Event — IIAS Lunch Lecture

Cultural Interpretations of the Spaces in Dong Villages in Southeast of Guizhou Province, China

Lunch Lecture by Dr Xiaomei Zhao sponsored by UKNA

Lunch Lecture by Dr Xiaomei Zhao sponsored by UKNA.

The lecture

Dong (Kam) is one of 56 ethnic groups in China, whose culture remains vibrant, in terms of its agricultural production, daily life, social structures, spiritual beliefs, crafts, management of natural resources, as well as buildings and spatial uses. Based on the long-time fieldwork in several Dong villages around Zhaoxing settlement in Southeast of Guizhou Province, the lecture will discuss the cultural interpretations of the spaces, either by the changes of the spaces themselves or by the locals’ activities in the spaces. The consanguineous links between the villagers play an essential role in the continuity of their culture as well as the management of their own heritage.

The speaker

Xiaomei Zhao is a lecturer at Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture (BUCEA) and also an adjunct research fellow at Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS). She has got her Ph.D on architectural history and theory from Tsinghua University, Beijing, and the book of Research on the Cultural Interpretations of Spaces in the Rural Settlements in China: a Case Study of Dong Villages in Southeast Guizhou, based on her doctoral thesis, has been recently published in Chinese. She currently works as a research fellow at IIAS on urban heritage.

About IIAS Lunch Lectures

Every month, an IIAS researcher or visiting scholar will present his or her work-in-progress in an informal setting to colleagues and other interested attendees. IIAS organises these lunch lectures to give the research community the opportunity to freely discuss ongoing research and exchange thoughts and ideas.

Lunch is provided. Please register using the form below.