‘pots’.

The Southeast Asian Ceramics Society organised an inaugural Exhibition at the University Art Museum, Singapore in 1971. This landmark exhibition consisted of 350 examples of Khmer, Annamese and early Thai pottery, drawn largely from the University collection built up by Mr William Willetts, the curator, who served as the first President of the Society. A substantial number of pieces also came from the collection of Don Sinclair and other Members of the first Council.

The historian Mr John Guy has noted that this "presentation of the then little known ceramic tradition of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam caused a stir amongst the oriental ceramic cognoscenti.” Furthermore, that "the Willetts pioneering Catalogue for the Society inspired a generation of younger scholars and stimulated the interest of government archaeological departments throughout Southeast Asia." As a consequence, ceramic societies were to emerge in ensuing years in West Malaysia, Jakarta, Manila and Hong Kong, following the lead of the Singapore chapter.

The Society held 9 exhibitions in the period 1971-1993, and since 1999 has organised an annual William Willetts Lecture which is held immediately after the Society's Annual general meeting

In 2009, the Society celebrated its 40th anniversary. A new book entitled “Southeast Asian Ceramics: New Light on Old Pottery" has been published and an exhibition of the same name is being held at NUS Museum, Singapore from 14 November 2009 to 5 September 2010.