Media Advisory: Programs delve into wasteful side of Beijing’s boom

ATTENTION: Reporting covering China’s business boom, global supply chains, waste management and the environment, politics and art

WHAT

Two days of special programs, sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS) will examine the staggering waste and related challenges accompanying China’s spectacular economic development, particularly as observed in its often glitzy capital city of Beijing.

A symposium, “The City Besieged by Garbage: Politics of Waste Production and Distribution in Beijing,” will be followed by the screening of photographer-activist Wang Jiuliang’s documentary film, “Beijing Besieged by Waste.”

The following day, Wang will talk about his art and environmental activism as seen through his photos of Beijing’s development and daily life around the city’s state-run and illegal disposal sites. He also will discuss the economic divisions, specialties and evolving cultures observed within the growing number of scavengers who rely on Beijing’s mounting waste stream.

All of the programs are free and open to the public.

WHEN

The symposium will be held from 2-4:45 p.m. on Monday, April 11, and screening of the documentary is set for 5-7 p.m. the same day.

Wang’s talk is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12.

WHERE

The special programming is taking place at the Institute of East Asian Studies, 2223 Fulton St., Berkeley, on the sixth floor. A map showing the IEAS location is online at http://ieas.berkeley.edu/events/Beijing_Besieged.html.

DETAILS

For more about symposium participants and their presentations, see http://ieas.berkeley.edu/events/Beijing_Besieged.html.

Wang’s photos of the multilayered impacts of Beijing’s development boom and accompanying waste are on display at the Institute of East Asian Studies through June 10.