Ryan Pyle Blog: Looking Back on Toronto

Hello.

I get to visit Toronto roughly once a year. And each time I visit it's an incredibly rewarding experience. Not only do I get to spend a week with friends and family, because I grew up in Toronto, I get to network and discuss my work.

This week I had a busy schedule. I participated in an artist lecture, whereby I got to speak about my work in Chinese Turkestan, to a standing room only crowd at the Arta Gallery in the Distillery District, located in Toronto's trendy lakefront area. A special thanks should go out to the Arta Gallery folks as well as my printers at Elevator Digital for helping to organize the event. After that I went knee deep in to the world of academia, with lectures at the Ryerson University School of Journalism and the University of Toronto's China Program.

The Ryerson visit was my second in as many years and I throughly enjoyed the experience. It was an opportunity for me to talk about what it is like living abroad and trying to document another society and culture. I'm always keen to share my experiences in China with an attentive audience and these journalism students were a fantastic audience and sparked some great discussion. As young students interested in journalism I think it's important that they try to understand what kind of options are available abroad.

The University of Toronto talk was equally as rewarding, talking about Change in China and what the future might hold for this awkwardly emerging super power. It's my third visit to the University of Toronto and my first since becoming an Affiliate Member of the Asian Institute, an academic body at the University of Toronto that deals with all things Asia. The reception was warm and I hope there will be much further collaboration with the University moving forward.

So a gallery talk, and a few lectures plus a Leaf's game and a Raptors' game. I had a full week and did a lot of important networking. I am a firm believer in networking and meeting people face to face. While China is my adopted home and I may never leave the Middle Kingdom, I thoroughly enjoy making trips to Europe and North America to meet with gallery owner and editors, and having a chance to promote my work.

Now I am off to New York, trying to build a network from scratch is never easy. Upwards and onwards.

ps. If you enjoy reading this blog, please do become an official follower.

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Ryan Pyle Blog: The Asian Institute

Hello.

I'm very honored today to write that I've been granted an Affiliate status at the University of Toronto's Asian Institute. The Asian Institute has over 100 scholars in it's membership, both visiting and UofT based, and several non-academic members which are called Affiliates. The latter is the category I fall in to.

All of this came about when I started returning to the University of Toronto a few years back to guest lecture in my old "Modern China" course. From those lectures I was invited to speak last year at a conference on Political Change in China at the Asian Institute and it went over well. Hopefully this Affiliate status will mean that I'll have a place to call home in the academic community as I continue to try and branch out and share my knowledge of China and my experiences beyond photography.

The Asian Institutes Mission statement is basically that it has become home to all things Asian. On their website they indicated:

The Asian Institute at the Munk Centre, University of Toronto, is home to over one hundred affiliated scholars researching and teaching on Asia. Our community of scholars spans a broad range of disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Our regional breadth covers the entire Asian continent. The principal mission of the Asian Institute is to provide the intellectual core for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and teaching on Asia.

As an affiliate member of the Asian Institute I'll hopefully be able to return to the University of Toronto and share my experience, lecture and exchange ideas and observations with other China watchers. It's a wonderful opportunity and I'm keen to make a return to the Asian Institute in March this year. I'll keep this space updated with lecture announcements or any other new information.

My Asian Institute Bio

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Ryan Pyle Blog: A Foreign University Teacher in Xinjiang

Hello.

Over the years I've always been interested in learning as much as humanly possible about Xinjiang, and a while back a good friend of mine passed along this first person account of a foreigner named Tim who spent some time teaching English at a University in Xinjiang. I always enjoy a first person account, I hope this makes an interesting read.

The original post can be found: HERE

In case that gets blocked I posted the article below:

_______________________________
Too late to talk about Xinjiang?

魏一帆　更新于2009年08月2日

I’ve wanted to write about Xinjiang and the aftermath of events because I lived there for several years. Despite trying several times, I have not written anything for a month. Many people have asked me over the past few weeks what I think really happened. They obviously have their doubts about the official version of events. So do I.

The issue of terrorism is an important one to address. The government maintains that the violence on July 5 was the result of an organized effort. Frankly, this seems dubious to me. Whether it is factual or not, the question of why would Uyghurs would want to do this remains. What conditions would lead to such violence?

