Hi everyone!
I'm Kayan, a transfer sophomore student studying BA Art with a minor in EALC and this will be the first forum hosted at USC that I will be attending (aside from the architecture talk by Toshiko Mori!). Growing up in Hong Kong, I've always been influenced by mainly Korean and Japanese Pop cultures because they played such a massive role in determining the media that I watched. Whether it's KPOP, anime, or even K-dramas, I feel like there is a fascination that I find with them. Especially with the influences of Manga as seen in Hong Kong comics, I think there has always been an influence from Japan on Hong Kong. Hence, I would like to learn more about Japanese culture, history and the language during my time here to develop a more thorough understanding of myself and also aim to do a study abroad program in Japan next year.
Though recently I think the topic of 'westernisation' has popped up more- I wonder if westernisation would become the 'end' of these authentic cultures or would it instead become another sort of 'cultural exchange' that we see often in history. Nonetheless, Japan has been a major source of inspiration to many countries in the past, evident in New Spain artworks, and still is one of the countries with such a strong media influence due to their innovative creations.
