January Wednesday 22nd
Some Chinese Watertowns
Dublin 2.
(very near Baggot
Street)
This venue is very convenient . It is right beside Baggot Street,
and a five-minute walk from Leeson Street or Mount Street, so it is well served by buses.
Parking is abundant and free (after 7.00 p.m., which is ideal for our meetings at 8.00 p.m.).
(This talk, originally scheduled for February 26th, was in fact given on 22nd January.
The talk on Inner Mongolia, originally scheduled for this date, will now be given in February: see below.)
by Deborah Wilson
Deborah, current Vice-President of ICCS has visited Jiangsu & Zheijiang many times.
Tonight she will illustrate her talk on some of her favourite historical and cultural attractions of Suzhou,
Tongli and Zhouzhuang, with artefacts and slides from these trips.
February Wednesday 26th Introduction to Inner Mongolia by Mr Yuyang Wang and Dr Yuhui Gao
The presenters, who were born and grew up in Inner Mongolia, would love to share their passion for this,
the fastest economic growth region in China in recent years. With large reserves of natural resources,
it enjoys a unique location between Russia, Outer Mongolia and Northern China.
The talk will reveal some important cultural aspects of Inner Mongolia,
whose mysterious customs have made it a very attractive tourist destination.
March Wednesday 26th
China, as Seen from the Rest of Asia by
Paul Murray
Paul Murray is a writer and former diplomat. He was Ambassador of Ireland to South Korea (1999-2004) and,
concurrently, North Korea (2004), and to the OECD and UNESCO in Paris (2006-2012).
His biography, From the Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker was published in 2004.
His previous biography, A Fantastic Journey: The Life and Literature of Lafcadio Hearn
which was translated into Japanese, won the 1995 Koizumi Yakumo Literary Prize in Japan
& was awarded the Lord Mayor of Dublin's Prize the same year. He was the recipient of the Gold Medal
of the Ireland Japan Association in 1999 for services to Ireland-Japan relations.
April From Rome to Peking via Lisbon
by
Joan Barnewell
Joan's love of travel and the arts led her to the Chester Beatty Library where she has been
a Volunteer Tour Guide for the past eight years. She has a particular interest in the art of East Asia
and also volunteers in the Library's Conservation Laboratory. Her talk is based on extensive research on the
Jesuits who travelled to Peking and became immersed in Chinese culture and administration,
and their journeys getting there!
Monday 3rd
Chinese New Year Dinner
89 Rathmines Rd Upper,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6
Numbers are limited so early booking is advisable.
The following item will be of interest to many members
On Thursday February 27th, at the Chester Beatty Library, 1:10 pm:
Cultural Amnesia, East and West
Professors John Blair and Jerusha McCormack
" We will be speaking about cultural amnesia in China and in the West. At an age when memory glitches are not unknown, we wanted to share with you another set of anxieties:
about the expanding black holes in the collective memory.
Drawing on our teaching in China as well as in Ireland, we ask how can we best cope with today’s Swiss-cheese culture:
what is left, what is disappearing, and the consequences for both worlds in terms of cultural ecology."
"Please bring along your own observations of what passes now as "modernity." "
Wednesday 23rd