De-Imperialising Histories and Blazing Forms

PUBLIC CONFERENCE | June 25th - 26th, 2025 | Balzaal, Wereldmuseum Rotterdam

Conversations on Arts from Global Asias

In collaboration with Asia Forum (Annie Jael Kwan, Hammad Nasar, John Tain and Ming Tiampo), we are very pleased to invite you to attend our upcoming conference De-Imperialising Histories and Blazing Forms. This conference will be the second in a series of gatherings aimed at rethinking global art histories through the expansive intellectual space of the “world museum,” which challenges the structures and assumptions of both art history and anthropology through new approaches to material culture.

The conference will be divided in two days, which will bring focus to the following themes: Connectivities, Making, Value and Spirituality.

Image credit: Zico Albaiquni, Ruwatan Tanah Air Beta, Reciting Rites in its Sites, 2019, part of Wereldmuseum Collection, inv. number: 7224-1

About the conference

The inaugural gathering, “Possible Histories and Blazing Forms” took place in 2024, and focussed on the writing of (art) histories in, of, and through Africa and the African diaspora. The term “blazing forms” comes from Margaret Danner’s poem “The Convert” (1960), which reflects upon the blazing power of art and material culture objects from Africa to prompt an understanding of the many worlds made by and inhabited by people from Africa and the diaspora over time and space. Building on this foundation, our upcoming conference, tentatively titled “De-imperial Histories and Blazing Forms,” seeks to extend Danner’s concept to rethink the writing of (art) histories in, of, and through Global Asias.

Program

	June 25th, 2025 Day 1		June 26th, 2025 Day 2
^{9.45 - 10.00}	Doors Open, Check-in	^{9.45 - 10.00}	Doors Open, Check-in
^10.00	Start of conference	^10.00	Start of conference
	Connectivities		Value
	Ming Tiampo		Eunsong Kim
	Hira Nabi		Beatrice Glow
	Yoshiko Shimada		Yazan Khalili
	Hammad Nasar		Vera Mey
	Discussion of Morning Session		Discussion of Morning Session moderated by Hammad Nasar
^{13.30 - 14.45}	Lunch Break (exit conference room)	^{12.45 - 13.45}	Lunch Break (exit conference room)
	Making		Spirituality
	Sopheap Pich and John Tain		Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide)
	Winnie Wong		Conversation between Sara Sejin Chang and Annie Jael Kwan
	Yuko Kikuchi		Without Shape with out Form (Deep Kailey and Nep Singh Sidu)
	Discussion of Afternoon Session		Discussion of Afternoon session
^17.00	End of Day 1	^16.00	End of Day 2

About our collaborators

Asia Forum is a new platform envisioned for discourse surrounding experimental art practices and research that produce hopeful new worlds. Asia Forum is proud to receive Sakti support from the Bagri Foundation for its continued research and core development from 2023-2025.

Conceived by Annie Jael Kwan, the Asia Forum works with a council of international curators and researchers, Hammad Nasar, John Tain, and Ming Tiampo, in a sustained dialogue with contributors to navigate the key themes that have arisen in relation to contemporary artistic practices of Global Asias.

Confirmed Speakers

Sopheap Pich
John Tain
Winnie Wong
Yuko Kikuchi
Hira Nabi
Ming Tiampo
Hammad Nasar
Yoshiko Shimada
Eunsong Kim
Beatrice Glow
Yazan Khalili
Vera Mey
Sara Sejin Chang (Sara van der Heide)
Without Shape Without Form (Deep Kailey, Nep Singh Sidhu)
Annie Jael Kwan