Current Projects
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TrAIN Open Series
The TrAIN Open series is a forum for invited speakers to present exhibition, publication, and research projects in the form of lectures, discussions and screenings.
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Afterlives of Monuments
South Asia is famous for its monuments, past and present. This research project has been developed through a series of international conferences and seminars, culminating in the publication of a special issue on The Afterlives of Monuments in South Asian Studies, published by Taylor and Francis as volume 29 issue 1, spring 2013. It builds on an international conference (CSM, London, 2010) funded by the British Academy, the Nehru Centre London, the India High Commission, and TrAIN, and further events will be developed later in 2013-14. Bringing together an international cohort of senior scholars and younger researchers, The Afterlives of Monuments considers the vast diversity of monuments (and conceptions of monuments) in South Asia from the 1850s to the present. The studies investigate what constitutes a monument, and interrogate the conditions for its survival (or not)? To explore the afterlives of monuments is to investigate how, where, when, and why monuments have been remodelled, re-used, re-sited, destroyed, defaced, or abandoned. It is to investigate the theories of memory, history and community, as well as new forms of artistic practice and global media. As different South-Asian communities claim a stake in the making of national, religious, cultural and local histories, the status of monuments and debates about cultural memory have become increasingly urgent.
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The Birth of Cool
The Birth of Cool considers the individual and group stylepractices in different parts of the African as prisms of cultural and social commentary. Based on case studies of either complete looks or a single garment, with a daterange from the late 19th century to the 21st century, thebook considers expanded notions of place, heritage and auto/biography.
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Translating and Writing Modern Design Histories in East Asia for the Global World
This project aims to develop a network of native design historians in East Asia (Japan, Korea, PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan) led by the core members Yuko Kikuchi (PI at CCW), Wessie Ling (COI at LCF) and Yunah Lee (University of Brighton). The central concern is the re-examination of East Asian design histories from their local perspectives, as a counterpoint to prevailing Anglophone, western interpretations. This new engagement with the subject area aims to enhance both local and global understanding and create new frameworks for future debate. It also aims to develop emerging design history studies in the region, and translating the already established cases (ie Japan) to make them beneficial for English readers. It is hoped that a better understanding of the other world would stimulates the development of comparative studies, further joint research and international funding.
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Re-Contested Sites/Sights Research Conference
TrAIN & CCW Graduate School | Re-Contested Sites/Sights Research Conference
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Russel Wright and Asia: Inter-Asia Modernities and Transnational Design History During the Cold War
Dr Yuko Kikuchi has been awarded the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant for two years for her project work. She will investigate the influential American designer Russel Wright (1904-76) and his less well-known design projects in Asia (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan and Hong Kong) during the 1950s-60s at the time of the Cold War.
Find out more about Russel Wright and Asia: Inter-Asia Modernities and Transnational Design History During the Cold War
