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Ambeth Ocampo

Ambeth Ocampo on the inspiration behind this collection of essays: “Chulalongkorn’s elephants are the bronze elephants the King of Siam gave to Singapore and Java as gifts during his travels in 1871. I met the Singapore elephant first as I traced Rizal’s footsteps and found a reference to it in his diary. It was upon meeting next the Jakarta elephant that prompted me to compile this collection of essays that begins and ends with an elephant. More reflective than usual and going beyond Rizal and my 19th-centuray comfort zone, these explorations still carry my trademark irreverent humor.”

Anvil Publishing, Inc.

Looking Back

Looking Back 4: Chulalongkorn's Elephants : The Philippines in Asian History

In these beguiling essays on what lies beyond the fringes of Philippine recorded history—whether pointing out the laughing carabao on the margins of a centuries-old map, or combing for shards of Ming porcelain on a coral beach—Ocampo reminds us that the endless gathering and joining and breaking apart of apparently 'useless' bits is, after all, what makes us what we are, and connects us with others in their own quest for identity.

Looking Back 6: Prehistoric Philippines