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Michael Mel – ‘The arts as tools for social and cultural transformation in Papua New Guinea’

Dr Michael Mel (University of Goroka, Papua New Guinea)
‘The arts as tools for social and cultural transformation in Papua New Guinea’

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Thursday, 17 December, 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm, UTS Building 10, Level 5, Room 580

Abstract: This talk will explore the historical and contemporary role of artistic practices as a vehicle for dialogue and exchange between individuals and communities in Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinean communities have a long history of the arts being elemental in community life and exchange. However colonial experiences have disrupted these community structures, leaving Papua New Guineans situated between traditional and contemporary Western life. There is great need now to reassert and renew the arts as a vehicle for community engagement and dialogue. What artistic opportunities can be created to offer Papua New Guineans a real chance to build processes that have a foundation in their own cultural context while at the same time engaging, challenging and confronting those from the outside?

The Komuniti Tok Piksa Project, between the Centre for Health Communication (UTS) and the University of Goroka, focuses on using the arts as a process for dialogue and exchange in order to challenge Papua New Guineans on matters relating to HIV/AIDS.

Performance artist, thinker, lecturer, curator and teacher, Dr Michael Mel is Associate Professor in cultural education and indigenous processes of art and Pro Vice Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Goroka. Renowned for his expertise in the traditional arts and oral traditions of his people, he uses performance to explore issues of cultural identity and dispossession. Through works that engage the senses using music, dance, body painting and decoration, he encourages Papuan New Guineans to take pride in their indigenous cultures and to challenge assumptions of colonialism. For his work in promoting and celebrating indigenous culture and development in Papua New Guinea, Dr Mel received the Prince Claus Award in 2006. He was both the first Pacific Islander and the first artist to be recognized in this way.

Please RSVP to Transforming.Cultures@uts.edu.au

News, Sociology

Sociology goes south

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Last Wednesday, 2 December, at the annual conference of the Australian Sociological Association (TASA), there was a plenary titled ‘Southern Perspectives’. Speakers included Raewyn Connell, Chilla Bulbeck, Margaret Jolly and Peter Beilharz. They considered the following questions:

Is there a ‘southern sociology’?
What kind of sociology do we teach and research in Australia?
Should southern theory inform the future of sociology – in Australia and elsewhere?

The plenary attracted around one hundred and by all accounts a very lively discussion ensued.

Europe, Notice

Positions available with ‘The circulation of knowledge between Europe and the global South’

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The research project “Universality and potentials of acceptance of social scientific knowledge. The circulation of knowledge between Europe and the global South” at Freiburg University, Germany, invites applications for the following positions

1 x 75% post-doctoral position
1 x 50% doctoral position
1 x 50% position for administrative support to the project management

The project shall be funded through the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) initiative “Freedom for Research in the Humanities”, under the topic “Europe seen from the outside”. The project aims at building a junior research group and will be located at the Global Studies Program of the Sociology Institute at Freiburg University

Research Positions (Post Doctoral and Doctoral)

Both research positions (75% post-doctoral and 50% doctoral) shall each deal with one sub-project of the overall project. Researchers are expected to acquire academic qualifications (PhD or qualifications relevant to pursue an academic career in the post-doc-phase).

Applications should include a short research proposal. In order to prepare proposals, more detailed information on the overall project and on the sub-projects in which positions are opened are available with the project coordinator (contact see below). Very good oral and written competency in English are a requirement, competency in further languages is an advantage. Experience in the international scholarly community as well as in team work are an advantage.

Administrative Position

This position has been opened for the administrative support of the project leader. This comprises administrative tasks, support of the project leader with respect to the organisation of project activities such as conferences or publication projects, organisation of the stays of international fellows to the project in Freiburg.

Application details

All positions are limited to the duration of the project for four years. The project starts on 01.07.2010 subject to the provision of funds. Application deadline is 20.01.2010. The university aims at increasing the participation of women and explicitly encourages qualified women to apply.

For contact details, the official advertisement (in German) is to be found on the website of Freiburg University: research positions and the administrative position.

