25 November 2011, 12 - 12am

With the surge of scholarly discussion in the global/ transnational frame, design historians have begun to direct their attentions to design studies and design histories of non-western regions. Recent publications on the development of design outside the Euro-American region reflect this academic trend of inclusion and diversity. As an academic discipline, design histories and design studies in East Asia (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea) are in different stages of development with specific geographical, historical and cultural conditions.

This seminar aims to investigate similarities and differences in design developments and design histories between regions in order to speculate about a new critical framework for understanding East Asian design in relation to the global state of design culture from a historical perspective. This seminar will explore key questions such as how modernities in East Asian design emerged from interactions with Euro-America, while being characterised by inter-regional interventions, and how they engaged with global innovation and creativity during this process.


The seminar will be an opportunity to connect scholars in UK and Europe in order to generate further discussions and collaborative projects with a wider network of scholars from the East Asian countries.
Programme of the day:


9:30am - 10:15am Registration/ Coffee and Tea
10:15am - 10:30am Welcome
10:30am - 11:00am Dr. Yuko Kikuchi (Reader, TrAIN and CCW College, University of the Arts, London)'Issues and Perspectives on Writing a 'Global Design History' from a 'National Design History' in Japan'
11:00am - 11:30am Junko Mori (Independent Scholar, RCA Graduate)'Modern Seating: Japanese Women and the Use of Chair in 1920s and 1930s'
11:30am - 12:00pm Yumi C. Lee (PhD candidate, Modern Interiors Research Centre, Kingston University)
'Constructing the Notion of the Modern Interior: Feminism, Decoration and the Luxury Hotel, 1920-1940'
12:00pm - 1:15pm Lunch
1:15pm - 1:45pm Dr. Simona Segre Reinach (Contract Professor, Iulm University, Milan)'A New Map of Distinction: Italians Brands in China'
1:45pm - 2:15pm Dr. Wessie Ling (Senior Lecturer, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, London)'transnationality and hybridity of Chinese/ Hong Kong fashion'
2:15pm - 2:45pm Dr. Jiyeon Hong (Independent Scholar, Edinburgh College of Art Graduate)'Conceptualisation of (Tran-)cultural Identity in South Korean Second-hand Consumer Practice'
3:00pm - 3:30pm Stefan R. Landsberger (Professor of Contemporary Chinese Culture, Dept. of Art, Religion and Cultural Studies, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)'Chinese posters'
3:30pm - 4:00pm Dr. Yunah Lee (Lecturer, University of Brighton)'Ideas of Modern Democratic Korea: South Korean posters since 1945'

The Day Seminar is free thanks to the generous supports from the Design History Society and the University of Brighton. For further information please email Dr. Yunah Lee (yl10@brighton.ac.uk)

University of Brighton

M2 (Board Room), Grand Parade Building, Faculty of Arts, University of Brighton