CONFERENCE - Rediscovered Past: Valuing Chinese Roles Across the North, 13-14 Feb, 2010 [01.07.2009]
Rediscovered Past: Valuing Chinese Roles Across the North
The third “no fuss” Conference
13-14 February 2010
Organised by Chinese Heritage in Northern Australia Inc. (CHINA Inc) at the Hides Hotel, Lake Street, Cairns, QLD, 4870.
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.
The conference program is yet to be finalised but the event will be run in consecutive sessions. As before, the popular Saturday night conference dinner and concluding yumcha lunch will be continued.
The fees will be the same as those charged in previous years: 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.
Cairns is a well-known holiday destination for domestic and international visitors. Information about travel and accommodation will be issued in due course or can be found through a Google search. February is a relatively quiet period for Cairns and as a consequence flights and accommodation tend to be cheaper and more readily available.
If you think you would like to present at or attend the conference, please email an expression of interest to: china_nth@yahoo.com.au. The deadline for proposals on the conference theme is 31 December 2009. Email abstracts to china_nth@yahoo.com.au. Conference registration will run from December 2009 and full registration details will be issued soon.
For general enquiries and correspondence 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
Further details published on the CHINA Inc website at: http://au.geocities.com/china_nth/CHINA_Inc.html
