Autogenous culture as political form: explorations through participatory art in Singapore

This paper presents the concept of autogenous cultural practices as a political form that is neither a subject of state practices, nor a means of resistive anti-state force. Through a study of three participatory art projects carried out by the author, this paper examines how and if autogenous culture can be presented and more importantly effect societal change. These projects were carried out in a governmental disciplinary facility, a local non-governmental organization supporting sex workers and an independent art project with three young women who were graduates of the Normal Technical stream in Singapore respectively.     

Painting and Calligraphy on Folded Fans

<正>The Chinese are the first people to use fans.The history of fans can date back more than 4000 years in China.Artists and elite scholars of past dynasties cre...     

Stories for [Boys] Girls: Female Fans Read The X-Files

This article is a discussion of the ways that meaning is made by female fans of the (once) popular American television series, The X-Files. The findings are based on a year long ethnography case study with members of 3 private e-mail lists ostensibly dedicated to the former lead actor: The David Duchovny Estrogen Brigades. I argue that the interpretative practices of the participants, in the form of interaction on a list set up for research purposes, were imbricated with performances of both normative and oppositional femininities. Specifically, I examine the ways that the female participants worked to gain shared pleasures from texts produced predominantly by men for men. Two gendered communal practices are examined in detail in this article-"identification" with the characters and the reading of romantic story lines into the existing texts. I also consider the classed practice of reading the primary texts critically and the collective narratives produced as a result.     

Ocean World: Exploring Harmony between City and Nature

<正>Qujiang Ocean and Polar Park is the only aquarium in northwest China. Located in the vicinity of the Tang Paradise in Xi’an of Shaanxi province, this theme p...     

"百死千难"悟"良知"——探寻"阳明小洞天"

近两年,我常常翻看《王阳明全集》(吴光等编校,上海古籍出版社1995年版),读之、品之、思之,常至废寝忘食。一日晨,早早躲进王字楼中我     

Gender,culture, and geography: A comparison of seating arrangements in the United States and Taiwan

The present study describes and compares seating preferences among Taiwanese and American respondents. Using a questionnaire method, seating preferences were obtained for 75 male and 100 female college students from the United Slates, and for 29 male and 54 female teachers of English in Taiwan. Responses were obtained for all possible combinations of sex of interaction partner, location (task or social), and six interpersonal activities. Results were summarized in the form of proportions of respondents choosing each of four possible angles of interaction: corner, opposite, diagonal, and side seating. Comparisons were made using Chisquare tests for independence.In general, results showed that Taiwanese respondents, when compared to Americans, are more likely to prefer side seating and less likely to prefer corner seating. Culture, sex of respondents, and sex of interaction partner interact in influencing preferences. In the United States, seating preferences function to unite males with females and to separate same-sex partners, while the opposite is true in Taiwan. Results are interpreted in terms of implications for intercultural communication.     

Counting culture to death: an Australian perspective on culture counts and quality metrics

Metrics-based approaches to understanding the value of culture imply homogeneity of artistic purpose, invite political manipulation and demand time, money and attention from cultural organisations without proven benefit. The system retailing as Culture Counts, a dashboard approach to quality measurement that emerged from Western Australia and is currently trialling in Australia, the US, the UK and Asia, serves to further abstract assessment processes. Cultural policy-makers across international domains need a more robust appreciation of the limits of metrics. Statistical data, well channelled, may provide useful ancillary information. But, where questions of value are concerned, it cannot replace critical judgment.