Amnesty of Ideas, Notice

Call for Expressions of Interest in the Southern Perspectives 2010 seminar series

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‘I have a different idea of a universal.’
Aimé Césaire

Expressions are sought for a series at the Institute for Postcolonial Studies that explores Australia’s place in the emerging south-south conversations. This ‘call’ in Australia will be followed by a ‘response’ in 2011 from elsewhere in the south.

‘South’ is used here as a trope to frame new conversations that are emerging beyond the transatlantic metropolitan grid. In the colonial ‘hub and spokes’ model, non-Western countries needed to connect to the colonial centres in order to engage with each other. But recently there have emerged alternative south-south networks for academic dialogues.

The concept of the Global South developed in the 20th century as an attempt to represent the fundamental divide between rich and poor countries, with an argument that the wealth of the North was dependent on the low wages and prices for resources of the South. While this reading continues in south-south dialogues, there is also discussion about the reformulation of knowledge to reflect conditions unique to the South, particularly in regard to Indigenous cultures.

Australia’s intellectual engagement with the South has been partly through postcolonial theory. This has involved rich dialogue between the centre and periphery about the impact of colonisation, not only in economics but also in cultural identity. While this dialogue continues, an important question emerges: How do we engage with the emerging south-south conversations? These are not to be found in the expected places or heard through familiar voices.

So what is Australia’s relation to south-south? Though geographically very much at the bottom of the world, Australia’s orientation in culture and economy seems mostly of the North. Is there a ‘middle path’ parallel to that taken by Australia in diplomatic relations? What does it mean to be the ‘most Asia literate nation in the collective West’?

The Southern Perspectives seminar series is designed to explore the emerging south-south discourse. It begins by reviewing Australia’s place in the world, with particular regard to its engagement with the Global South, including Africa, Latin America, South Asia and the Pacific. From this basis, it will be possible to explore the new (and old) thinking here that engages with south-south. Then some of the new southern voices themselves can be heard.

Topics include:

Extension of Indigenous Studies into ‘mainstream’ disciplines such as law and medicine
Ways of transmitting and storing knowledge that are alternative to the book
A way of understanding knowledge ‘ethically’ in terms of the impact it has on the world
Forms of exchange that are alternative to Western commodification
Modernism as a local phenomenon
Thinking adapted to the conditions of the South, including tropics, El Niño, climate change, sea level rising, etc.
The concept of ‘southern theory’
The impact of geo-politics on knowledge

This first step is a call for expressions of interest in participating in the series. We are interested not only in those who would like to participate directly, but also requests for issues or voices that might benefit from this platform.

Please send responses by 31 January 2010 to call@southernperspectives.net.

The image above is from the cover of El Trecero Mundo, La Unctad III y los Trabajadores (Santiago, 1972)

Africa, Art History, Notice

CIHA Colloquium Second Call For Papers

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South African Visual Arts Historians (SAVAH)

Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA)

Colloquium, organised by SAVAH under the aegis of CIHA, to take place at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 12 – 15 January 2011.

Other Views: Art History in (South) Africa and the Global South

CIHA has recently been addressing concerns about the unequal distribution of resources around the globe and challenges from post-colonial societies to the older methods and concepts of western art history. At the CIHA congress in Melbourne in January 2008, one of the key issues for discussion was the extent to which we need to re-think the discipline of the history of art “in order to establish cross-cultural dimensions as fundamental to its scope, method and vision”. SAVAH proposes continuing these discussions in the colloquium ‘Other Views: Art History in (South) Africa and the Global South’ to be held at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in January, 2011.

A principal focus of the discussions, with particular reference to South Africa, will be how the study of art from the African continent is often impeded by a totalising notion of an undifferentiated ‘Africa’. This belies the histories, political trajectories and regional differences of its many communities, nations and states. The focus offers opportunities to pose questions such as: What is the counter point to the homogeneous ‘African art’ label? How can art history in an African context challenge traditional western art history with regard to notions of authenticity, individuality, artistic processes, methods and theories? What are the discourses of indigenous people’s art practices, and what is the importance of early indigenous art for a history of art in South Africa and elsewhere? In what ways, and under what circumstances, can objects previously defined as ‘craft’ or ‘utilitarian’ be incorporated into the domain of ‘art’? How is ‘heritage’ understood, collected and displayed? What are the ideologies behind collecting, patronage and restitution, and the use of objects, buildings and spaces? How do we negotiate questions of identity and culture in an increasingly ‘global’ world? What do we choose to study and why? How do we teach that which we choose to study?

