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Kuo Pao Kun (1939-2002) was one of the most important dramatists, arts activists and public intellectuals of contemporary Singapore. At the tenth year of his passing, this international conference is organised to reflect on his works and ideology.

Jointly organised by Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, National Museum of Singapore, The Tangent and The Theatre Practice.

Conference languages will be in English and Chinese.

Kuo Pao Kun (1939-2002) was one of the most important dramatists, arts activists and public intellectuals of contemporary Singapore. He had written and directed more than forty plays since he started his artistic career in 1965. With these creative works, he once and again broke new grounds and presented new concepts and dramaturgy. He was remembered as the pioneer to introduce Bertolt Brecht and Jerzy Grotowski to the Singaporean audiences. Kuo has also founded several arts institutions, including the Singapore Performing Arts School (co-founded with Goh Lay Kuan, in 1965), Practice Theatre Ensemble (the first bilingual professional theatre company, in 1986), The Substation (the first independent arts centre with the first black box theatre in Singapore, in 1990), Theatre Training and Research Programme (an intercultural acting programme, co-founded with T. Sasitharan in 2000). These institutions have all survived him and become part of Singapore’s cultural landscape. In the 1990s, Kuo also played a key role in promoting intellectual exchanges as part of his civil society activism. Beyond these locally specific contributions, Kuo was also internationally respected with his creative works and cultural visions. His works had been translated into various languages and were staged in countries beyond Singapore.

At the tenth year of his passing, this international conference is organised to reflect on his works and ideology, to re-examine his contributions in building a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary cultural landscape within Singapore, and to consider his significance in a wider context of the regional and international arena.


SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

Paper proposals should include a title, an abstract (250 words maximum) and a brief personal biography of 150 words using the Paper Proposal Submission Form found at <http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/showfile.asp?eventfileid=677>.

Please send your form to Sharon at arios@nus.edu.sg by 31 March 2012. Successful applicants will be notified by end April 2012 and will be required to send in a completed draft paper (5,000 - 7,000 words) by 1 Aug 2012.


CONTACT DETAILS

Conference Convenors:

Prof CHUA Beng Huat
Asia Research Institute and Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore

Ms KUO Jian Hong
The Theatre Practice

Assoc Prof QUAH Sy Ren
Nanyang Technological University and The Tangent


Secretariats:

Miss Sharon ONG
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
Email: arios@nus.edu.sg

Mr Cell TONO
The Theatre Practice

Associated websites:

• http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/events_categorydetails.asp?categoryid=6&eventid=1274