Tai Kwun Conversations: Chinese Cultural Heritage Series
This series aims to introduce the audience to some of the recent heritage conservation and management projects in China, focusing on the paradigm shift in the field and the values of Chinese cultural heritage. The case studies demonstrate that heritage conservation practices follow national policies and emerging international trends while incorporating a wide range of uses and interests to make the projects locally relevant, including intangible cultural heritage of everyday life, living traditions and practices, and continuing communities.
In what ways does the art of photography impact our conceptualisation and experience of heritage? Beyond aesthetic imaging, how is photography also involved in the processes of heritage meaning construction, facilitating the ways in which heritage is perceived, interpreted, and valued?
Internationally acclaimed photographer Basil Pao has created an evocative collection of behind-the-scenes photos from his time on the set of Bernardo Bertolucci’s film The Last Emperor; several compelling albums of photos taken during his journeys across the globe with Sir Michael Palin, along with a comprehensive snapshot of China based on his solo voyage and photographic pilgrimage through every province of the country.
Showcasing Pao’s iconic images of China, this session of Tai Kwun Conversations explores how his art reveals the seen and the unseen. The conversations shed further light on the wider issues surrounding visualisation of heritage—nature, historic place, everyday life, living tradition and practice—and how it not only evokes aesthetic re-imagining but also embodies affective force for the generation of narratives, meanings, and identities in the sociocultural and political contexts of heritage.
The conversations will be conducted in English, with English-Chinese simultaneous interpretation.
Image: Copyright © 2023 Basil Pao. All Rights Reserved
Speaker:
Basil Pao | World-renowned photographer
7:00pm–8:00pm |
Talk |
8:00pm–8:30pm |
Q&A |
Notes
Photos and videos will be taken during the Event for marketing and promotional purposes. Photos and videos may be used in newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasts, websites, apps, emails and outdoor advertisements, etc. All photos, films, videos, records and/or the likenesses of the participants (if applicable) captured during the Event by Tai Kwun (the “Organiser”) or their respective affiliated entities or contractors, are the sole property of the Organiser. Participants agree that the Organiser may use, present, publish or disseminate in any and all media worldwide for any legitimate purpose the photos or videos taken during the Event or the portraits of the participants as appear in any official documentary, commercial, television coverage, and all multimedia platforms, without any remuneration to any participant. The Organiser has the absolute right to use any photos, films, videos and records of the Event. Participants may also be invited to give written, audio, and video feedback.