Transnational Asian Art: Comparative Dialogues

The inter-institutional NYU Global Asia/Pacific Art Exchange takes place in Shanghai, China; Hong Kong; and Sydney, Canberra, and Wollongong, Australia on July 8-22, 2013. The exchange builds off the work of the International Network for Diasporic Asian Art Research (INDAAR) and East Coast Asian American Art Project (ECAAAP) focusing on Asian/Asian diasporic art globally.

Convened by Dean Chan, this closing colloquium for the exchange offers an opportunity for participants to reflect on the comparative forms, contexts, and meanings of transnational Asian art as encountered on this exchange with a special focus on diasporic visual cultures. The program commences with a public presentation and dialogue on Asian American art, followed by two themed colloquium sessions on transnational Asian art led by the exchange scholars and invited local participants.

Supported by Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU with NYU’s Global Research Initiative in collaboration with Wollongong City Gallery, INDAAR, and NYU in Sydney.

PROGRAM

PUBLIC SESSION

10:15-10:30AM           Welcome and Introduction

Dean Chan

10:30-11:30AM            “Asian American Art and Archives”

Alexandra Chang & Dipti Desai

Chair: Francis Maravillas

This presentation and dialogue will engage New York-based art scholars Alexandra Chang and Dipti Desai on Asian American Art. Chang will explore the frameworks of the Asian American Art narrative, touching on its related movements from the 1970s to the present. She will also speak on an inter-institutional archival and digital humanities project, The East Coast Asian American Art Project. Desai in turn will present how specific Asian American contemporary artists are examining archives through the medium of exhibitions, art books and symposiums — interpreting, contesting, redefining, and even reinventing our understanding of these collections.

11:30AM          End of public session

CLOSED SESSION

(This portion of the program is closed to the public)

1:00-2:30PM         Transnational Asian Art I: Topics, Trends, Theories

Panelists: Francis Maravillas (UTS) and Robyn Morris (UOW)

Chair: Dean Chan

2:30-4:00PM         Transnational Asian Art II: Art & Curatorial Practices

Panelists: Laurens Tan, Mohini Chandra, & Jo Law

Chair: Alexandra Chang

4:00-4:30PM         Closing Reception

VENUE INFORMATION

Wollongong City Gallery

46 Burelli Street, Wollongong NSW 2500, Australia

Street Address: Corner Kembla and Burelli Streets, Wollongong

Website: http://www.wollongongcitygallery.com/Pages/default.aspx

Phone: +61-(0)-2-42287500

Opening Hours: 
Open Tuesday to Friday 10AM-5PM; 
Weekends noon-4PM

Parking: 
Wollongong City Gallery is located approximately 10 minutes walk from Wollongong railway station. 
Metered parking is available in the nearby Stewart Street parking station.

ABOUT

Dean Chan is Senior Lecturer in Visualisation and Digital Media in the School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts, and Research Advisor in the School of Design and Art, at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is the founding Convenor of the International Network for Diasporic Asian Art Research (INDAAR) (http://indaar.wordpress.com/) and Associate Editor of Studies in Comics (Intellect Journals UK). His research interests focus on digital media (specifically, gaming and connective media) and visual culture (specifically, contemporary art and comics) in the Asia-Pacific region, concentrating on East Asian and diasporic Asian issues. Recent publications include the co-edited book Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific (Routledge, 2009) and co-edited special issues of Amerasia Journal (2010) on “Asian Australia and Asian America: Making Transnational Connections” and Third Text (2014) on “The Transnational Turn: East Asian Mobility.”

Alexandra Chang is the Curator of Special Projects and Director of Global Arts Programs at the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at New York University, where she is the director of the NYU Global Asia/Pacific Art Exchange. She is a writer, scholar and independent curator. She is also the co-organizer of the Diasporic Asian Art Network (DAAN) and serves on the executive committee of the International Network for Diasporic Asian Art Research (INDAAR). Chang is co-organizer of the East Coast Asian American Art Project (ECAAAP), an inter-institutional art, archives and digital humanities project, including the Virtual Asian American Art Museum Project (VAAAMP). She is the author of Envisioning Diaspora: Asian American Visual Art Collectives from Godzilla, Godzookie, to the Barnstormers (2008).

Dipti Desai is an Associate Professor and Director of the graduate program art education at New York University. She has extensive experience teaching students from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds at the elementary and middle school level in the United States, India, and New Zealand. As a scholar and artist-educator she is committed to addressing the formative role of visual representation and its politics in order to affect social change. She has published widely in the area of critical multiculturalism/ critical race theory in art education, contemporary art as a pedagogical site, and critical pedagogy and been on the editorial board of several journals, including senior editor of the Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education.  Her co-authored book History as Art, Art as History: Contemporary Art and Social Studies Education received an Honorable mention for Curriculum Practice Category by Division B of American Education and Research Association (AERA) and she has received the Ziegfield Service Award for contribution to International Art Education.

Dr Francis Maravillas is Associate Researcher at the Transforming Cultures Research Centre at the University of Technology, Sydney, where he also lectures in cultural studies. His research interests focus on contemporary art and visual culture in Asia and Australia, curatorial practice and international art exhibitions, socially engaged art and new media. His current research examines the role of food in contemporary Asian art; collaboration and community engagement in contemporary Asian and Pacific art; and art and the cultural industries in Hong Kong. His work appears in various journals and exhibition catalogues as well as edited collections including Asian Connectivities (2013), New Vision, New voices: Challenging Australian Identities and Legacies (2012), Crossing Cultures: Conflict, Migration and Convergence (2009), Cosmopatriots: On Distant Belongings and Close Encounters (2007) and In the Eye of the Beholder Reception and Audience for Modern Asian Art (2006). He was previously a board member of the 4a Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney (2004-2007).