The 2015 Arts & Museum Summit

November 19-20, 2015

Asia Society

The 2015 Arts & Museum Summit, which took place on November 19 and 20 at Asia Society Hong Kong Center, featured a diverse group of leaders engaged in discussions surrounding this theme: “The Past and Present Preserved: Assuring Our Cultural Legacy in the 21st Century.” Delegates included representatives from Afghanistan, Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Turkey. Following opening remarks from Josette Sheeran and a video keynote from Irina Bokova (UNESCO), the program featured four keynote panels: Authenticity and Context, Threats and Risks, Sustaining Ephemerality, Alternate Philosophies. The summit also included case studies from both the museum and performing arts fields.

In addition to Bokova, summit speakers included Arahmaiani (artist), Bonnie Burnham(World Monuments Fund), Nicholas Chambers (Art Gallery of New South Wales), Leslie Lin-sheng Chang (Aurora Museum), Chen Kelun (Shanghai Museum), Anita Chung (Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundatiion), Cosmin Costinas (Para Site), Vishakha N. Desai (Asia Society; Columbia University), Sarah Kenderdine (Laboratory for Innovation in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums), Hongnam Kim (Ewha Woman’s University), Vasif Kortun (SALT),Restu Kusumaningrum (Bumi Purnati Indonesia), Wai Kit Lee (Western China Cultural Ecology Research Workshop), Hammad Nasar (Asia Art Archive), Bárbara Navarro (Google),Fairouz Nishanova (Aga Khan Music Initiative), Keng Sen Ong (Singapore International Arts Festival), Helen Philon (Deccan Heritage Foundation), Phloeun Prim (Cambodian Living Arts), Zeyba Rahman (Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts), Ahmad Sarmast(Afghanistan National Institute of Music), Rajeev Sethi (The Asian Heritage Foundation),Suresh Suras Shrestha (Department of Archaeology), Timothy P. Whalen (The Getty Conservation Institute), Winnie Yeung (Central Police Station Revitalisation Project), andLouis Yu (Performing Arts, West Kowloon Cultural District Authority).

Dr. Desai moderated a panel on stewardship and continuity with Hammad Nasar, Head of Research and Programmes, Asia Art Archive; Phloeun Prim, Executive Director, Cambodian Living Arts; and Timothy P. Whalen, Director, The Getty Conservation Institute.

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