I can only speak from my experience living and working there for several years. I only have stories to tell, some of which are based on hearsay. But they will give a sense of the frustrations in Xinjiang.

The day I arrived to teach at Xinjiang University, I noticed that none of the minorities wore traditional hats or veils. A student explained to me that it is not allowed. Nor are mustaches. He said if students are caught praying they face punishment, even expulsion. A fellow teacher confirmed this later.

One day a supervisor who was Han Chinese told me that Uyghurs have it very good because of preferential policies. They can have two children and it is easier to get into college. Later that week a Uyghur friend told me of a protest by Uyghur college graduates. He said none of them could find jobs and that the rate of unemployment is much higher than for Han Chinese.

One day I was teaching a group of seniors in college who were looking for jobs. One young man was frustrated because he said he encountered signs at a job fair that said: “Minorities need not apply.”

One day a Uyghur friend invited me to a traditional muslim banquet. I was the only non-Uyghur among several hundred. Drinking alcohol is not permitted in Islam but there was plenty of baijiu. Near the end of the night, one guest leaned over and said to me unconvincingly, “We are not supposed to do this but the Han make us [get drunk].”

One day I was teaching a class and asked, “What will Xinjiang be like in 50 years?” A Han Chinese girl raised her hand and answered, “All Uyghurs will finally be able to speak Chinese.” The government had just begun implementing a policy of Chinese only in all schools.

I answered: “It is very important for the development of Xinjiang for minorities to speak Chinese. It’s the only way to find good jobs. But what do you think will happen to the culture? Many of my Uyghur friends are worried that they will lose it. According to the research I am familiar with, there are better ways to implement this kind of language policy.” A Uyghur student behind her looked up at me with an expression of gratitude and awe. No one is allowed to point out weaknesses in government policy and get away with it except in a situation like this. I’m sure he had never heard that before.

For the past month I have censored myself because I did not want to criticize or even seem to criticize government actions in Xinjiang. I fear for my friends and my job. I’m also waiting for Southern Weekly to print more articles on the situation with interviews of people who can explain the situation more clearly and authoritatively than I can.

The only salient point I can make at this point is that while terrorism is a real danger, it tends to obscure the core issues. And as long as these issues go unresolved, the threat of violence will continue. Public discussion would help resolve these issues.

Perhaps my words are too late now that Xinjiang is largely out of the news cycle. But for my own peace of mind I need to write this. I have censored myself for the past month, contributing nothing to my column but editorial translations. This is because there is a culture of fear regarding Xinjiang which has caused me to keep quiet. This too is a kind of violence.
__________________________________

--
Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________

Ryan Pyle Blog: Lecture Schedule in Toronto

Hello,

I just wanted to write and let folks now i'll be in Toronto from Monday March 2nd to Friday March 6th. I'm also very pleased to announce that I'll be lecturing during that week, below is a schedule. There should be a few extra seats available and the professors of each class have mentioned that a few guests can come and visit if they would like.

As a note: the final engagement on Friday is a 1 hour lecture and a 1 hour photo exhibition on color photo journalism work that deal with some of the tough changes that China is going through.

1) Monday March 2 2009
10AM to 1PM
Ryerson University Journalism School
Topic: "Reporting from China"
Room #: 102 (an extra about 10 seats)
The International Living Learning Centre
240 Jarvis St.
Toronto, ON


2) Wednesday March 4 2009
NOON to 2PM
University of Toronto - University College
"Modern China: Change in China"
Room #: UC179 (an extra 20 seats)


3) Friday March 6 2009
4PM to 6PM
University of Toronto
Political Change in China Conference
Topic: Lens on China
Munk Centre
South House (No Empty Seats - Completely Full)
Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility
1 Devonshire Place
Toronto, ON

I'll be back in Toronto in August '09 for a gallery exhibition, more details on that coming soon.

--
Cheers,

Ryan Pyle
Photographer
ryan@ryanpyle.com
Website: www.ryanpyle.com
Archive: http://archive.ryanpyle.com
_______________________________________