Asian Cities and Cultural Change Conference Report

Concept
After an Indigenous welcome by Matilda House, Professor Meaghan Morris gave the Conference keynote introduction. Professor Morris compared women filmmakers in Korea and Australia, explaining the problem of narrating historically drastic transitions as they relate to women’s lives. She wove together themes from Margot Nash’s ‘Vacant Possession’ (1995) with ‘Women’s History Trilogy’ (2000-2004) by Kim Soyoung. This paper drew out many critical issues for the conference discussions, including the place of tradition, the pace of change, the political and social forces at work in metropolitan cultures in Asia and especially how those changes impact on women, and the role of creative and artistic expression in illuminating cultural change.

Anirudh Paul and Shekhar Krishnan in their paper on the ‘Geographies of Resistance’ focused on urban housing within design, planning and architectural discourses in one of the world’s most rapidly changing cities: Mumbai. The focus of their paper was on community resistance to ‘the predatory forces of the new metropolitan environment’. This detailed introduction to the urban politics of metropolitan Asia opened up a lively discussion for the afternoon sessions.

Professor Graeme Turner’s thoughtful and highly pertinent explanation of the Australian suburb and the implications of this for the Australian urban imaginary and national identity analysis highlighted present day concerns regarding multiculturalism. His paper provided a fascinating contrast to Professor Geremie Barmé’s paper on Beijing as a ‘garden of violence’ in the same session. Barmé’s paper drew on a range of critical questions in the cultural and intellectual history of China.

The final session of the conference saw a series of illuminating presentations by Oscar Ho and Professors Wang Xiaoing and Stephen Chan.

At the conclusion of the conference a book launch was held for the book Art and Social Change: Contemporary Art in Asia and the Pacific edited by HRC Deputy Director Dr Caroline Turner, and published by Pandanus Books. Ten of the book’s authors were present and the book was launched with speeches by Professor Iain McCalman, Professor David Williams and Jonathan Mane-Wheoki. About 150 people attended the launch and the event was filmed by the ABC television for the Asia-Pacific Report.