Siyun Wu is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden University. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Asian Studies and specialises in History, Arts and Culture, with a focus on Critical Heritage Studies of Asia and Europe. Her Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Language and Literature was obtained from Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), China, where she also gained her double degree in English Language and Literature.
Siyun's research interests lie broadly in the field of cultural studies, critical heritage studies, cultural and social anthropology, with a regional focus on Europe and East Asia. She is eager to explore issues including the active recreations, reconstructions, consumptions and experiences of the past, and the political and economic uses of heritage; globalization and localization of the heritage notions; nationalism and nation-building; culture, heritage and identities in multiple layers (indigenous identity in particular); media, cultural tourism, and their relationships with heritage preservation and development; communities, cultural intimacy, local development and sustainability; public memory, meanings and values of heritage in mundane life and the cultural sphere in different societies.
Looking into the singing tradition, and the World Heritage song festival Laulupidu in Estonia, a country where people often describe themselves as “a singing nation", the project intends to explore the invention of tradition and the active uses of heritage in the present society, and the diverse experiences, meanings and values associated with heritage that create and shape identities and cultural intimacy in multi-layers.
