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For immediate release 1 June 1994 -. ,. I. ‘. . . Tel: (852) 358 63 16 Fax: (852) 358 0537
HKUST WORKSHOP ON ART AND POLITICS IN CHINESE SOCIETY
Is the allocation of public space a function of how power is distributed in society ?
This is one of the questions to be examined in “National Spaces: Cultural Identity, Art, and Politics in Chinese Society”, the second annual Workshop in Social History and Cultural Anthropology organised by the Division of Humanities of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
The workshop will be presented by Dr. Rubie Watson of Harvard University. In a series of four lectures Dr Watson will examine the relationship between the arts and nationalism in modern
China. The first two lectures (June 4) consider the transformation of the Forbidden City into a
public museum and the construction of Tiananmen Square. Dr Watson argues that, until
recently, these spaces have expressed and celebrated a “statist” view of national history. In the 1990s however, political elites no longer monopolise these ceremonial centres and must now compete with ordinary citizens for control over the use and meaning of these sites.
On June 11 Dr Watson will discuss the politics of space in Hong Kong. Beliefs in geomancy and “feng-shui” practices, she argues, have become part of local political debates about the allocation and use of public space. In the final lecture questions of historical preservation are considered in detail. Preservation has become an important political issue throughout East Asia, including Hong Kong. Dr Watson will analyze the role that preservation efforts play in forming . group identities in Hong Kong.
The workshop schedule is as follows:
June 4 10:00 a.m. From Palace to Museum to Palace Museum:
China’s Travelling National Art Collection
2:30 p.m. Constructing Tiananmen Square:
Commemoration and Amnesia in Mao’s China
June .11 10:00 a.m. Public Space/Private Space:
Geomancy in Modern Hong Kong
2:30 p.m. Preserving the Past:
Conservation and Authenticity in East Asia
The venue is in Room 7332, Academic Building, HKUST. All are welcome.