This Masterclass explores conceptions and representations of space and sacred space in Asia and discusses its functions and adaptations in a multi-disciplinary approach. Conceptions of space are reflected in religious ideas and rituals, in literature, and in the art and architecture of various Asian cultures. Modern media, such as television and internet have produced new conceptions of space. Further representations of various kinds of space include primeval space such as the cosmos; man-designed realms of power, such as the kingdom, the empire and the nation; and space as captured in the direct living environment of man, such as the city, the house, and the garden. We pay attention to idealized representations of space as the sacred background for pilgrimages and spaces created for isolating the dangerous or unacceptable, such as places of initiation and cemeteries. Finally, we investigate the use of space to exert power and the creation and use of alternative spaces to resist the dominant order. 

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