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Vivien Chan

@inoutofpractice.bsky.social

1.2K followers 130 following 61 posts

Sowing seeds 🌱 Making sensations 💫 (Dr, she/they) Design historian, educator, image maker. Hong Kong, design history, material/visual/spatial culture, everyday. @historywo.bsky.social editorial fellow. https://vivienchan.co.uk/

vivienchan.co.uk

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Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · 11d

What's next? I'll be arriving in Leiden next Wednesday to start @iias.bsky.social Asia in the World fellowship.

I've also opened a design history research studio called Out of Practice, in the People's Hall, Nottingham, which I learned was a hub for radical organising in the past. Feels fitting!

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · 11d

Thankyou to every writer I've had the pleasure of working with, and I'm so grateful to anyone who has read and shared, commented @historyworkshop.org.uk. It feels so empowering to share amazing research and thoughtful reflection, and for it to offer hope and solidarity right now.

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · 11d

And that's a wrap! My @historyworkshop.org.uk comes to an end. Two years ends with a grand total of 36 articles, 15 for From Place to Place, and 8 illustration commissions with my students.

A huge thank you to the team, I've learned so much about what I want my practice to look like! 💫

Reposted by Vivien Chan

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 15d

The summer has seen anti-trans campaigns across the UK & US, alongside a crisis in healthcare. But what use could trans history have in these times beyond proof 'we have always been here'?

Sam Rutherford @echomikeromeo reflects on Imagining Trans Futures:
www.historyworkshop.org.uk/queer-histor...

Imagining Trans Futures

Sam Rutherford reflects on how trans histories and historians can work towards building power in the trans community.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · 22d

It's a huge honour for this piece by Lola and Agnes to be the final addition to the From Place to Place series. As my HW Fellowship draws to a close, I can't think of a more helpful reminder to keep finding new intimacies and continue feeling through my practice. I hope you've enjoyed the series!

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 22d

What if history could be 'weightless'?

Lola Olufemi and Agnes Cameron expand on their collaboration, This is a Temporal Landscape You Will Find No Direction Here, a digital assemblage for reimagining our relationship to the radical histories before us:
www.historyworkshop.org.uk/practice-his...

YOU WILL FIND NO DIRECTION HERE

Lola Olufemi and Agnes Cameron revive resistance in the concepts of 'history' and 'technology', through digitally reassembling the archive.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Aug 14

yes, we concluded we'd need to revisit in 6 months time 👀 see how it feels when it's no longer a zeitgeist thing and whether it does end up being somewhere that can 'work' in the way it claims....

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Aug 14

It was honestly so baffling to visit! It was hard not to feel like it was an entirely theatrical performance and my friend and I were discussing how it replicates a kind of algorithmic relationship to images but with objects. At the same time I understand the barriers - but this is not the solution!

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Aug 14

Grateful to Az for coming to us to write this piece. As a V&A/RCA alum and design student myself, reflecting on the process of learning what is 'good' design/history through working with Az helped clarify some of the complex emotions I had visiting the Storehouse!

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Aug 14

The V&A East Storehouse opened earlier this year to great fanfare, heralding a state-of-the-art 'working museum' providing 'radical access' to design and the archive.

Az Crawford considers the history and politics behind 'all of this for all of you':

www.historyworkshop....↗

All of this for all of you

Az Crawford contemplates the historical narratives and aesthetic politics behind the new V&A East Storehouse.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Aug 12

🚨HW FELLOWSHIP KLAXON🚨

We're now in the final week for applications, deadline is on Friday!

DMs are open for any questions about the position!

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Aug 12

📣We're into the FINAL WEEK for applications for two Editorial Fellowship positions 2025-27!📣

Deadline is midnight 15th August (that's this Friday!), and the fellowships are open to any early career historians. See the post below for the full details:

www.historyworkshop....

Call for Applications: Editorial Fellowships at History Workshop, 2025

History Workshop is advertising two part-time, paid Editorial Fellowships in 2025, open to early career historians.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Jul 29

It's a pleasure to include Sabine's research @sabinehanke.bsky.social in the series! The history of the circus, while problematic in contemporary times, is clearly a site where you can find important intersecting identities and frictions.

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Jul 29

The spectacle of the circus has long been controversial - but how did performers resist the 'exoticised' commodification of their identities?

Sabine Hanke @sabinehanke.bsky.social examines the history of Lakota performers in the Sarrasani circus in interwar Germany:
www.historyworkshop....

Performing the Exotic and Lakota Resistance

Sabine Hanke examines how Lakota performers challenged and resisted the 'exotic othering' of their identities in the Sarrasani circus.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Reposted by Vivien Chan

Susie Dent @susiedent.com · Jul 26

Sometimes the historical dictionary offers solace through the existence of an obsolete word that is sorely needed now. One of them is ‘respair’, recorded just once, in the 15th century. It means fresh hope, and a recovery from despair.

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Jul 13

Myself and Mary's fellowships are ending in October, and we're now looking for two new fellows!

I have had the best time, it's been a brilliant way to transition out of the PhD alongside teaching. It's been a joy to learn from the team and contribute something of my own too!

Any questions? DM me!

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Jul 11

Join us! We are advertising two part-time, paid Editorial Fellowships at History Workshop in 2025-27.

Our fellowships support early career historians to develop expertise in public, radical and digital history & to gain experience of working in an editorial team.
www.historyworkshop....

