ASIAN CANADIANS IN VISUAL CULTURE CONFERENCE/WORKSHOP​​FINAL PROGRAMMarch 2-4, 2017 | Concordia University

Concordia hosts the first Asian Canadians in Visual Culture Conference
Conference/Workshop
Asian Canadians in Visual Culture

When: March 2–4, 2017
Where: Concordia University, EV Building, 1515 de Maisonneuve Blvd, W. (metro Guy-Concordia)
Admission is Free. Wheelchair accessible.
For complete program: http://www.ethnoculturalarts.com/

Montreal, February 23, 2017: The Canada 150: Asian Canadians in Visual Culture project is proud to present the first Asian Canadians in Visual Culture conference/workshop, at Concordia University, from March 2 through 4, 2017. Featuring two keynote evenings and a full day of workshop presentations, the conference welcomes scholars, students, and cultural workers engaged in Asian Canadian Visual Culture Studies research, creation, and cultural engagement.

The three-day meeting considers Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017 as a key moment to address the representation of Asian Canadians in visual culture—their presence, visibility, contributions and challenges— through interdisciplinary dialogue across the visual arts, film and cinema, journalism, politics, and popular culture as well as community-based initiatives.

Our proceedings start with the firm acknowledgement of the history of engagements between Indigenous peoples, racialized settler immigrants, and European settlers from contact to present-day. The two evening public keynotes and panel set the tone and provide the critical framework for the discussions over the three days of the conference and workshop sessions.

For Day 1, March 2, the conference begins with an opening and networking reception, 2:30pm-4:00pm, on the second floor atrium of the EV Building, followed by a keynote lecture, 4:00pm-5:30pm, in the York Auditorium (EV-1.615), by Filipino diasporic studies scholar Roland Sintos Coloma whose presentation, “Queering Asian Canada: Archives, Fantasies, and Utopic Counterpublics,” will speak to experiences and representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Asians in Canada

​Day 2, March 3, starts with a full day of workshops, 9:00am-5:00pm, on the challenges of intersectionality studies and controversial topics in Canadian and Quebec visual culture concerning Asian Canadians, in the Jarislowsky Institute (EV-3.725). Our second keynote and panel, 6:00pm-8:30pm, will focus on cross-cultural anti-oppression alliances and practices between African- and Asian Canadians and Indigenous peoples in light of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action. The keynote lecture, “Shame: Notes from An Exoduster’s Archive” by Black Canadian artist Deanna Bowen, will be followed by panel presentations by Métis artist and scholar Dylan Miner and anti-oppression social studies scholars Gordon Pon and Doret Phillips.

The conference will wrap on Day 3, March 4, with an open plenary for conference participants.

This conference is organized as a part of the SSHRC-funded collaborative research project, Canada 150: Asian Canadians in Visual Culture, initiated by Alice Ming Wai Jim (Concordia University), Ming Tiampo (Carleton University), Christopher Lee (University of British Columbia), and Alexandra Chang (New York University). The project brings together researchers, cultural practitioners and community organizers through a series of workshops, conference meetings, and public lectures in New York, Montreal, and Ottawa.
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The Montreal conference is made possible with the generous support of the Ethnocultural Art Histories Research Group (EAHR), the Indigenous Art Research Group (IARG), the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art, the Department of Art History, and the CANADA 150 Asian Canadians in Visual Culture Project. The project organizers thank the staff of Concordia University and our many volunteers for their devoted assistance.

Contact: Alice Ming Wai Jim, alice.jim@concordia.ca