This symposium in connection with the RCCAM special exhibition Heritage: Shaping Past, Present, Future brings together a range of guest speakers who explore how artists, architects, and craftspersons, represent and reproduce cultural heritage across the ages and through diverse media, which may reference, reinforce, or challenge perceptions of society’s past, present and future. Drawing on content within the exhibition and their own research, speakers will demonstrate how artworks are far from being static entities - they play an important role in mediating tradition and socio-cultural change. Participants will speak on a range of topics, ranging from ancient myths, to the rediscovery of antiquity, the removal and preservation of statues, architectural legacies of Miami University and memorialization of Freedom Summer, contemporary West African cultural heritage, the revitalization of Miami Tribal heritage, and the role of AI and digital art in interpreting heritage.
DAY 2— FRI, OCT 6 | 9:30-12:30 AM
8:30 AM: Registration and exhibition viewing
9:30 AM: Welcoming remarks
9:40 AM: Miami University & Western College Heritage, Jacqueline Johnson (Miami University, University Archivist and Principal Librarian) and Robert Keller (Retired, former Miami University Architect)
10:30 AM: Revitalizing Heritage
Jordan Fenton (Miami University, Department of Art)
Performing Heritage in Nigeria: The Artistic Philosophy of the Ekpe Nkanda Masquerade
Jared Nally (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and
Myaamia Center at Miami University)
Culture as Living Memory: Picking up the Threads of Myaamia Weaving
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11:30 AM: Artist Talk- Future Pasts
Daniel R. Small (Artist / Filmmaker, Los Angeles)
Future Pasts - The Radical Openness of AI in an Expanded Field
12:15 PM: Closing Remarks
