Conference: There is no such thing as documentary

Co-organised by Dr Erika Balsom (Canada/United Kingdom), Prof Ute Meta Bauer (Germany/Singapore), Dr Marc Glöde (Germany/Singapore), and Dr Ella Raidel (Austria/Singapore). 

As the concluding programme of the exhibition Trinh T. Minh-ha. Films. (17 October 2020 – 28 February 2021) on view at NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore, this four-part conference brings together scholars and practitioners across film, anthropological and curatorial disciplines, addressing notions of multivocality, performativity, and truth in fiction, through Trinh’s practice as a filmmaker and theorist.

As Trinh wrote: “There is no such thing as documentary…The words will not ring true.” Both a response and homage to Trinh’s provocation, and at once a close but also an opening, the conference extends multiple threads of inquiry beyond the ontological frames presented in Trinh’s films, to further explore the theoretical parallels and proximities between arrangement and composition, territorialisation and deterritorisalisation, that underscore Trinh’s cinematic works.

Registration is now available. For more information about the programme schedule and times (SGT), please visit the conference website.