Westminster research centre HOMELandS launches Diasporic Chinese Museums Network Initiative in collaboration with international partners

The event was chaired by Dr Yow Cheun Hoe, Director of Chinese Heritage Centre of NTU. Dr. Cangbai Wang, Reader in Chinese Studies at the University of Westminster and Co-Director of HOMELandS, delivered a public talk titled Museum Across Borders: Toward A Dialogical Approach to Museum Representations of Chinese Diasporas Around the World.

The talk marked the launch of a year-long public talk series on diasporic Chinese museums, organised as part of a project, titled Diasporic Chinese Museums Network Initiative, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). Led by Dr Wang and Dr Yow, together with Dr Huimei Zhang of NTU, the project is aimed at creating a global network of diasporic Chinese museums. The research network includes UK and international participants of diverse backgrounds, many of whom work in the field of diasporic Chinese museum and heritage industry.

The public talk series will feature 12 talks, with each one given by representatives of one major diasporic Chinese museum. In the inaugural talk, Dr Wang touched on topics such as the emerging global museum-scape on Chinese diasporas and the objectives, guiding questions, theoretical and methodological approaches to the project, key activities, beneficiaries and expected outcome of the project. The talk presented a compelling case for the need to develop a global network for open and interdisciplinary dialogue between academics, museum practitioners and policy makers on what is seen as an important yet so far under-studied topic.

The talk was given in English with simultaneous translation into Mandarin Chinese. It attracted over 90 individuals from around the world who were able to have engaging conversations with the speaker.

Speaking about the event, Harriet Evens, Emeritus Professor of Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster, said: “I want to congratulate Cangbai and his team on a fantastic initiative. It is a wonderful and ambitious project, and I look forward to its development.”

Yujie Zhu, Associate Professor at the Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies of the Australian National University, commented: “Congratulations to the team for this wonderful talk. It is a very meaningful project regarding relationship building.”

Huang Jikai, former Director of Overseas Chinese History Museum of China, said: “It was a very good talk that helped me to get a better understanding of the incentives and objectives of the project. I think the project is something very meaningful to do. I also learnt new knowledge and new perspectives from the talk and the discussion. I would certainly like to participate in future events of the project.”

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