“Be Water”: Protest Movements in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Join the Social Movements Lab for events on the recent Hong Kong and Taiwan protest movements.   The 2014 Sunflower Movement in Taiwan and Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong were both occupation-style movements that can be understood as part of the global wave of occupation-style movements after the 2011 Occupy Wall Street action. This is, to a large extent, reflected in their artistic production, much of which is centered around the space of the occupation itself. On the other hand, with recent protests in Hong Kong, which has not taken the form of an occupation, much artistic production takes place online and in digital spaces, or takes the form of temporary artworks in the cityscape in which there is little expectation that the artwork will survive destruction by the police. Does this shift reflect broader trends regarding East Asian protest movements in the past five years?   We’ll have two linked events:  1) Mon. 11/4, 12pm-1pm – A “mapping” session (discussion of preparatory readings) 2) Wed. 11/6, 12pm-1pm – A dialogue with Brian Hioe (via video-call), an activist in the sunflower movement in Taiwan, and founder of an online journal (“new bloom”) that is focusing on the political situation in Taiwan and Hong Kong. We will provide lunch for participants on both days. Location:  Social Movements Lab, Franklin Humanities Institute, Smith Warehouse, Bay 5, Duke University, 114 S. Buchanan Blvd., Durham, NC For Parking and Accessibility info, see: https://fhi.duke.edu/contact-us Suggested readings (in preparation for the mapping session on Mon. – don’t worry about reading everything – check out what is most interesting to you) :   Painting with tear gas — the art of Hong Kong’s protest movement: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Hong-Kong-protests/Painting-with-tear-gas-the-art-of-Hong-Kong-s-protest-movement   Dozens of Designers Work in Shifts to Create Hong Kong Protest Art. Here Are Some Examples of Their Work: https://time.com/5679885/hong-kong-protest-art-agitprop-illustration/ ‘Be water:’ Hong Kong protest mantra influences how art is designed and distributed: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/protest-art-hong-kong-intl-hnk/index.html   Tone Twitter account also has some very interesting threads: https://twitter.com/uwu_uwu_mo   And some pieces on the use of language by Hong Kong protestors: https://time.com/5668286/hong-kong-protests-slang-language-cantonese-glossary/   “Do you speak Kongish? Hong Kong protesters harness unique language code to empower and communicate”: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3024863/do-you-speak-kongish-hong-kong-protesters   “Insurgent tongues: how loose Cantonese romanisation became Hong Kong’s patois of protest”: https://www.hongkongfp.com/2019/09/21/insurgent-tongues-loose-cantonese-romanisation-became-hong-kongs-patois-protest/   “Add oil,” Kongish! https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=44232   Regarding  protest art in Taiwan and the use of language: https://daybreak.newbloommag.net/2017/07/26/rioters-dictionary-a-to-e/