London - 28 June 2018 - Northumbria Uni. London Campus, TAD Postgraduate Research Forum hosted the final external speaker event this year with guest speaker Dr Nicola Stylianou. We were particularly keen to have Nicola speak as her focus since completing a PhD for her AHRC collaborative thesis (TrAIN, UAL London and the V&A) has been on museum collecting and African textiles. ‘Producing and Collecting for Empire: African textiles at the V&A 1852-2002’ Her presentation centered on a Heritage Lottery funded project that ran from 2015 which Stylianou was part of, at Brighton Museum, entitled ‘Fashioning Africa’. Its focus was on museum collecting and African material culture, with an emphasis on material that has previously not been included (dress from the post-colonial period). Stylianou outlined some of the issues to do with collecting such as the internal processes surrounding decisions regarding what was to be collected. The project aimed to address this by reaching out to an external panel that included academics, diasporans, and those generally interested in fashion and culture. This engagement with an external panel was significant in that it had the potential to impact on acquisitions and collecting process, typically not accessible to those outside of the museum. The presentation also touched on categorization and included a critical analysis of some of the negative perceptions that stem from an image of Africa as local, rural & traditional. Attendees came from diverse backgrounds (Fashion, teaching, researchers of material culture etc) Feedback regarding Stylianou’s presentation was that it was engaging and thought provoking. The examples discussed as well as the textiles that she brought in for us to analyse and handle were particularly compelling and instrumental to the discussion that followed and questions that stemmed from it. A member of TAD had the following to say: “The talk was easy to follow, even for me that didn’t have any background knowledge of the African context. Dr Stylianou touched many theoretical points that are tangent to my my research, in particular, the challenge of creating a collection that represents a distant culture, or better in the case of the African continent, multiple distant cultures. Moreover, another interesting point occurred when the speaker explained to us the practical method of purchasing African fashion design products, and how the value of that material is difficult to estimate following European criteria and scale of values. Finally Dr Stylianou also displayed examples of African textiles that was really helpful to understand the quality of the current African traditional manufacture.” The questions raised related to the processes in selecting the panel, the power dynamics in the engagement between museum staff and external contributors, the challenges and perceptions of value as well as in acquiring material. The question of why ‘Africa’ is so often discussed as a whole continent led to some interesting dialogue and the need for sensitivity to cultural traditions as well as to the existing relationships of the participants taking part, as well as how these ethical considerations were managed. The conversation was stimulating and an opportunity to reflect on shared interests and themes within our own research.
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TAD Postgraduate Research Forum hosted its second external speaker Dr Bernadettle Lynch, an academic and museum professional and Honorary Research Associate at University College London (UCL). Her presentation ‘Pity porn or activism for social justice? A critical look at museums and migration’ addressed issues to do with Museums in the West and approaches taken to tackle the ‘migrant crisis’ arguing that more interrogation of museums is needed to question to what extent museums are supporting migrants and the prejudice, social injustice and dislocation felt. Her presentation was supported by examples of museum practice which she used to engage with the audience and to ask for feedback. Her ongoing research considers themes related to power, decolonisation, and organisation change in the museum amongst other topics. The issues raised were particularly relevant to TAD and the agenda of the group which engages with concepts such as transculturation, hybridity and globalisation. Her presentation provoked a variety of responses from the audience. One TAD member Massimiliano Papini commented that her presentation had highlighted questions on the ways in which colonial countries have looked at the colonised in the past and how this balance has changed over time and continues to transform the discourse in a political way. He also felt it emphasised the urgent need to find other solutions to a problem which persists. Another comment came from Kahina Lelouvier who observed that although it appears there are efforts being made to be inclusive, there is still a coloniality which unintentionally reproduces power structures which was referred to in the presentation by Bernadette Lynch as “soft bigotry”.
Professor Timon Screech is a professor of the History of Art, writer and scholar with an expertise in early modern Japan. His presentation entitled ‘From the Gate to the Railing: Changing Iconographies of Power in Japan’ focused on the iconography of power in Japan and how it drastically changed during the Meiji Era. Prof. Screech looked specifically at the transition from the monumental gate that hid the shogun’s residence, and consequently the shogun itself, to the railing that, conversely, invited the people to see inside freely. This pivotal change was due to the decision by the Japanese ruling class to reinvent their monarchy, following European examples. Japan's attempt to be in line with the European hegemonic model articulated the common TAD subjects such as cultural difference, transculturation, and hybridity. Fascinatingly was to negotiate how all these diverse cultures perceive the same thing differently, what meanings and definitions they attribute to such visual element and how they treat [it] in terms of use, and most importantly how 'railings' constitute a 'visual marker' of different identities. The topic of the talk was particularly aligned to the TAD group agenda, in particular to concepts such as transculturation, hybridity, and globalisation; in other words, how two or more different cultures interact with each other. Quoting two of the attendees: "Although the topic was specific to Japan, I was interested in how different perspectives consider the complexity of culture and in relation to transculturation. My own research contexts relate to Zimbabwe and South Africa, in which I am using postcolonial concepts such as 'hybridity'. The intersection of our combined themes as a group engaging in critical dialogue led to some interesting and thought-provoking discussions on the challenges involved in the use of cultural references (visual and written), sources, and writing. I found the presentation and discussion that came from it really beneficial." Hayley Mardon, PhD Northumbria "Listening to Professor Timon's presentation regarding the 'railings' in ancient Japan and their developments over the course of different dynasties, in terms of structure, purpose and accordingly their significance and value, encouraged me directly relate to the railings of my own cultures which are Belarusian and Jordanian. This was certainly relevant to my own research study as it deals with T-shirt [s] from around the world, which also considered a visual object subjected to numerous interpretations and capable of negotiating, presenting, and reflecting different notions of identities." Rima Darras, PhD Northumbria The Prof. Screech arguments were clearly explained and accessible to a variegated audience, not only Japanese Studies researchers, as he was happy to give a brief overview about the history of Japan and the peculiarity of the Japanese monarchy. Moreover, his methodology can be used as an example of how to develop a visual culture research in relation to social and political aspects.
