Talking Points: December 9 - 23, 2009

Talking Points
December 9 - 23, 2009

Asian pop culture has captured a wide audience across the globe. The influence of Asian creators and motifs is felt throughout the visual and performing arts as well as in literature and interactive media. For six years Asia Pacific Arts has documented these trends and brought these artists and their work to millions of readers and viewers. And now Asia Pacific Arts is being published at USC.
 

asiapacificarts.usc.edu

The multimedia magazine offers interviews with and reviews of the work of both rising and established artists. The current front page features interviews with director John Woo (creator of Red Cliff and many other popular films) and Korean pop star BoA, looks at how three Southeast Asian artists represent the human body and at a Singaporean company’s jump into animated films, along with coverage of the “Hollywood Chinese” exhibition.

Asia Pacific Arts (APA) has two missions. The first is to illuminate key trends, individuals, and

Tony Leung stars in Red Cliff.

institutions in Asian and Asian American pop culture and the second is to provide hands-on journalism training for students interested in Asia and pop culture. Asia Pacific Arts is where you learn how the American release of Red Cliff differs from the version that sold $120 million in tickets across Asia and why Leon Dai's small-budget No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti swept Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards last month. It’s where you hear Boa explain her efforts to achieve success in the US market. Students produce Asia Pacific Arts, developing stories, carrying out research, conducting interviews, and composing the multimedia stories. Through regular workshops and informal consultations our student journalists draw on the expertise of distinguished scholars as well as veteran writers, filmmakers, and critics.

The USC US-China Institute publishes Asia Pacific Arts in cooperation with the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism and the East Asian Studies Center. The magazine fits well into the university’s commitment to having students produce and not merely consume knowledge. It draws on one of the world’s premier journalism schools, including a leading program in arts journalism, and EASC’s leading role as a center for research and teaching about Asian visual cultures.

Asia Pacific Arts began at UCLA in 2003. Tom Plate and his students launched the magazine as part of the Asia Pacific Media Network. From fall 2003, the magazine was based at the UCLA Asia Institute, its home until the move to USC. Ada Tseng, the magazine’s managing editor, continues in that role, and many UCLA students who contributed to the magazine are continuing to do so. At USC, Tseng is again working under the direction of Clayton Dube and Linda Truong. They oversaw the magazine at UCLA from 2003 to 2006. Many USC students have already joined the magazine and are at work on their first stories for it.

Anna May Wong image from Arthur Dong's "Hollywood Chinese" exhibition.

The publication sports a new look and more accessible design. Coverage of literature and gaming is being expanded. An interview with John Woo is just the start, Asia Pacific Arts writers covered film festivals in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taipei and you can count on the magazine to bring you news about Chen Qiulin's latest art exhibition, Ha Jin's current novel, Zhang Ziyi's next American crossover and anything in between.

Sign up for APA's weekly email update by completing the simple form on the magazine's front page.

Students are invited to apply to join Asia Pacific Arts. Write to asiapacificarts@usc.edu for more information.

Want to support these and other USCI efforts to increase public understanding of China and the rest of Asia? Want to help us provide students innovative learning experiences? Please contact us at uschina@usc.edu or use your credit card at USC’s secure online giving site. Please be sure to indicate that your tax deductible gift is intended to support the USC US-China Institute’s student publications program.

On Dec. 14 and 15, USC hosts a colloquium on China media studies. Interested people worldwide are invited to participate via a live webcast.Top scholars from China, Hong Kong, America, and Europe will look at the strengths and weaknesses of existing studies of communications in China. A principal aim of the gathering will be to explore new opportunities for collaborative research. 

Best wishes,
The USC U.S.-China Institute
http://china.usc.edu
Subscribe to Talking Points at: http://china.usc.edu/subscribe.aspx
Support the Institute via the secure USC server: https://giveto.usc.edu/ 

Events

USC 

 

 

12/14/2009: China Media Studies & Communication
USC Davidson Conference Center
University of Southern California
Cost: Free
Time: Monday, 2:15-5:45 pm, Tuesday, 8:30 am - noon
International conference features four panels on trends in Chinese media studies.

 California 

  12/15/2009: Chinese Stock Market: Growth and Controversy
Numata Seminar Room, 2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor
UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Center for Chinese Studies presents a talk by Professor Wang Yubao.

Exhibitions 

  09/18/2009 - 01/09/2010: Imagining China: The View from Europe, 1550-1700
Folger Great Hall
201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003
Cost: Free
Phone: (202) 544-7077
Celebrate the opening of the latest exhibition at Folger Shakespeare Library.

 
09/17/2009 - 01/17/2010: Calligraffiti: Writing in Contemporary Chinese and Latino Art
Pacific Asia Museum
46 North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena, California 91101
Phone: (626) 449-2742
Calligraffiti: Writing in Contemporary Chinese and Latino Art addresses issues of power, culture, and universality.  

 09/22/2009 - 06/30/2010: China's Great Wall: The Forgotten Story
NYC offices of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York, NY
The Forgotten Story is a series of historically-based photographs of the Great Wall of China. It is a collaboration between Jonathan Ball, a California based photographer, and David Spindler, one of the world's foremost experts on Great Wall history.

11/03/2008 - 11/03/2009: Ancient Arts of China: A 5000 Year Legacy
Bowers Museum
2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California 92706
Bowers Museum presents a collection that portrays the evolution of Chinese technology, art and culture. 

11/15/2008 - 11/15/2009: Masters of Adornment: The Miao People of China
Bowers Museum
2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California 92706
The Bowers Museum presents a collection of exquisite textiles and silver jewelry that highlights the beauty and wealth of the Miao peoples of southwest China. 

02/12/2009 - 02/12/2010: Art of Adornment: Tribal Beauty
Bowers Museum
2002 N. Main, Santa Ana, CA
Cost: $5
An exhibit featuring body adornments from indigenous peoples around the world 

 

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USC U.S. – China Institute
3535 S. Figueroa St.
FIG 202
Los Angeles, CA 90089-1262
Tel: 213-821-4382
Fax: 213-821-2382
Email: uschina@usc.edu
Website: http://china.usc.edu 

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