The Vancouver Art Gallery is gearing up for the major Deconstructing Diaspora: Institute of Asian Art Inaugural Symposium, next Thursday and Friday (May 18 and 19).

Arts and culture scholar Vishakha N. Desai, who was appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Board of Museums and Library Services in 2012, is a senior adviser for global affairs programs to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and works as a professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, will be the keynote speaker on the first day of the event at UBC Robson Square.

In her talk, called Global Culture in Contested Terrains: The Role of Artists and Institutions, she’ll speak about art in our increasingly divided world, complementing her words with a slide show of art by Asian and Asian-American artists. The next day, visiting Asian Art Council members will give short presentations about Asian diasporas in cities such as Shanghai, New Delhi, and New York, speaking about how art institutions can reflect their cultural communities. Local speakers include the grunt gallery’s Tarah Hogue, writer Sirish Rao, and professor Jin-me Yoon of SFU’s School for Contemporary Arts.