The Newsletter | No.69 | Autumn 2014 The Network | 37 Announcements Artistic Interventions. Histories, Cartographies and Politics in Asia Two-day workshop, 30-31 March 2015, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China Call for papers: deadline 15 november 2014 ORGANISED by IIAS, the Amsterdam Centre for Globalisation Studies (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands) and Hong Kong Baptist University. This event is part of the research network ‘Rethinking Asian Studies in a Global Context’, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in New York and coordinated by IIAS in collaboration with numerous institutions in Asia, the United States, Europe and Africa (see p45 of this issue; www.rethinking.asia) This call for papers and art projects is for PhD students and artists to submit their abstract for a two-day workshop to be held on 30 and 31 March 2015 at Hong Kong Baptist University. The workshop aims to move beyond the traditional paradigms of western scientific representation by re-examining the fundamental concepts of time and space in the construction of knowledge of and from Asia. During the first day of the workshop, leading scholars in the field of history and cultural studies, and artists from different localities in Asia, including Hong Kong, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea, will question the politics of history and cartography and explore new possible forms of knowledge. This call for papers and art projects concerns the second day, during which PhD students and artists are invited to present and discuss their work with these scholars. Limited funding for travel and accommodation is available. The workshop itself will be free of charge. The Workshop The Artistic Intervention workshop aims to critically interrogate prevailing categorisations of the history and cartography of Asia as institutionalised in Western humanities and open up alternative and new forms of knowledge and practices. During the two days we will discuss the fundamental concepts of time and space in the construction of knowledge of and from Asia. While area studies continue the endeavors of knowledge production, its inevitably intricate connections with national histories and geographies are increasingly foregrounded. Call for papers and art projects for PhD students and artists Applications should include: an abstract of your paper, max. 300 words a one-page CV, including contact details of two referees Applications should be sent by 15 November 2014 to Ms. Miyan Cheung c/o Dr. Chow Yiu Fai at [email protected] Selected candidates will be notified by 15 December 2014. Knowledge of Asia is still very much constructed by temporal narratives as vigorously and imaginatively as by spatial fixations: in other words, by their histories and geographies. Given that national histories are often deeply entrenched in authoritative discourses that maintain the imagined boundaries of the nation-state, and thereby erase or silence other possible histories and geographies, Prasenjit Duara’s call to rescue history – and geography, we add – from the nation, remains as urgent as ever. We think of the arts, the role of artists, artist-activists and artist run spaces, as a potential rescue tool, capable of moving beyond traditional paradigms of Western scientific representation. The workshop aims to question how artistic practices can help reimagine both time and space in the context of Asia, when put into an intimate dialogue with area studies and related methodologies and disciplines, such as anthropology, art history, cultural studies and so on. The alleged ‘rise of Asia’ feeds into different nationalisms in the region and beyond, making such reimaginations even more urgent. Its dependency on a meta-discourse on development and modernity are resonances of concepts that are deeply entrenched in social Darwinism, making this discourse on ’the rise of Asia’ all the more complicated, especially in its denial of human complexity and a human craving for aesthetic and political aspirations. The workshop seeks to probe into artistic and activist practices that proffer alternate histories, as well as processes that present different mappings of the world, the country or the city; these will be put in dialogue with area studies knowledge production that also seeks to destabilise existing cartographies and historical accounts. A transnational and diasporic remapping of Asia, in conjunction with exploring its multiple histories, holds the potential to question if not undermine emerging nationalisms and prevailing reifications of the idea of ’national cultures’. Confirmed speakers • Dr. Zheng Bo (Assistant professor at the School of Creative Media, specializes in socially engaged art, City University of Hong Kong) • Zoe Butt (Executive Director and Curator of Sàn Art, Ho Chi Minh City) • Tiffany Chung (Artist, Ho Chi Minh City) • Xing Danwen (Artist, Beijing) • Gridthiya Gaweewong (Artistic director of the Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok) • Edwin Jurriëns (Lecturer in Indonesian Studies at the Asia Institute, Faculty of Arts, the University of Melbourne) • Dr. Anson Mak (Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University and artist) • Prof. Eva Man (Executive Associate Dean of Graduate School & Professor in Humanities and Creative Writing, Hong Kong Baptist University) • Tozer Pak Sheung-Chuen (Conceptual artist, Hong Kong) • Dr. Y-Dang Troeung (Assistant professor, specializes in contemporary literature, film, and cultural studies in English, City University of Hong Kong) Organisers • Dr. Sadiah Boonstra (IIAS) [email protected] • Dr. Yiu Fai Chow (Department of Humanities and Creative Writing, Hong Kong Baptist University) [email protected] • Prof. Jeroen de Kloet (Amsterdam Centre for Globalisation Studies, University of Amsterdam) [email protected] • Dr. Việt Lê (Visual Studies Program | Visual + Critical Studies Graduate Program, California College of the Arts) [email protected] Australia warmly invites Asia Scholars to ICAS 9 The 9th International Convention of Asian Scholars 5-9 July, 2015, Adelaide, Australia Hosted by an international team of experts, spearheaded by Adelaide’s three leading universities: University of Adelaide, Flinders University of South Australia and the University of South Australia; in cooperation with the Asian Studies Association of Australia. Interested parties can participate as commentators, speakers (paper, panel, roundtable), exhibitors, contestants (ICAS Book Prize), or presenters (books and dissertations). Important deadlines and links: REGISTRATION NOW OPEN Register before 28 Feb 2015 and benefit from our early bird fees! Submit your abstracts, panels and roundtables by 30 Oct 2014 For application forms go to: www.icassecretariat.org Apply to present your book or pitch your PhD by 30 March 2015 Book presentations: www.icassecretariat.org/proposal-book-presentation PhD Pitch Proposals: www.icassecretariat.org/proposal-phd-pitch Display your products at ICAS 9 During the convention, publishers and (academic) organisations in the field of Asian studies have the opportunity to display their products to the public in the ICAS Exhibition Hall. Book your space at our special event site: www.icas9.com