This symposium aims to examine diverse photographic practices in East Asia through the lens of the archipelago. In doing so, it seeks to diversify our understanding of the region’s photographic scenes and to move beyond the nation-state imaginary that often frames the study of photography. Following Édouard Glissant’s archipelagic thinking, each presentation explores how photography has engaged with the geographies of islands and the histories of their people in East Asia. Together, the speakers will shed light on photographic practices that visualize the movement of people—and the traces and memories they leave—across seas, beyond the territorial and continental imaginaries of the region.

The symposium is generously funded by Vivian Fung and Daniel Cheung.

The symposium is organized by the School of Art, in collaboration with the Center for Creative Photography.