Film Screening and Discussion: The Link

2024-09-04 - 2024-09-30

Date: 16:30 ~ 18:30, September 23, 2024 (GMT+8, Taipei Time)

Venue: HB326, HA Building 2, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU)

Moderator: Tu Huynh (Associated researcher, Global South Studies Center, University of Cologne)

Director: Musquiqui Chihying (join virtually), and Lou Mo (join in person).

Language: English (Mandarin Interpretation provided in the post-screening discussion)

Sponsored by the Africa-China Research Network in Taiwan in cooperation with the International Centre for Cultural Studies (NYCU) and the Social Inequalities Research Unit ( University of Cologne).

This work is commissioned by The Hong Foundation.

 

Abstract

As a series of abolitionist movements unfolded in the early 19th century, Western colonial empires encountered a severe shortage of labour in their tropical plantations worldwide. Coolies from Asia emerged as ideal substitutes, sustaining production tasks necessary for trade. These coolies, supplementing the human resource shortfall after the abolition of the slave trade, not only altered the distribution of agriculture, commodities, minerals, and natural resources in the Global South but also influenced the dispersion and aggregation of Asian ethnicities. From the portraits of coolies captured by British colonists in the past to the blueprint of the “World Digital Brain” crafted by Chinese multinational corporations through submarine cable connections, The Link endeavors to dismantle the gaze of control technique and colonialism by regarding the islands in the Afrasian Sea as “key points” in this technical network through intricate image appropriation and observation, thereby reflecting on the history of exchanges in contemporary global waters across intertwined timelines. This film was produced in collaboration with the institute DGAP (German Council on Foreign Relations) in German, Rongxing Hakka Opera Troupe in Taiwan and the Aapravasi Ghat, the museum of Coolie history in Mauritius.

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