February 5, 2018 Hosted by the Department of Asian Studies, the Hong Kong Studies Initiative (HKSI) at the University of British Columbia is devoted to promoting the teaching and research of this most-improbable metropolis, both as an extraordinary Chinese city and as a spectacular international and transnational hub. |
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Dear Friend of HKSI, We are excited to invite you to the following upcoming events: |
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No Foreigners: February 7-17, 2018The Cultch presents. . . NO FOREIGNERS With Hong Kong Exile (Vancouver) + fu-GEN Theatre (Toronto) | in association with Theatre Conspiracy (Vancouver) Through live performance and a micro-to-macro camera apparatus, No Foreigners considers Chinese shopping malls as racialized spaces of cultural creation and clash. An interdisciplinary collaboration from Hong Kong Exile and fu-GEN Theatre (Toronto), two leading Asian-Canadian performing arts companies, No Foreigners is an exciting new world premiere with writing from Governor General's Award laureate for English Drama, David Yee. Several original stories manifest in a mall and quickly diverge—catapulting across cities, between Cantonese and English, in and out of the afterlife, and through past, present, and future. No Foreigners weaves together text, miniatures, and media design as it attempts to unpack what is at the heart of “Chineseness” and what the future can hold for all of us as visitors and settlers. Discount available for friends of HKSI: Promo Code: China Showing at Vancity Culture Lab. |
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Nine Dragons: April 12-21, 2018Gateway Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of Nine Dragons. Artistic director Jovanni Sy has created a riveting crime drama that will satisfy lovers of classic mysteries and detective stories. In 1924 Kowloon, Hong Kong, a killer is on the loose. Tommy Lam (John Ng, Kim's Convenience), Hong Kong’s most brilliant police detective, is brought on to investigate. The leading suspect, however, is Victor Fung, the son of one of the wealthiest families in Asia. A cat-and-mouse game ensues between Tommy and his mysterious nemesis. Discount available for friends of HKSI: Promo Code: MYSTERYHKSI Showing at Gateway Theatre. |
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Friday, 9 February 2018, 2 pm Co-sponsors: Department of Asian Studies, Centre for Chinese Research, Department of History, and Department of English Registration: hksi.ubc.ca/events/event/seminar-always-liminal-always-in-transition Hong Kong is internationally renowned for its density, often depicted by images of the dramatic skyline of Hong Kong Island with Victoria Harbor in the foreground and the Peak behind. However, for those who are more familiar with the city, another image is likely more representative: that of the city’s animated, almost visually cacophonous, narrow streets and ubiquitous stairs. Through a critical examination of these structures in relation to relevant literary and filmic texts, I will demonstrate in this talk how the perception of Hong Kong is transformed and re-imagined by considering the city as a landscape punctuated and even constructed by stairs. By examining the impact and socio-cultural effects of escalators, such as high-speed gentrification, the closure of local shops, and the loss of genuine public spaces, and comparing these mechanical movers with stairs, I argue that staircases expose the nature of a classed society and represent a nostalgia that is potentially productive. Louis Lo is an associate professor in the Department of English at the National Taipei University of Technology. His research interests include the history of ideas, the representation of cities in literature and films, and Asian cinema. He is the author of Male Jealousy: Literature and Film (Continuum, 2008), and co-author and photographer (with Jeremy Tambling) of Walking Macao, Reading the Baroque (Hong Kong University Press, 2009). He is also the director and screenplay writer of two short films about the city, Taipei Astray (2014) and Two Women (2016). This event is held in conjunction with the Asian Studies Lunar New Year Celebration. |
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Thursday, 15 February 2018, 5:30 pm Co-sponsors: Department of Asian Studies, Centre for Chinese Research, Department of History, Department of Sociology, and St. John’s College Registration: hksi.ubc.ca/events/event/seminar-hong-kong-nationalism-and-the-chinese-dream-in-the-age-of-global-capitalism Hong Kong is internationally renowned for its density, often depicted by images of the dramatic skyline of Hong Kong Island with Victoria Harbor in the foreground and the Peak behind. However, for those who are more familiar with the city, another image is likely more representative: that of the city’s animated, almost visually cacophonous, narrow streets and ubiquitous stairs. Through a critical examination of these structures in relation to relevant literary and filmic texts, I will demonstrate in this talk how the perception of Hong Kong is transformed and re-imagined by considering the city as a landscape punctuated and even constructed by stairs. By examining the impact and socio-cultural effects of escalators, such as high-speed gentrification, the closure of local shops, and the loss of genuine public spaces, and comparing these mechanical movers with stairs, I argue that staircases expose the nature of a classed society and represent a nostalgia that is potentially productive. Wai Kit Choi is Associate Professor of Sociology at California State University, Los Angeles, and was a Fulbright Scholar from 2009 to 2010. His research interests are in globalization, historical sociology, and sociological theory. He has published in journals such as Journal of Historical Sociology, Postcolonial Studies and Science & Society. He also has an article on Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement forthcoming in the journal Perspective on Global Development and Technology. |
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Friday, 16 February 2018, 1:30 pm Co-sponsors: Department of Asian Studies, Centre for Chinese Research, Department of History, Department of Theatre and Film, St. John’s College, and the Institute for Transpacific Cultural Research (SFU) Registration: hksi.ubc.ca/events/event/seminar-behind-the-scenes Over the decades there have been many encounters between members of the Hollywood and Hong Kong entertainment industries such as film collaborations and co-productions. In comparing the two industries, stark differences including their size, scope, and relationship to the state are evident. Yet, production ethnography reveals that the Hollywood and Hong Kong entertainment industries share commonalities, and that the professionals within them express similar concerns. Drawing upon multi-sited anthropological fieldwork conducted with media professionals in the commercial film and TV industries of Los Angeles and Hong Kong, I will analyze some of these connective threads. Examining commonalities between these industries illuminates how global processes interact with local dynamics from the perspective of media anthropology. This paper also seeks to demonstrate that ethnographic research contributes to a more informed and holistic understanding of images and stories that audiences consume by exploring the conditions in which mass media are produced. Sylvia J. Martin is an anthropologist and Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine, and is the author of Haunted: An Ethnography of the Hollywood and Hong Kong Media Industries (Oxford University Press, 2016). Dr. Martin specializes in media anthropology and has published on Hong Kong and U.S. film production, performance, globalization, and media labor. Selected publications include articles in Visual Anthropology Review and Critical Studies in Media Communication, the latter of which has received an Outstanding Paper Award (2017) from the Academy of Hong Kong Studies. This event is held in conjunction with the Institute of Asian Research Lunar New Year Celebration. |
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Friday, 9 February 2018, 10am-4:30pm The Department of Asian Studies presents their annual Lunar New Year Celebration! To celebrate this most important holiday in both Chinese and Korean cultures, we would like to sincerely invite you to come and enjoy wonderful performances, great food, hands-on crafts and activities, as well as a meaningful seminar. Have fun with friends, celebrate cultures, and kick off the Year of the Dog with Asian Studies! Check out this year's program here. Thank you, as always, for your support of the Hong Kong Studies Initiative. Leo K. Shin 單國鉞 *Please kindly consider a tax-deductible donation to HKSI: hksi.ubc.ca/support-us |
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