Good Practice Award is given to Greg Dvorak, Professor of Gender Studies, Intermediate Seminar 35: Culture in the Middle of Now and Here, and The Pacific in the 21st Century World in the School of International Liberal Studies has been actively using ICT tools to make his classes more interesting and interactive for students. In the 2020 academic year, when classes were online due to the COVID pandemic, he made even more innovations, including the creation of his own class guides and online exhibits of student work.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

by Mike Fu

Greg Dvorak was interviewed by the Contemporary Pacific Journal (an academic journal) about Pacific Islands Studies for the 75th year anniversary of the founding of the University of Hawaiʻi Center for Pacific Islands Studies.

Featuring a diverse range of practices, the Air Canoe project explores the rich history of central Micronesia and the interconnectivity of indigenous peoples to the water land and sky. Hear from Dr Greg Dvorak Dvorak, Dr Vicente Diaz, and Dr Emelihter Kihleng as they discuss collaborating across the seas on this unique project for APT10 and the work of artists from central Micronesia. Hosted by Ruth McDougall (Curator, Pacific Art, QAGOMA).

This lecture and related workshops, led by Pacific/Asia cultural historian and curator Greg Dvorak, professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, invites participants to visually explore the deeper patterns of violence, dehumanization, resistance, and empowerment that run through the colonized and militarized landscapes and seascapes connected to, but beyond the horizon of, the Filipino experience. Focusing especially on the region of Northern Oceania (a region commonly known as Micronesia), the Philippines’ closest Pacific neighborhood, Dvorak will draw together diverse and transoceanic ideas around propaganda, art, resistance, visibility and invisibility between major nations and small communities. When asked about “the war” in the Pacific and their memories about it, Islanders tend to ask, “what war?” For Micronesians, and many Islanders, war is a topic that extends back through at least five hundred years of Western and Asian colonial history, and also into ancestral time over thousands of years. The Pacific War is not the only war that Islanders are aware of: In their consciousness exists many other battles, such as the struggle against militarism and nuclear testing, the struggle against the “environmental colonialism” that is causing climate change and sea level rise, and the ongoing struggle for sovereignty and self-determination. In a deeper perspective, Islanders also look back to the battles fought over land by their brave ancestors who navigated to these islands. Indigenous people throughout the Pacific region, dating back to the time of Ferdinand Magellan, share a great deal in common with the Filipino people, but this is not a history ordinarily taught in the Philippines. Additionally, the indigenous people of the Philippines share deep ancestral Austronesian roots with the people who settled the Pacific Islands. Paying attention to these visual and genealogical histories in the 20th and 21st centuries, while being mindful of the larger context of the ongoing wars in Oceania, will help participants gain a better literacy of contemporary decolonization and demilitarization as seen in art from the region, and how that links or does not link with conversations happening in the contemporary Philippines.

Established "PROJECT35" (Project Sango) in 2012, an ongoing transnational, transoceanic network of artists and scholars devoted to bridging communities between the Pacific Islands and Japan around themes of climate change awareness, resistance to colonialism/globalization/militarization, and consciousness of the ocean and Japan's Pacific neighborhood. Project35 consults with curators and art-related endeavors, while also facilitating the "Transoceania Symposium" occasionally in Japan to bring Pacific specialists (particularly Pacific Islanders and Indigenous people of Japan and Asia) together in conversation. It is also working towards incubating a Pacific Islands Area Research Center at Waseda University.

The vast Pacific Islands region, also known as Oceania, is a blue “continent” of water—the largest inhabited place on earth; yet it is among the most colonized and militarized areas on the planet, in the intersection of American and Japanese empires from the twentieth century to the present. AM/NESIA is a program of selected films that engage with important Lands, Bodies, and Crossings that have been silenced, forgotten, and marginalized between Japan and the United States. Films in the “Lands” selections of AM/NESIA engage, for instance, with Pacific Islander resistance to nuclear testing and climate change in ancestral sites where identity is interwoven with land. In “Bodies” we focus on how people’s identities and bodies have been marginalized, erased, or transformed by colonialism in Oceania—such as with changing understandings of indigenous gender ideologies, and the high rates of incarceration or military recruitment of Pacific Islander men. Finally, in “Crossings,” we explore the theme of forgotten migrations, cultural exchange, and in-betweenness in Oceania, particularly between the Japanese archipelago and the Pacific Islands. Critically exploring prewar propaganda films, testimonies of former settlers and soldiers, ambivalent nationalities, and circuits of hula dancing, we remember the routes and roots that historically have connected Japan with its Pacific neighborhood.

