CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT - Rediscovered Past Conference on Chinese Australian history, 13-14 Feb 2010 [16.01.2010]
The third Rediscovered Past Conference on Chinese Australian history and heritage will be held in Cairns on 13-14 February 2010.
Rediscovered Past: Valuing Chinese Roles Across the North
Organised by Chinese Heritage in Northern Australia Inc. (CHINA Inc) at the Hides Hotel, Lake Street, Cairns, QLD
Following the success of the previous Rediscovered Past conferences held in Cairns in 2006 and 2008, the organisers are pleased to announce a third conference to be held in 2010. Again this will be a “no fuss” multidisciplinary event run over two days and will be open to contributions from all fields of Chinese Australian studies – including history, archaeology, heritage management, law, literature, linguistics, art, and library science. The conference will maintain the previous casual, convivial atmosphere that everybody has enjoyed, and the theme will focus on Chinese contributions to the development of northern Australia. Chinese have been part of this region for several centuries, starting with sporadic visits by traders and fishermen and culminating in the large scale immigration of miners, workers and business people during the 19th century. From pioneering tropical agriculture to bringing essential goods and services to remote towns, from generating wealth for the colonies to galvanising debate about social exclusion and ‘white Australia’, their roles in shaping the social, economic and political life of the region have been critical on many levels. Yet these roles have been largely ignored in the writing of history, and so this conference will present fresh, exciting new research that establishes greater understanding and a true valuing of Chinese Australian heritage.
Fees: Full Conference attendance of AUD $30; Single Day attendance of AUD $20; and Half-day attendance of $10. The Conference Dinner and Yumcha will be pay as you go.
The city of Cairns has been a major regional historical site of Chinese Australian life since the 1870s, and the historic Hides Hotel is close to the former Chinese district in Grafton Street. Researchers of Chinese history and heritage may investigate the Cairns Historical Society collections as well as the Pioneer and Martyn Street cemeteries. From Cairns, visitors may travel to Aloomba – a site of extensive Chinese sugarcane farming – to Innisfail (Geraldton) – a site of Chinese banana growing, and to Atherton – the site of the Hou Wang Chinese temple. Those who have the time could venture further afield to Croydon, where the remains of the former Chinatown exists as a significant Chinese Australian archaeological site, and to Cooktown, the site of early Chinese immigration associated with the Palmer River Gold Rush.
For general enquiries, correspondence and registration please contact:
Secretary, Chinese Heritage In Northern Australia Inc
Dr Kevin Rains
5 Railway Street
EAST IPSWICH QLD Australia 4305
email: krains@goldcoast.qld.gov.au
For more information see the CHINA Inc website at: http://chinainc.yolasite.com and the flyer attached below.