Call for Applications: Editorial Fellowships at History Workshop, 2025

History Workshop is advertising two part-time, paid Editorial Fellowships in 2025, open to early career historians.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Jul 9

I'm so pleased to include Kar Yern in the series, both because we share lots of research interests, and because his research is so dynamic and rich! Keep an eye out for his upcoming book on Malay(si)a Foodways 👀👀👀

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Jul 8

‘We always witness hawkers bringing necessities to kampungs with bicycles’.

Chin Kar Yern traces a history of hawkers, movement, state power and (ultimately) survival in Malay(si)a.

www.historyworkshop....

The Shape of Hunger

Chin Kar Yern explores how hawkers have shaped the landscape of hunger in Malaysia.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Jun 24

Another in From Place to Place today, and so excited to include sensory histories in this piece by Meg Parsons and Karen Fisher. Thinking about how processes of itinerance have the capacity to be violent, in colonial notions of exploration and transformation.

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Jun 24

How was smell weaponised in settler colonial processes of scoping and transforming landscapes inhabited by indigenous people?

Meg Parsons and Karen Fisher on the use of the eucalyptus tree by Pākehā settlers on Māori swamp-land: www.historyworkshop....

The Swamp and the Gum Tree

Meg Parsons and Karen Fisher on how Pākehā settlers weaponised smell in the colonisation of Māori swamp-land.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Jun 19

I'm so excited to share that from October I will be a fellow at IIAS @iias.bsky.social in Leiden. I'll be working on a project on wetness in spatial histories of Hong Kong and SEA, continuing on from my research on wet markets. Looking forward to exploring NL!

www.iias.asia/profile/vivi...

Vivien Chan | IIAS

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Jun 12

Another super exciting one to add to the From Place to Place roster! What if we thought of itinerance through objects? how are histories materialised? So wonderful to work with Hege on this piece!

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Jun 12

What can the shipping container tell us about the history of capitalism?

Hege Høyer Leivestad unpacks these icons of global labour and goods.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk/capitalism/c...

Capitalism Compressed

Hege Høyer Leivestad explores the ultimate itinerant object in histories of global capitalism: the shipping container.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Jun 10

A huge honour to have Becky Taylor in From Place to Place, and amazing to see such beautiful and rare archival material alongside her research.

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Jun 10

From the 1920s onwards, Scottish authorities systematically targeted Travellers in an attempt to force them out of their traditional, nomadic way of life.

Becky Taylor explores how sedentarism has been used to subjugate the Scots Traveller community.

www.historyworkshop....

Hendry and The Scottish ‘Tinker Experiment’

Becky Taylor explores how ideas of sedentarism affected the lives of Gypsy/Traveller children and families in Scotland.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · May 29

So happy to be able to commission more design historians to write for HW! As a grassroots archive enthusiast, I was so excited to find out about Elli's collection of garments.

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · May 29

How can a Jamaican fashion archive challenge colonial histories of the Carribean, and what resistances does it reveal?

Elli Michaela Young responds to the provocation 'Is there really fashion in Jamaica?'

www.historyworkshop.org.uk/black-histor...

Is there really fashion in Jamaica?

Elli Young explores how archiving Jamaican fashion history challenges colonial narratives of the Caribbean.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · May 20

Huge congrats to @maryknewman.bsky.social on her new series on Indigenous histories!

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · May 20

How can we better approach the histories of Indigenous peoples?

Mary Katherine Newman introduces a new History Workshop series which will introduce a range of scholars, educators, and activists and the ways in which they examine Indigenous histories.

www.historyworkshop....

Indigenous Historical Practices

Delve into Indigenous history with our History Workshop series, highlighting complex systems of historical knowledge and their significance.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · May 13

I had the pleasure of being one of the people Juli would share her insights with while walking around Hong Kong. It sparked lots of conversations about what we can vs. what we choose to call history. Super honoured to share Juli's work in From Place to Place!

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · May 13

How do you tell a history of a city hidden in plain sight?

Fifty years since the first arrival of Vietnamese refugees to Hong Kong, Juliana Yat Shun Kei asks how to adequately locate Hong Kong's Vietnamese refugee camps.

Do you know this place used to be a camp?

How do you tell a history of a city hidden in plain sight? Juliana Yat Shun Kei asks how best to locate Hong Kong's Vietnamese refugee camps.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · May 8

Such an imaginative and exciting piece from @davehitchcock.bsky.social and a significant question about the relationship between itinerance and the making of public spaces - who gets to make it theirs?

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · May 8

How does a public space become a 'begging place'?

In our latest article, Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social on the life of Jamaican street sweeper in Regency London, Charles McGee.
www.historyworkshop.org.uk/urban/beggin...

How does a public space become a 'begging place'? David Hitchcock on the life of Jamaican street sweeper in Regency London, Charles McGee.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Reposted by Vivien Chan

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · May 8

How does a public space become a 'begging place'?

In our latest article, Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social on the life of Jamaican street sweeper in Regency London, Charles McGee.
www.historyworkshop.org.uk/urban/beggin...

How does a public space become a 'begging place'? David Hitchcock on the life of Jamaican street sweeper in Regency London, Charles McGee.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

Reposted by Vivien Chan

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · Apr 21

We stand in solidarity with trans women and the trans community and we will always be a space that recognises the importance of trans history.

Read on for a selection from our archive 🧵 1/8

Reposted by Vivien Chan

Sooz Kempner @soozuk.bsky.social · Apr 19

There isn't a story on the BBC News site about today's trans rights rally at Parliament Square where it's estimated 20k attended. But they did have a story last week about the Let Women Speak transphobe rally in Bristol where 100 people attended.

Vivien Chan @inoutofpractice.bsky.social · Apr 10

Hi Andrew, thanks so much for these recommendations! I'll be sure to check them out.