Invited by the Barnard College, Columbia University, I gave talk on Hong Kong and Persistent Resistance from a performative perspective. I discussed the role that art could possibly play within an increasingly authoritarian regime in Hong Kong, and how it might act as a “substitute for politics” in an repressive environment.
For more than a year now Hong Kong has seen widespread protests against the National Security Law. How have artists and residents responded to this extraordinary moment of mass resistance? Join us in a conversation with performance artist and scholar Wen Yau, moderated by Professor Nick Bartlett, department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College, as they discuss how public health measures have impacted this social movement. They reflect on the extension of the surveillance state mechanism and how it has enabled white terror in the city.
At a time when the United States is seeking to address the rising tide of Asian American hate within its own borders, join us for an interdisciplinary, year-long series of intimate conversations with theatre artists and cultural activists on the challenges of creating work under the pandemic, and engaging with social justice movements around the world.
The talk was moderated by Nick Bartlett, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College.
Video and transcript of the panel are available here.
The talk was part of the year-long Pandemic Panels curated by Shayoni Mitra, Department of Theatre, Barnard College, in 2020-2021.