Conference Programme FULL (1)

Moving into Modernism: Tibetan Nomads within China’s Development Scheme
Allyson McAbee
China has undergone many development schemes, or programs, which encourage both physical and economic growth.
Such schemes involve the expansion of railways, highways, national and local roads, and urban developments. These
programs are said to be an attempt at mitigating environmental problems however, as the focus of globalisation shifts to
the Western parts of China, these development programs in turn cause environmental and social issues of their own. One
of the most notable changes takes places in the lives of Tibetan Nomads as they move into modernism via resttlement
villages. To stop overgrazing within the Tibetan Plateau the Government is enforcing resttlement into sedentary homes
thus causing abrupt changes in lifestyle. I therefore question how the nomads move into modernity in response to such
developments, through the analysis of their environment. The goal was not only to research development but aim for
change.
Using photographs and diagrams of architecture I was able to document the juxtaposition between resttlement homes
and nomadic tents. Additional interviews made it clear nomads want to modernise in their own way, not as enforced by
the Chinese Government. Instead, development programs imposed on the Nomads are similar to the high modernist
designs reminiscent of Le Corbusier’s ‘Ville Radieuse’ exerting measures of control. Through this research I propose China
use a different urban design approach including input from the local community, infrastructure which supports an
economic transition into a sedentary life, and environmental impact studies on all new developments, thus creating a
holistic approach to design.
How Can The Pendle Witches Be Represented In A Contemporary Art Practice?
Ailsa Read
The scope of this practice-based research is an investigation into the dominance of male hierarchies in both religious and
social culture, the relationship this has had on the persecution of women, and how this can be interpreted in a
contemporary art practice. The persecution of the Lancashire Pendle Witches in Seventeenth Century England is the
central focus of this enquiry and this creative practice will concentrate on the process of laser cutting as a methodology.
This modern technology will be employed to cut into and partially burn fragile fabrics and explore ideas about the
representation of these witches. The research investigates the extent to which, and the means by which, the portrayal of
their persecution, vulnerability and fragility can be interpreted.
It will also document and consider ways of mapping and interpreting the challenging 51-mile route the Pendle Witches
were forced to take to the place of their imprisonment, their incarceration for 153 days in Lancaster Castle and their
execution and the subsequent burning of their bodies on Lancaster Moor.
This practice aims to highlight the fate and perception of these often very poor women by exposing the truth, which is
often lost in stereotypical imagery or caricatures in mythological stories. The accused were in fact women who led very
mundane lives and faced unimaginable cruelty by the patriarchal control within the society in which they lived