A two day conference exploring the timely topic of borders, citizenship and state identity in relation to art and design practices across the Chinese straits - through the examination of artworks, designed objects, exhibitions, performance and protest spaces. Presentations are given by international artists, curators and scholars, some of whom are disseminating research findings from the associated Visualising Chinese Borders AHRC-funded research network project: visualisingchineseborders.wordpress.com.

Contact: Dr Beccy Kennedy: B.M.Kennedymmu.ac.uk


PROGRAM

Tuesday 5th April

8:30 - registration and tea/coffee

9:30
Dr Ming Turner
Welcome and Introduction to Visualising Chinese Borders

9:40
Keynote: summary of research by Professor Paul Gladston, University of Nottingham.


Session 1: Research findings: Towards a Discourse on Chinese Border Art

10:15
Beccy Kennedy
What is a border and how can it be visualised?: summary of project findings

10:45
Ying Kwok
Art and censorship in Hong Kong

11:15
Rachel Marsden
Local Action to Global "Agitprop" - The Politics of Chinese Occupy Movements

11:45 - discussion and questions

12:30 - lunch


Session 2: Design Directions

1:30
Zara Arshad
"Design in China: Towards a Transnational Interpretation

2:00
Crystal Chan
The Design Culture of the Occupy Sites in Hong Kong Umbrella Movement

2:30 - discussion and questions.

3:00 - tea/coffee


Session 3: Displacements

3:45
Lily Mitchell
Cultures of Revolution : The changing political narratives of curating Chinese contemporary art in the UK

4:15
Alnoor Mitha
Borderless Artistic Journeys of Han Bing: The Green Walking Movement in Manchester April 2008

4:45
Joshua Jiang TBC

5:15 - discussion and questions

5:30 - walk to Enoch Cheng exhibition private view - 'Inhere' at the Grosvenor Gallery, on campus.

5:45 - 7 PM - wine reception and private view


Wednesday 6th April

9:00 - 9:30 - registration and tea/coffee

Session 4: Performing the Border

9:30
Linda Pittwood
Clash of Impulses: Chineseness and the Body in Chinese Contemporary Art

10:00
Pedro Bakker
Visualising the (Chinese) border of the private underground.

10:30
Jeremy A. Murray
Taming the Southern Wilds with Song and Dance: The Red Detachment of Women (Hongse niangzi jun) and Mainland Perceptions of Hainan and China's Southern Border (Skype)

11:00
Mirjam Troester
Visualising Borders on Stage: The Case of Theatrical Touring across the Taiwan Strait

11:30
Jane Brake and John Van Aitken (Institute of Urban Dreamin)
Developing Frontiers: photography as border work in the case of Xian urban village, Guangzhou

12:00 - Discussion and Questions

12:30 - lunch


Session 5: Migrating Practices

1:00
Isabel Seliger
Between "Inter-", "Trans-" and "Multi-": Virtual Migrations in the 3D Work of Miao Xiaochun

1:30
Tyler Russell
Visualizing Chinese Borders in Vancouver: The role of Artistic and Curatorial Practice in the Development of Strategies for Cultural Resilience and Diversity in the Contemporary

2:00
Elva Lai
Searching for Home: The Theme of Migration in Contemporary Art

2:30
Vavara Shavrova
'Between the Borders: Russia and China border dynamics: imagination, reality and change explored by a visual artist'


3:00 - plenary discussion chaired by Ming Turner and Beccy Kennedy

3:30 - 5:30 - Site visits to exhibitions by project partners at the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Art and Castlefield Gallery

5:30 - drinks and meal at Home Manchester (not included in conference schedule; please ask me to book). If you are staying a further day there is also a talk by Professor Sarah Perks as part of the Hong Kong film season at Home on 7th April. Book here http://homemcr.org/film/portland-street-blues/

Schedule subject to minor changes.