Date & Time
Friday, June 25 | 9:00-14:00 CEST, 03:00-08:00 EDT, 17:00-22:00 AEST
Description
This workshop gathers a group of international scholars, curators and media artists to share emergent practices and research of situated urban screen and public media art in three Asian megacities that have undergone rapid economic, urban and cultural development since the 1997 Asian financial crisis: Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong. Workshop participants will engage in discussion with the invited speakers on the themes, challenges, and provocations that will emerge from this session.
To date, there has been little scholarly attention in film, media and cultural studies given to the impact of urban media in public space in Asian cities. Having established economic stability up to and since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong continue to face intensified challenges of increased density attributed to urban redevelopment and growth, which has resulted in the rise of a sense of placelessness among inhabitants. As a result, recent initiatives have focused on making these cities livable and sustainable with Singapore, Seoul and Hong Kong named the top three Asian cities ranked as such (2018 Sustainable Cities Index). Livability includes embedding technology into everyday life, merging media and urban fabric in the interest of increased efficiency and usability. However, liveability also means creating cultural initiatives for urban place-making, now made more pertinent during a global pandemic.
These cities have initiated development of an arts and culture infrastructure, producing urban media art events in the interest of crafting a sense of place and culture. In such media embedded urban environments, what are cities communicating to us and what do we communicate back? How have these dynamics shifted as the result of the pandemic? An analysis of urban media in these cities would develop the foundations of a regional understanding of how screens and media art in urban environments impacts communication between cities and people in Asia.
Registration
More information & Contact
Kristy H.A. Kang, Nanyang Technological University | khakang@ntu.edu.sg