Asian Diasporic Art and Aesthetics

 This workshop explores the provocations and affordances of Asian diasporic artists, makers, and writers. How do their practices unsettle colonial formations of aesthetics, race, gender, sexuality, time, geography, nation, and the very idea of “Asia” itself? How do they conjure new ways of imagining and relating to history, land, community, ourselves and each other—and illuminate the limitations of our current modes of imagining and relating? And what new models of exchange and collaboration (among academic fields and across the theory-practice divide) emerge in their work? 

This workshop brings together scholars, artists, and writers whose work traverses disciplines including art history, film and media studies, literary studies, gender and sexuality studies, Asian studies, Asian American studies, Indigenous studies, decolonial studies, and more. Each session pairs a scholar and practitioner to generate dialogue and experimentation among the presenters and participants. The workshop continues, expands, and networks the work of the Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI), co-founded in 2018 by Marci Kwon. More broadly, we hope this workshop will offer a model of dialogue and connection among scholars and practitioners. 

Scholars of the humanities frequently turn to art and aesthetics to illuminate theoretical concerns, while artists often look to scholars when researching their work. Yet there are very few forums that bring scholars and practitioners together to explore shared ideas or themes. Rather than inviting people to talk about how they have crossed the theory-practice divide, our workshop enacts and generates this exchange.