Archive - Material Culture and Participation (Part 2)

About this event

Archive: Material Culture and Participation is a two-part series examining the potential of archive and the ways in which new heritage and activities are derived from its contemporary relevance.

Dr Ekua McMorris will present The legacy that resides within everyday objects. The Anti-Apartheid Legacy, Material Culture, Heritage and Now project examines the ways in which commonplace objects may be used as conduits to the past through oral histories and archival study. During this seminar, Dr McMorris will present her research outcomes of oral history interviews of participants involved in the Boycott and Anti-Apartheid Movement in Britain, the artifacts that were collected during the campaign, and how these objects, when viewed through a contemporary lens, may produce new understandings of the legacy of the Anti-Apartheid Movement.

Justin Wong will present The birth of New Symbols: A Visual Documentation of Hong Kong. He will share how artists used graphic images to document the nine-month long Anti-ELAB protest in 2019, Hong Kong. Artworks, especially illustrations and cartoons circulated around the internet and the Lennon Walls over the city, played a surprising role in recording the protest scenes inspired by photojournalism. Various graphic forms such as cartoons, pictogram and infographics were employed in over 7,000 works collected. During the presentation, Wong will showcase examples to illustrate how artists captured the decisive moments in the protests and turn them into a series of visual symbols with the help of the dynamic exchanges among audience, protesters and the press via social media. The study is a part of an ongoing research to investigate the new political cartoon movement in Hong Kong since 2012.

Speakers

Dr Ekua McMorris is a tutor at the Royal College of Art in London. Her research and visual practice explore the politics of race, memory, narratives and belonging against the backdrop of British colonialism.

Justin Wong is a political cartoonist and comic writer based in London. He was an assistant professor in Hong Kong Baptist University where he specialised in comic art and illustration. His research interests include political cartoon movement in Hong Kong, generative comics and visual storytelling. He is currently a research fellow at Zurich Centre for Creative Economies in Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

Moderator

Professor Wessie Ling is a Professor of Transcultural Arts and Design at the School of Art, Architecture and Design at London Met and the Director of CREATURE.