A new working group, Asian Performance and Diaspora, has been proposed to TaPRA and its first informal meeting is organised during the TaPRA conference at Worcester on 9th September. Please find the details below and we look forward to receive your responses, both direct and online, on this proposed working group.
Asian Performance and Diaspora Working Group
TaPRA
The aim of this working group is to research, promote and disseminate contemporary Asian performance and diaspora studies to highlight the historical and contemporary scholarship in the area. We also aim to encourage critical debates on the contemporary artistic practices of Asia and a thorough re-evaluation of the current understanding of its conceptual and practical paradigms of the Asian performance scene and its diaspora in Britain.
A significant number of academics across the UK engage in the Asian performance and diaspora research producing a large body of scholarly work in this trajectory. A number of UK universities offer MA courses (SOAS, Goldsmith, Royal Holloway, Surrey, Guildford, UEA, Essex, East London, Lincoln, Exeter, Glasgow) as well as undergraduate courses with an Asian specific focus. Students across the world visit UK for their postgraduate research too. Nevertheless, there is a historical lack of academic research, critical writing and wider recognition of the field. More needs to be done to bring better ‘visibility’ for the Asian performance and diaspora research within the UK. Indeed, there are emerging research networks on Asian performance and diaspora research such as Lincoln and Manchester as well as London or Birmingham. But, it is not at all customary to find consistent recurrences of Asian specific conferences/scholarly events in the UK and venues are limited for colleagues involved in Asian performance and diaspora research to present their work. Similarly, there are limited venues for publishing Asian material, and especially so in journals. Academics involved in Asian performance and diaspora research, therefore, need regular, dedicated platform for presenting their research developing networks and facilitating collaborations, and the proposed TaPRA working group is a highly appropriate vehicle for doing so.
The proposed Asian Performance and Diaspora working group will welcome academics, practitioners, post-graduate and research students – both national and international – in the areas of Performance / Theatre / Dance/ Cultural Studies / Postcolonial Studies / Diaspora Studies / Drama / Dramaturgy.
Aims
- To offer a dedicated platform for presenting Asian performance and diaspora research
- To reflect, critique and debate Asian performance activities in Britain
- To foster better dialogue between the academic work and performance practice on the field.
We will be holding the very first informal meeting for the group on 9th September at the lunch time, during the TaPRA conference at Worcester. Venue to be announced soon. The aim of this informal meeting is to gather a sense of interest in this research group from colleagues, practitioners and post-graduate students. Please visit our blog on or email us at to register your expression of interest.