These questions have relevance in South Africa, Africa and the Global South. The Global South in this context is a cultural construct rather than a geographic term. It refers to communities and artistic production, throughout history and across nations, which, within the dominant narratives of western art, have been ignored, marginalised, displaced and appropriated. The Global South may include eastern bloc artists largely unknown to the west during the Cold War, items traditionally regarded as women’s work, First Nation peoples in Canada and indigenous people in South Africa, communities whose cultural artefacts were appropriated for the universal museum of the west, and people who have neither the power nor money to write their own art histories. We do not envision covering all aspects and areas of Africa and the Global South, but we shall use the Global South construct as a framework to focus on Africa and in particular South Africa. The aim is to complicate the history of art and the relationship between histories in the Global South and the ‘north’ or ‘west’.

We plan six plenary sessions over three days, with provision for graduate students to participate, possibly in parallel workshop and poster sessions. We invite proposals for papers that address any of the general rubrics outlined above. We will be accepting proposals for panels until the end of December 2009, and abstracts for individual papers until March 2010. Individual abstracts sent to the Organising Committee will be forwarded to the relevant panel convenor(s) to be considered for inclusion. Potential presenters will be informed of the outcome of their proposals by the beginning of June 2010.

Abstracts, up to 250 words in length, must be submitted in English, and must include the author’s institutional affiliation and relevant contact details. The final length of individual papers must not exceed 3,000 words, in order to fit into the strict 20 minute time limit per presentation.

Proposals should be sent to the Chairperson of SAVAH, Dr Federico Freschi at federico.freschi@wits.ac.za

SAVAH/CIHA Committee comprising Dr Federico Freschi (SAVAH Chairperson); Karen von Veh (SAVAH Past Chairperson ex officio); Dr Jillian Carman (SAVAH Vice-Chairperson)
Johannesburg
July 2009

Africa, Notice

A Southern way of showing art?

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There’s long been a hunger in Western art galleries for the creativity of the so-called ‘margins’. Whether its Picasso gazing at Dan African masks in the Trocadero or Jean-Hubert Martin curating outsider artists for Magiciens de la Terre, there has been fascination for the seeming more unconstrained, primitive creativity that emerges in distant continents like Africa.

Yet while the gaze of Western art extends well beyond its borders, the business of art itself seems very much confined to the metropolitan centres. There is an assumption for any culture to realise its potential in art that it will be manifested in spaces like the Venice Biennial, Tate Modern and the many museums of contemporary art throughout the transatlantic.

What if a community in that other world decided to host its own art event? Rather than spend millions setting up a satellite biennale, jetting in the art world, what if they sold tickets for a virtual presence? The outside audience would enable the event by their purchase, and in return obtain restricted information about the kind of world that emerges.

The Chilean architect Claudio Torres, who has been working in the Nairobi ghetto of Mathare, has developed a project with the locals to host a competition for a painted mural on a rented ghetto wall. You can see him explain the project here:

More than that, tickets are still available. They are limited, so book soon.

Africa

African Journal of History and Culture

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The African Journal of History and Culture (AJHC) publishes high-quality solicited and unsolicited articles, in all areas of the subject. All articles published in (AJHC) will be peer-reviewed. The following types of papers are considered for publication:

Original articles in basic and applied research.
Critical reviews, surveys, opinions, commentaries and essays.

Our objective is to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s) within four weeks of submission. Following acceptance, a paper will normally be published in the next issue.

Instruction for authors and other details are available on our website www.academicjournals.org/AJHC. Prospective authors should send their manuscript(s) to African Journal of History and Culture (AJHC)

Open Access

One key request of researchers across the world is unrestricted access to research publications. AJHC is fully committed Open Access Initiative by providing free access to all articles (both abstract and full PDF text) as soon as they are published. We ask you to support this initiative by publishing your papers in this journal.

