History & Heritage Public Lecture Series | Documenting Intangible Cultural Heritage via VR Tour: Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival Celebrations in Hong Kong
History & Heritage Public Lecture Series | Documenting Intangible Cultural Heritage via VR Tour: Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival Celebrations in Hong Kong
24
Oct
The History & Heritage Public Lecture “Documenting Intangible Cultural Heritage via VR Tour: Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival Celebrations in Hong Kong” will take place on Tuesday, October 24 at Don Bosco Auditorium.
About the Talk:
This talk adopts a critical heritage perspective to delineate how documentation of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), such as festivals, could be conducted by reflecting on the “authorized heritage discourse.” Existing documentation of ICH, involving dances, martial arts performances, and craftsmanship, has focused on tangible aspects, such as physical features, as well as aspects like techniques, positions, rotations, forces, and joint angles. Digital technology has often been employed to capture the intangible aspects, emphasizing the accuracy of postures and skills. Consequently, this documentation has established or enforced the authorized and dominant way of understanding ICH. However, it has disregarded the fluidic nature of ICH and overshadowed the multiple and complex meanings inherent in it. I argue that the documentation of ICH should pay attention to its dynamic features, individual agency in creating “new” practices, as well as its communal aspect. Drawing upon the VR tour of the Hungry Ghosts Festival held by the Chaozhou community in Hong Kong, which was constructed by me earlier, I will outline an alternative approach to capturing intangible cultural heritage that highlights its fluidic nature, liveliness influenced by individual emotions, collective efforts, social memories, and communal spirit.
About the Speaker:
Professor Selina Chan 陳蒨 教授
Selina Ching Chan is Academic Vice-President, Professor of Sociology at Hong Kong Shue Yan University. Her research interests include collective memories and cultural heritage, religion, food, and identities, as well as family and kinship. Selected publications include, “Unequal Inscriptions of the Hungry Ghosts (Yulan) Festival Celebrations as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Hong Kong,” 2023 China Perspectives 132: 49-59.; “Tea Cafes and Hong Kong Identity: Food Culture and Hybridity”, China Information 2019, 33(3):311-328.; Building Temples in China: Memories, Tourism, and Identities. With Graeme Lang 2015, Routledge.; “Food, Memories, and Identities in Hong Kong,” Identities. 2010 17(2-3): 204-227.
Details:
Date & Time: Tuesday, 24 October, 2023 | 19:00 – 20:00
Location: Don Bosco Auditorium, University of Saint Joseph, Ilha Verde Campus
Language: English
Organised by: Research Laboratory for Cultural Sustainability, Department of History and Heritage Studies at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Saint Joseph Macao
Moderated by: Prof. Denis Zuev
*Free event, open to the general public
