Keynote Speakers
Ien Ang
Distinguished Professor of Cultural Studies, Institute for Culture and Society Western Sydney University
“Embedding Cultural Infrastructure in the City: Museums and Communities in Expanding Sydney”
Flagship cultural institutions such as museums have long been significant sites of cultural representation and prestige in the city. In the 21st century, however, museums are increasingly expected to contribute to local place-making and community cultural development. To be successful, new museums must embed themselves in the context of their physical and social environments. In this talk, I will focus on the development of a new flagship museum in Parramatta, a relatively underprivileged part of metropolitan Sydney. Through the example of the establishment of the Powerhouse Parramatta I will discuss some of the complexities and challenges associated with the politics of cultural infrastructure in the process of urban transformation.
The keynote addresses by Distinguished Professor Ien Ang will be accessible digitally through zoom. No registration required.
Click here for Distinguished Professor Ien Ang (2 December 2:15-3:45 pm Singapore time)
Meeting ID: 974 2653 0626
Passcode: 899225
Ou Ning
Artist, film maker, curator, writer, publisher, and activist
“Local Turn: Toward the Rooted Practices of Art and Culture”
All the time, we have been dreaming of a barrier-free mobility, keeping up with the track of globalization, eager to acquire a universal language, and going to the largest cultural center to show our strength and struggle for a place. However, COVID-19 took advantage of our mobility, broke through all borders, got us in in quarantine, and dealt a heavy blow to the so-called “achievements of globalization.” This global health crisis forces us to think about the possibility of the Local Turn. Fortunately, the technological development accumulated in the process of globalization, whether long-distance transportation or the Internet, makes it possible for us to start a reverse flow, leave the densely populated global centers, return to the local places, take root in scattered or even distant geographical locations, absorb local nutrients, promote the organic growth of art and culture, and thus form a diversified cultural ecology. Let the resources flow back to the small place, activate the native history and tradition, and it will be easier to form a community with solidarity and cares on a small population scale. On this basis, the artistic practice and cultural production will cast a unique locality, and different localities will converge into the starry night sky, which will be a world picture different from the homogeneous culture of globalization.
The keynote addresses by Distinguished Professor Ou Ning will be accessible digitally through zoom. No registration required.
Click here for Ou Ning (3 December 10:00-11:15 am, Singapore time)
Meeting ID: 937 8865 8568
Passcode: 103200