Invitation to Review

AJHC is seeking for qualified reviewers as members of the review board team. AJHC serves as a great resource for researchers and students across the globe. We ask you to support this initiative by joining our reviewer’s team. If you are interested in serving as a reviewer, kindly send us your resume to AJHC@acadjourn.org

Notice

Permaculture Strategy for the South African Villages

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Notice of a new book about agriculture from a southern perspective…

Permaculture Strategy for the South African Villages uses permaculture ideas to recommend practical approaches that can be used by government planners, extension workers and aid organizations alike.

Written in accessible language and with a clear structure of chapters, the book explains a set of tactical approaches to environmental sustainability in regard to land care, local agriculture and food security in the South African villages. The tone throughout is optimistic and upbeat. People and their meaningful interaction with land is the starting point for strategies and planning principles that address sustainable food and fuel production in villages, to enhance the quality of life for the rural poor. Permaculture design principles inform the tactical approach offered in the book that works at both policy and practice levels.

Permaculture aims at the harmonious integration of landscape and people viewed as a single, if complex, system. Looking at the villages and South Africa as a whole, the book tailors tactics to the social context and offers a critique of the thinking behind existing agricultural development planning and implementation for South African villages. This approach has a wider applicability to many developing countries because it serves as a manual of practical action which can be readily adapted to local contexts.

Permaculture Strategy for the South African Villages argues that development work must always be related to the local context of people and their land – and shows how this can be done.

Now available from the author

$30 student price
$40 for people with a real income

Email to arrange copies: Terry.Leahy@newcastle.edu.au

Check out Book Cover, List of Contents and Chapter Two here

Notice

Art & the Kyoto Protocol

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How to make an art of the Kyoto Protocol

Talking about cultural collaboration today

The Kyoto Protocol involves a re-negotiation of the relation between rich and poor countries. What role do artists play in this new dialogue? How does engagement with the South shift from one-way cultural extraction to two-way collaboration? How does climate change alter the horizon of cultural intervention?

Please join Kevin Murray and contributors to the ‘After the Missionaries’ issue of Artlink, including Neil Fettling, Emily Potter, Helen Vivian and Kelly Fliedner as they discuss the changing ground for art in the world.

Thursday 27 August 7:30pm
Institute of Postcolonial Studies
78-80 Curzon Street North Melbourne
Facebook RSVP

Neil Fettling is an artist and Senior Lecturer in the School of Visual Arts and Design at La Trobe University, Mildura campus. He participated in a residency at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines in 2006/2007.

Kelly Fliedner is Program Coordinator of live arts organization Punctum, based in Castlemaine, is a member of the Program Committee at West Space and recently become Magazine Coordinator of un Magazine based in Melbourne

Emily Potter is a Research Fellow in the School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University

Helen Vivian is an independent writer, editor and curator. Her most recent book is ‘When You Think About Art: The Ewing and George Paton Collections 1971-2008’ Macmillan Art Publishing, Melbourne, 2008

Kevin Murray is Adjunct Professor of RMIT University, Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne and Adjunct Research Fellow at Monash University

Notice

Verticalism talk

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Transnational and Transcultural Research Network is developing a conference “Transcultural Mappings : emerging issues in comparative, transnational and area studies” (see here for details).

They are having a network meeting and seminar this Thursday 13 August. All welcome.

Network meeting: 4-5pm. Come to meet others in the network, bring along colleagues who may be interested, and hear about our other plans.

Seminar: 5-6.30pm. Kevin Murray, Adjunct Professor, RMIT, will speak on “Verticalism and the Idea of South” (see here for text)

“How is the world constructed such that it has a top and a bottom? What role does this play in global politics? How is this arrangement contested today? This talk outlines the role that the idea of south continues to play in how the world is understood. It makes particular reference to a growing field of south-south exchange in academic fields.”

Location:
New Law 105
University of Sydney (see map)