Dear all,

Here is a report on the MEA business meeting held on July 4, 2009 during the ICTM World Conference in Durban. The Executive Board Members in attendance
were: Minako Waseda (Secretary), Sheen Dae Choel (Local Committee Chair of the MEA Conference 2010 in Korea), and Xiao Mei. We also had a previous board member, Tsai Tsanhuang, who is the Program Chair of the MEA Conference 2010 in Korea. Following is a summary of the meeting:

1. Opening remarks and brief introduction to the MEA by Minako
- The past meeting in Shanghai and the current Executive Board Members were introduced 2. Call for Papers for the MEA meeting in Korea by Tsanhuang
- Conference themes and abstract deadline (Nov. 30, 2009) were announced 2. Invitation to the MEA meeting in Korea by Sheen Dae-Choel
- A video to introduce the Academy of Korean Studies (conference site) was shown.
3. Other announcements by Minako
- Introduction to the MEA Listserve
- Announcement of the election of Executive Board Members (four new members to be elected by mid 2010 and the result to be announced at the Korea
meeting)
4. Film screening and discussion
- An ethnographic documentary film, "Drumming Out a Message: Eisa and the Okinawan Diaspora," directed by Yoshitaka Terada of the National Museum of Ethnology in Japan, was shown, followed by a short discussion (only 10 minutes or so). Okinawa had been an independent kingdom, which became a part of Japan only in 1879. Okinawans and the mainland Japanese are, thus, culturally different. The film deals with the Okinawan diaspora in the Osaka region of Japan.
- Discrimination againstof Okinawans in Japan is not so widely known outside Japan, so this historical fact itself was a shock to the audience. How strong the Okinawan network is and how it is strengthened by their musical performance (Eisa) were very clearly expressed through the film and I believe it was clearly understood by most people in attendance. It was an excellent learning opportunity for many of us.

We did not have a large number of people participating in the business meeting.
There were probably only less than 20 people, among whom eight people newly applied for the membership.
Thank you and welcome, new members!

I look forward to our next meeting in Korea in 2010.
The details of the meeting will be posted on our website soon:
http://www.gim.ntu.edu.tw/mea/conference.htm

Minako Waseda
Secretary, MEA