The first meeting included a presentation on “Transculturation” and discussion on postcolonial concepts and key figures by Massimiliano Papini (Phd, Arts). This was followed by introductions by the core TAD group who briefly outlined their various research projects. We then invitated those present to contribute a brief outline of their own research interests and to feedback on the topic with their initial thoughts on some of the debate around “transculturation” and “hybridity”. Points on “transculturation” discussed:
Massimiliano Papini (PhD, Arts) discussed how the concept of transculturality fits the cultural encounters between the North East of England and Japan in the late 19th and beginning of 20th century. In parallel to a strong economic relationship, Japan and the North East also developed numerous cultural exchanges. In the British region, these “encounters” led to the birth of transcultural spaces such as Japanese Bazaars organised to raise funds for the local communities, and transcultural products such as Japanese art and artefact collections, but also the spread and interpretation of the Japanese aesthetic by local artists and manufactories. Kahina Le Louvier (Phd, Computer and information Sciences) discussed how her background in Cultural Identity Studies and particular interest in Decolonial Thinking has informed her transition to the field of Information Science. Looking at information through the decolonial lens indeed allowed her to approach information not as a neutral cognitive element that people would need to acquire to fill some gap in their mind, but as something that is always culturally shaped and transmitted. Through this lens, she explores how people who have recently settled in England after seeking asylum renegotiate their ways of knowing and doing within their specific context. Hayley Mardon (PhD, Arts) discussed the development of her research project to date, which is exploring issues around contemporary art/design from Southern Africa in the context of British museums (V&A and the British Museum). Her research is underpinned by postcolonial concepts such as “hybridity” and she will be analysing jewellery and artefacts from Southern Africa as part of this process to consider issues around design/art and craft, culture, diversity, identity and cultural value. This will include looking into past and present approaches used by museums, selecting artefacts from archives & collections and interviewing a wide range of people in the UK, Zimbabwe and South Africa to consider the impact the socio economic cultural and political has on the production of material culture from these contexts. Cristiana Katagiri (PhD, Arts) has just returned from a field trip to Brazil and sent us her comments on her research to date: Cristiana Katagiri is a PhD student in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences at Northumbria University under the supervision of Dr. Wessie Ling. She is interested in the study of fashion through Cultural Studies’ perspectives. Her current research is focused on processes of negotiating and representing identity and difference in the Brazilian fashion industry; in the ways in which historical accumulation can lead to ‘third-spaces’ (Bhabha,1990). Rima Darras (PhD, Arts) is currently in Jordan and sent the following: The current research locates itself in the very broad field of visual communication, with the T-shirt as the object of study and analysis is believed to offer an account of “in-between-ness” (from Jenss, 2016: 11, quoting Granata, 2012), overlapping zones of fashion, graphic design, and media studies which also include semiotics. It focuses on establishing and examining this specific garment not only as [a] piece of clothes, but also as a visual communicative medium which as well can be subject to different interpretations. So far, by exploring the cultural history of T-shirt, its origin and the various socio-cultural environments in which it emerged, it was possible to convey how such a mundane item has acquired particular meanings and characteristics which gave it the power to influence human attitudes and behaviour, or in other words to shape the notions of identity in different communities. As such, the research is concerned mainly with concepts of ‘hybridity’, ‘transculturation’, ‘globalisation’, and ‘glocalisation’. Other points of contact that came from our interdisciplinary roundtable discussion on culture and transculturation included those present from Arts, Linguistics, Design and Sociology. The range of topics covered by those who attended included:
Some of the discussions generated revealed the shared challenges we have all faced at various stages of our writing and research and there were suggestions of options to explore new avenues to support future development. Feedback so far and a group consensus has shown that many of us felt the first meeting was productive as was the opportunity to share and question some of these themes further in relation to our own individual areas of interest, as a group and in relation to interdisciplinary approaches to working. The content was diverse and thought provoking and led us to question and reflect on how we can best make use of further opportunities for discussion and debate which continues to be inclusive and that work with our aims as a postgraduate research forum. Our next gathering and debate will take place at the Northumbria campus in London on the 15th February where we will host our first external speaker Professor Timon Screech from SOAS University. Our next meeting in March 2018 will be advertised again on social media (Facebook and blog). We look forward to more stimulating conversations. |