Ethnography, ethnobotany, and ethnolinguistics of Tropical Asia: A survey of Maclay Readings 2021–2022 and of a panel of the Radlov Readings 2023

Abstract

The paper presents a brief overview of three conferences organized by the Department of Australia, Oceania and Indonesia of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) of the RAS, St. Petersburg, in 2021–2023, Maclay Readings 2021 and 2022 and a panel on ethnobotany at the Radlov Readings 2023. Fieldwork in the countries of Southeast Asia and Oceania is the main focus of our Department. However, since Covid restrictions reduced our possibilities for travel during that period, ethnobotany, another topic traditional for our studies, was chosen as the main theme of the conference. Also, a number of papers dealt with the history, art, traditional and modern culture of the South of Asia and Oceania, as well as Austronesian and Austroasiatic languages.