In my research titled "Collective 'De-Fence': Trans-Indigenous Art and Activism in the Wake of the Global Pandemic", I deepened the interrogation into art's role in “speaking back” to empire. This project laid the foundation for my 2023 KAKENHI initiative, where I delved into demilitarization amid escalating military endeavors by the US, Japan, and China. The research contextualized the intertwined narratives of Cold War-era nuclear testing and the persisting climate crisis, with a particular focus on the Republic of the Marshall Islands.The primary research in AY2022 was conducted in Hawaiʻi, centered on diasporic communities, particularly during a period when the Marshallese borders remained sealed post-pandemic. A pivotal aspect of this investigation was to understand how artists and communities were reconciling the increasing militarization against the backdrop of nuclear remembrance and the imminent threat of “disappearing islands” due to sea level rise.My findings revealed a remarkable resilience and robustness within these communities and artists. While they navigate a landscape rife with challenges, their interpretations of hope emerged as a notable insight. This hope, as documented, was uniquely interlaced with experiences of trauma. Such interpretations became particularly evident as they processed the juxtaposition of past nuclear horrors with present environmental challenges, framed against an intensifying military environment.Furthermore, it was evident that the artists and communities weren't just passive observers but active participants in shaping narratives, demonstrating resistance, and fostering remembrance. Their artworks serve as both testament and critique, actively engaging with and challenging the dominating narratives of power, empire, and environmental negligence.This revelation, that hope and trauma can be so intricately connected in the face of multifaceted challenges, became a pivotal discovery of my research. Currently, I am expanding upon this profound finding in the academic year 2023 through my larger KAKEN project, collaborating with local experts and artists to delve deeper into these intertwined narratives and their manifestations in art and community resilience.

In 2022, I delved into the next phase of my research: “The Archipelago Speaks Back, Phase II: Resilience and Resistance in Art and Activism Between Oceania and Japan.” Building on my prior research, this phase took me notably to the Republic of Palau and Hawaiʻi. The study aimed to discern how Islanders were navigating challenges including the COVID pandemic, declining tourism, climate change, and shifting gender and indigeneity identities.In Palau and Hawaiʻi, our findings highlighted remarkable resilience. Islanders, despite profound challenges, displayed innovative adaptation strategies. We closely examined artists deeply influenced by these contemporary factors. Their art encapsulated the vibrant resilience and resistance of their communities, reflecting both overt and subtle battles against evolving challenges.The narrative evolved in Japan, where regions like Hokkaido, Okinawa, and Tohoku were studied. Comparing Oceania's experiences with colonized sites in Japan,, shared struggles and unique narratives emerged. A significant observation was the rising tokenism of artists of indigenous heritage in the art world. While their increased visibility brought opportunities, it also presented challenges. Artists, however, are navigating this duality, amplifying their voices amidst superficial appreciation of their heritage.Yet, a stark contrast emerged when assessing Japanese institutions. Their reluctance towards genuine decolonization, versus artists' drive to redefine their identities and challenge boundaries, was evident.In essence, "The Archipelago Speaks Back, Phase II" achieved its objectives by revealing island communities' resilience against diverse challenges. The comparative lens between Oceania and Japan enriched our understanding of contemporary art and activism dynamics in and between colonized sites and metropoles. 

This special project (Tokutei Kadai), proposed originally in 2019 for AY2020 but delayed unavoidably because of the global coronavirus pandemic, was undertaken mainly in the 2021 academic year.  Originally, the proposal was to travel to New Zealand, but since overseas travel was mostly restricted and New Zealand’s borders remained closed, this project was modified to concentrate instead on the work of indigenous and minority artists within Japan. Building on the first phase of my 2019-2021 Kakenhi project, this special project (Tokutei Kadai) successfully established a new research base that now addresses the field of gender studies to both complement my research as well as establish a basis for curatorial and ethnographic research around decolonization and sexual and gender minorities in Japan. My research on "Decolonizing Japan" entailed ethnographic and art-related research in Okinawa, particularly Okinawa island and Yonaguni Island.  I met with numerous artists who work with themes of feminism, gender, and queer identity.  Later, I also surveyed art exhibits and met with artists in the Tohoku region that dealt with Ainu themes of gender, as well as the major Feminisms exhibit at the Kanazawa 21st Century Museum of Art. 

Special Research Project 2017S-157 "Transoceanian Trajectories: Tracing Global Flows of Representation and Resistance among Pacific Islander Artists" was designed, proposed, and executed as a preliminary phase to a larger project planned for 2019 onwards, a joint research and curatorial project which will entail a symposium, exchange, and exhibition around issues of art, identity, memory, environment, gender, and self-determination between the Pacific Islands and Japan.  It was an initial project to complement some of the early work I had already been doing in surveying the work of Pacific Islander (indigenous) contemporary artists, which I conducted in the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Sāmoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand.  For this special project, I attended the Venice Biennale of contemporary art in August 2017, where I engaged with Pacific artists there who have succeeded in showing their art internationally, and other non-Pacific artists who work with themes surrounding Oceania.  With each of these artists and curators, I conducted visits and interviews, while also viewing how various international audiences engaged with their work.  I also viewed the overall exhibitions in Venice and Florence as a way to gain more contextual knowledge of the international art world.  This research led to a profound understanding of how difficult it is for indigenous artists, especially artists from the Pacific Islands region, to gain access to international audiences-- but also, how effective art can be when they do succeed in communicating their messages.  For instance, Lisa Reihana's work, "Emissaries," won many awards and communicated a devastating history of European colonization in the Pacific Islands which is not easily relatable through mere textual or archival knowledge.  These art interventions, together with more creative but rigorous academic work, are required to cultivate better, equal, transoceanic, trans-regional alliances between Japan and its Pacific neighborhood in the 21st century, and this initial research sets the stage for further programs that bridge historical and contemporary understandings of place around urgent themes of climate change, militarism, and globalization.