Innovation Showcases
Featured Decolonize the Surf: The Ocean as Contested Space in Surf Culture View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase David Crellin
The Pacific Coast of the United States, especially California, defines much of its identity in the public imagination through the sport and cultural formations of surfing. Throughout its history, this identity has been almost exclusively associated with white men as the accepted standard bearers of surfing’s evolution and excellence. This narrative runs parallel to the larger political and social discourses of Whiteness and racialized exclusion in American society that persist to this day. “Decolonize The Surf- The Ocean as Contested Space in Surf Culture,” explores the history of racism and representation in the formation of the so-called “California Dream” of surfing, presenting research that examines its complicity in perpetuating legacies of racism and white supremacy. The project encourages a reckoning, reevaluation, and dialogue throughout surf culture, while illuminating contemporary efforts to reimagine greater diversity, equity, agency, and inclusion. Decolonize The Surf is designed to engage and educate, its content structure and style utilizing surfing’s colloquial vernacular and situational milieu. It deploys popular forms of digital media technologies to break down barriers of access to the forums of scholarly communication and research embedded throughout the project. Decolonize The Surf is a multivalent synthesis of research, scholarship, art and embodied experience, standing as a contemporary expression of academic and public-facing knowledge production. As museums expand their definitions of purpose, meaning, pedagogy and curatorial scope as sites of investigation and leaders of culture, Decolonize The Surf offers a valuable opportunity to enhance discoverability, outreach, access, and the dynamics of visitor learning and participation.
Heritage Innovation at State Theatre, Hong Kong: Rebirth of an International Cultural Hub View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Winnie Yeung, Jing Kong, Jeff Tung
The State Theatre is Hong Kong's oldest surviving post-war cinema and is a Grade I historic building. Built in 1952, the historic site is a testimony to the glamorous and glorious past of Hong Kong as an entertainment hub. The building is a rare example of modernist architecture in Hong Kong and its unique parabolic exoskeleton trusses at its roof has made the building an overnight landmark. After its closure as a cinema in 1997, it was being converted into a billiard hall and was no longer recognizable as a theatre. In 2020, property developer New World Development Company Limited has announced its plan to conserve the historic theatre and will revitalize it back to its original use as a performance venue. Targeted to reopen in 2026, the project is a major heritage conservation initiative led by a private developer. In the past three years, extensive research has been conducted on the building and its history, so that the team can thoroughly appreciate the rich heritage significance of the site. The team has also conducted many rounds of focus group studies and community engagement exercises to gear up for the planning of this theatre for the future. This review depicts the team's journey so far.
Changing the Tide in Higher Education for Cultural Workers: The Innovation of the Responsible Cultural Leadership Program View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Laura-Edythe Coleman
In response to growing calls for anti-racism, justice, decolonization, inclusion, repatriation, climate and sustainability, accessibility, community responsiveness, activism, and advocacy, the graduate program in Arts Administration and Museum Leadership at Drexel University designed the Responsible Cultural Leadership certificate. Gathering leaders and students, this is the first program in the United States to address the long-standing inequities in the cultural field. The creators of this certificate seek to spark interest amongst their peers and encourage the growth of future cultural programs throughout the field.
