Biennale Forum：“Agricultural China: Utopia of Ruralism”
Venue: Multi-function Hall, 1/F, Shenzhen Civic Center
Time：10:00 am -12:00 pm, Dec 9, 2009
Moderator：Lü Xing Yu，Ou Ning
Guests：Qiu Jiansheng, He Huili, Hsieh Ying-chun, Sheng-Yuan Huang, Wu Yinling, Yung-feng Chung

Over-urbanization has become a major social problem in Asia. It has broken the each feeding relationship between urban and rural areas in traditional Asian societies, leading to a large number fallow lands, ecological degradation, a dramatic drop in food production and the population imbalance. It also causes social stratification and group conflicts. Especially in today’s China, many urban problems, such as land acquisition demolition, villages in cities, slums, migrant workers and security, are actually caused by the upside-down relationship between urban and rural areas, and the unreasonable allocation of urban and rural resources. Urban studies are often traced back to the origin of rural areas. Urban and rural areas are two sides of the same coin. The inertia of urbanization in the new rural construction and the threat from agricultural capitalism have become increasingly serious. Through this conference, Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture hopes to focus on the rural-urban relations in Asia and the urgent reality of capital globalization. We have proposed the idea of Ruralism, calling attention to the problems of arable land loss, agricultural crisis, loss of the rights for farmers and the downfall of tradition. By sharing the cultural practices and academic researches in rural areas that have been conducted by intellectuals throughout the country, we are dedicated to restoring the vitality of rural areas, reconstructing the each feeding relationship between urban and rural areas and providing deep reflections on urbanization.

Moderator:

Lü Xin Yu, a professor from the School of Journalism, Fudan University. After she received her PhD in Aesthetics Professional from Fudan University in 1993, she began to lecture there. She is now the head of Department of Radio and Television in the School of Journalism in Fudan University, director of Fudan－Goldsmiths Documentary Research Centre, deputy director of Visual Cultural Research Center of Fudan University, a researcher at the Journalism, Communication and Media Social Research Base of Fudan University, and a researcher at the Center for Information and Communication Studies of Fudan University.

Guests:

Wu Yinling bounded for the cities to pursue the fixed route of college education. After college, she worked as a newspaper editor in the city of Taizhong. She resigned a few years later and roamed around in the island and abroad. Her visit to Mexico in the year 2001 results in the publication of her first literature report, Masked Jungle, An Inquiry into the Zapatista National Liberation Army (2003). She corresponded with Yang Rumen in prison and composed her second literature report Where is the Jianghu? An Observation of Taiwan Agriculture (2007). She also compiled their correspondences into another book Rice is No Bomb (2007). Her most recent publication is her first poetry book Blossoms on the Steep Cliff (2008).

Yung-feng Chung has involved himself in environmental and societal movements. From 1992 to 1999, he helped organize the united association of anti-dam movement, and had established in Taiwan the first organization for the rights of foreign brides. From 1999 on, he has been in an urge to create dialogue between societal movement and the general public, and between traditional and contemporary culture. Thus, he, as a producer and lyricist and employing native music legacy and language, collaborated with folksinger Sheng-Xieng Lin in making three concept albums on the subjects of anti-dam movement, peasants,laborers and women. He now is the director of the governmental culture bureau of Chiayi County, one of the poorest counties in Taiwan.

Sheng-Yuan Huang, graduated from Tunghai University Dep. of Architecture in 1986 and received his M. Arch. with Honors from Yale University in 1991. Currently he is the principle of Field Office/Sheng-Yuan Huang Architects & Planners and initiated projects such as Yi-Lan City Historical Path refound, Yi-Lan River and Surrounding Community Development, and Yi-Lan County South Cultural Center and keep remaining as professor at Chun-Yuan Christian University, Dep. of Architecture, and at National Yi-Lan University, Graduate Institute of Architecture and Sustainable Planning, as well as advisor to the Architecture and Arts Committee of Taiwan Council of Cultural Affairs.

Hsieh Ying-chun, graduated from TamKang University with a degree in Architecture. Since the devastating earthquake in Taiwan in 2000, when his reconstruction project for the Thao Tribe gained him both domestic and international recognition, Hsieh Ying-chun has been devoting himself into issues like ecological architecture and construction solidarity for the vulnerable.  He built Md-house 2 for Aceh disaster area after the Indonesia tsunami in 2004 and also participated in many design and construction projects in Mainland China like Lankao Cooperative Construction in Henan province and Earth House in Hebei province. After the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan, he worked on the mass relocation and reconstruction with the local minorities in Willow Village of Mao County. Hsieh Ying-chun and his team conducted the reconstruction in Ka-aluwan (Chinfeng Villiage, Taitung Country) after the flood in Taiwan in 2009. Hsieh Ying-chun has received many awards so far including the First Prize in Taiwan Liudai Hakka Cultural Park Competition (2006), Organizing Committee Special Award in Shenzhen Urban\Architecture Biennale (2006), Runoff Finalist in UN-HABITAT’s Best Practice (2004) and Special Contribution Award from the 921 Earthquake Reconstruction Committee in Taiwan.

He Huili received her PHD in Sociology from Peking University . She presently is an associate professor and master tutor in the Department of Sociology of College of Humanities and Development, China Agricultural University. In addition, she is also a Postdoctoral of Renmin University of China , and among the Standing Committee Member of Lankao County Committee of CCP. The innovative experiment of “purchasing rice from contracted fields” system that she advocated in the Lankao County is named as a “Community-Supported Agriculture” style with Chinese characteristics. The experiment becomes a significant exploration of involving social energy in constructing a new Urban-rural relation and creative agriculture in this new era. He Huili is one of the few intellectuals in China today who are acquainted with national condition, understand the grass-roots and carry out the unity of knowing and doing.

Qiu Jiansheng is the Director-general of Beijing Yanyangchu Mass Education and Development Center, and the Deputy Secretary-Genral of Rural Reconstruction Center in Renmin University of China. He worked on the building of Yanyangchu Rural Reconstruction Institute and was in charge of the Integrated Rural Development Experimental Zone Program. During this period, he launched training programs for national farmers on cooperative economy and sustainable agriculture, and also established an urban-rural cooperative network which aims at promoting fair trades between urban and rural areas. In 2007, he was in charge of Xiamen Mass Education Promotion Program and working on the building of Xiamen Guoren Workers’ Home and Night School for Workers, and explored the education and development problems for emerging industry workers from rural areas in the context of urbanization.2009, He is working on the building of Fujian Fuqian Rural Reconstruction Center which mainly aims to launch training programs on cooperative economy and sustainable agriculture in southern rural areas.