Track of Time: Moments of Transition Virtual presentation, with photographs, by Patrick Dransfield

• #AsiaSocietyLive

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  Presentation by Patrick Dransfield and moderated by Professor Rana Mitter, University of Oxford
• Wednesday, January 20th, 2021
• Broadcast on ASHK Facebook and YouTube

A trove of lost photographs shows China on the cusp of change. This unique collection of black and white pictures, taken by Patrick in Beijing and Datong in 1986, was recently featured in the Financial Times “How to Spend It” magazine (October 17, 2020). The pictures also provide him with the context to share his thoughts on time, art history and Old Beijing.

“We are all the luckier for seeing these pictures through the deeply empathetic lens that Patrick Dransfield brought to Beijing in 1986.” Rana Mitter OBE FBA, Professor of the History & Politics of Modern China, Oxford University.

https://www.clearwaycomms.com/booklaunch-start-page

Patrick Dransfield, a long-term resident of Hong Kong, has long attempted to express through the medium of photography and writing, the empathetic connectedness we share as human beings. He has a deep interest in the visual arts and literature, of both the west and China.  “It is my profound hope that through preserving these fleeting moments of Beijing street life from the 1980s, east and west can once again be reminded of our common humanity: our common needs, desires, hopes and dreams.”

Patrick’s book, “Track of Time: Moments of Transition”, will be published in Hong Kong on 18th January 2021 - in time for the Asia Society talk. The author will be donating 10% of the proceeds to the Children’s Cancer Therapy Development Institute, Oregon, USA.

Professor Rana Mitter studies the emergence of nationalism in modern China, both in the early twentieth century and in the contemporary era. He is particularly interested in the impact of China's war with Japan in the 1930s and 1940s on the development of Chinese politics, society, and culture. (Moderator)