“Individual, Community & Society: Conflict, Resolution & Synergy”
April 3–6, 2014 | Osaka International Conference Center, Osaka, Japan
The Asian Conference on Arts and Humanities 2014 (ACAH2014) was held alongside The Asian Conference on Literature & Librarianship 2014 (LibrAsia2014) from April 3–6, 2014, at the Rihga Royal Hotel and the adjoining Osaka International Conference Center, Osaka, Japan.
The joint conference, with its theme of "Individual, Community & Society: Conflict, Resolution & Synergy", attracted around 350 people from over 35 countries and offered a diverse variety of papers that encouraged interdisciplinary reflection and explored new avenues of interdisciplinary study in the wonderfully rich cultural environment of Japan.
The year’s conference had an excellent plenary programme of highly regarded and informed speakers and was followed by a range of diverse parallel sessions across the academic scope from Librarianship through to African and Arabian Art. IAFOR would like to especially thank its 2014 LibrAsia keynote speaker Professor Bill Ashcroft of the University of NSW, Australia. Professor Ashcroft’s inspiring address titled "Revolution, Transformation and Utopia: the Function of Literature" focused on the phenomenon of revolution, with respect to showing the function of art and literature in transforming power and imagining the future. We were also most fortunate to have with us the ACAH featured speaker Paul Lowe of the London College of Communication, University of the Arts, London. Paul is one of the most highly regarded photojournalism specialists in Europe and provided the conference with an enthralling plenary presentation on how photojournalists and the images they produce can be used to enhance global and local understanding of genocide, and help in both reconciliation and remembrance in post-conflict societies.
In this year’s featured Haiku Workshop session we were pleased to welcome back Emiko Miyashita and Hana Fujimoto from the Haiku International Association, Japan. As world experts on Haiku it was a rare treat for literature delegates to meet and discuss the finer points of this ancient Japanese art form. Also present was His Excellency Dr Lars Vargö, the Ambassador of Sweden to Japan who spoke to the Plenary Sessions and was on hand to present the 4th Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award to Anthony Kudryavitsky, Ireland. We thank His Excellency for taking the time out from his busy schedule to speak to the conference and congratulate Anthony Kudryavitsky on winning this year’s haiku award, which drew over 280 submissions.
IAFOR was also pleased to welcome the DAMIN research group on silver monetary depreciation and international relations lead by Georges Depeyrot of the French National Center for Scientific Research, France.
Lastly we wish to thank the continuing contribution of ACAH/LibrAsia2014 Conference Chair & Featured Speaker Professor Stuart D. B. Picken, founding Chairman of the IAFOR International Advisory Board, and Professor Akiyoshi Suzuki of Nagasaki University, Japan, our LibrAsia Co-Chair. Finally we wish to thank all our attending delegates.
ACAH2014 Conference Photographs
Human interaction is at the root of all knowledge creation, and hence the great importance of the conference in introducing, testing and spreading ideas through challenging, rigorous and thought provoking discussion and debate. But beyond that, a conference is also a great chance to meet people from around the world, and to extend and grow ones’s professional network, and above all, to make friends.
It may be impossible to tell the story of the conference, or rather the many hundreds of interlocking stories that go to make up the conference, but the documentary photography in this slideshow aims to give a taster of the more serious academic side of the event, as well as the lighter side…