Marco Zexun Zhang
| Biography: Marco Zhang received Art History and Cultural Management degrees in mainland China and Hong Kong SAR. He studied in Queen’s University Belfast (2018/19) before transferring to UCD. His research interests include the debated issues related to culture-led local development in the Asian context, such as representations of local culture; the relationship between globalisation and cultural policies in multiple modernities; and arts management in Asia. At present, he is researching on Hong Kong’s cultural policy, specifically focusing on West Kowloon Cultural District. He is a resident scholar in UCD Humanities Institute and is the recipient of a School scholarship. |
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| Research: Marco’s research project focuses on culture-led development in Asia. The design and implementation of cultural districts as sources of urban regeneration is a subject of much scrutiny in cultural policy studies. Largely argued to originate in the West, particularly USA, Europe, the design and use of cultural districts is now a global phenomenon with initiatives in Asian cities. Much academic literature focuses on western experiences and critiques of cultural district, including further disparities in economic inequality, and lack of evidence in achieving social and economic goals. However, despite the uncertainty, the policy discourses of culture commodification and instrumentalization have been adopted by Asian cities in the context of globalisation. West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) is a 40 hectares cultural district funded by Hong Kong Government since 1998. It is composed of exhibition spaces, an art park, theaters and commercial spaces. Two predominant cultural facilities are Xiqu Center (Chinese Opera Center) and M+ Museum. It is interesting to explore how global cultural policy transfer has been adopted through the implementing and programing of WKCD. I argue there is a need to understand local cultural logics that involves thinking about the relationship of cultural districts to the political and geographical positioning of given localities. |
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| Supervisor: Dr Victoria Durrer |
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