Occupy Hong Kong Protest Art

Amazing video.  Thanks for the heads-up 
http://rachelmarsdenwords.wordpress.com/

Post by Revolution News.

Teaser Trailer for Aowen Jin's Factory Girls documentary

Lucky Cat Special Edition: Zoë Meets Artist Aowen Kitaika Jin

I am pleased to announce that I will return to the ariwaves for a special edition of Lucky Cat on Friday 6th September 8-9pm on Resonance 104.4FM.

I will be talking to UK based Chinese artist Aowen Kitaika Jin about her upcoming art exhibition Made in China: Factory Girls, which opens at the Brick Lane gallery on 18th September.

The programme will repeated on Monday 9th September at 9am and I will podcast soon after.

Made In China: Factory Girls Exhibition
Brick Lane Gallery, Brick Lane, London, E1 6SA
18/09/2013 to 24/09/2013.
The Factory Girls exhibition uncovers the goals, dreams and ambitions of China's factory girls.

BIG thanks to Josue from Fresh Brewed Illustration for the beautiful artwork pictured here.

Chinese Chippendales

I can't believe that I forgot to post about this! This video was created by UK artist Erika Tan for the Sinopticon project. Erika also created an art installation at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery for part of this project.

Sinopticon - Contemporary chinoiserie in contemporary art and design.

More on Erika here: http://www.sinopticon.org/artists/erika-tan/

and here: http://www.luxonline.org.uk/artists/erika_tan/index.html

Lucky Cat Special - Radio Programme on the 2nd Chinese Visual Festival

Thursday 14th June 5.30pm on Resonance 104.4FM / www.resonancefm.com
I will be broadcasting a special edition of Lucky Cat previewing the Chinese Visual Festival. This is the second festival of Chinese visual culture brought to London by China Culture Connect. I will be joined live in the Resonance FM studio by the Festival's Marketing Manager James Mudge and the show will feature a live musical performance by Boulevard Productions (pianist Dr Zachary Dunbar and actor/singer Ming Qiang (Jeremy) Xie and friends). Boulevard Productions will be performing a Mandarin version of the classic musical Sweet Charity at the Festival's Music Night on 28th June.

The Festival opens on June 22nd, the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, at the Free Word Centre in central London and will feature the UK premiere of the film Dragon Boat by acclaimed director Cao Dan. Through the ancient Chinese sport of dragon boat racing, the film tells the story of rapid economic development in modern China and the resulting disappearance of rural traditions. Cao Dan will be at the Gala for an audience Q&A session.

The Festival runs from 22nd June to 6th July 2012 across four central London venues and is themed Run, China, Run. The theme ties in with the Olympics; hosting the 2008 Beijing Olympics has affected Chinese society and the festival looks at the ‘aftershock’ of the 2008 Beijing Olympics through a variety of Chinese films and art. The running also refers to China's race for modernisation.


The film section will feature 17 independent documentary films from China. As well as Cao Dan for Dragon Boat, other directors will be present for audience Q&A sessions, including Wang Bang for University City Savages on 27th June and Guo Xiaolou for Once Upon a Time Proletarian on 6th July.

The Chinese Visual Festival will present its first Directorial Retrospective on 30th June, Zhou Hao – The Constant Documentarian, with his two most influential films, Senior Year and Using being shown at the Birkbeck College Cinema.

The Festival also includes an art exhibition by Wu Xiaohai and a music concert by renowned Pipa musician Wang Ting.
The full programme and tickets for all events are available on the Chinese Visual Festival website: www.chinesevisualfestival.org

Do tune in for a preview of the Festival on Thursday 14th June at 5.30pm on Resonance 104.4 FM with me Zoë Baxter.
The radio show will also be repeated on Resonance the day the Festival begins (7pm Friday 22nd June).

Level Up – the work of Gene Luen Yang

An interesting podcast to check out: Resonance FM's Alex Fitch talks to American cartoonist Gene Luen Yang about his recent comics about games – his graphic novel Level Up and web strip Legends of the Joystick, both illustrated in watercolours by Thien Pham.

Also discussed is the magical realism found in Gene's work - from American Born Chinese to his forthcoming graphic novels about the Boxer Rebellion.


Click here to take a listen

Ai Wei Wei @ Somerset House

I was very pleased to hear the news that Ai Wei Wei had been released (on bail) yesterday. In an earlier post I mentioned all not being a bowl of ju-jube berries when I visited China. The media control in society was difficult to swallow for me and I really felt it whilst I was there as when I visited Hong Kong Ai Wei Wei had just been arrested and it was all over the media. When I entered back into mainland China it was Ai Wei Who? I didn't see anything in the media at all. I'm sure young people were talking about it in code online but the air was strangely silent. I also had not realised the still marked difference between Hong Kong and mainland China media.

Here are some photos of my visit to the Ai Wei Wei sculpture exhibit at Somerset House in London last month. I thought it really suited the setting and I enjoyed my visit tremendously (as did my little 'kitten' who you can see splashing around in the fountains).

If you haven't been there are only a few days left so make a plan and visit!:
www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/ai-weiwei-circle-of-animals-zodiac-heads

See also:
Further article on Ai wei wei's release

Pop Up Exhibition in New Cross this week

Fontless II is a 3 part collaborative music/visual performance about psychogeography - the act of urban exploration on foot and its application to join disparate resonances (emotional/sonic) through intervention and documentation.

Part I is created by Ben Absalom & Sam Bardsley, part II by Raimund Wong and part III by Oscar Oldershaw and Joe Campbell. All with live soundtrack by Maja Naga, this time with Toby S (mandolin and electric guitar), Camilo Tirado (tablas and percussion) and Raimund (ruan and guitar).

27th May 6 - 9pm, 28th May 1 - 9pm, 29th May 1 - 6pm

At 6pm on Friday there will be a screening of several films surrounding the subject, including The Solitary Life of Cranes.

Address & Transport:
Bond House Pop-up Space, Goodwood Road, SE14 6BL

Train: New Cross Gate/ New Cross
Buses: 343, 484, 21, 53, 172, 453, 136, 171, 177, 436, P12, P13

Links:
www.localanaesthesiaexhibition.com
Facebook Event Page

Isaac Julien’s new film installation Ten Thousand Waves

British artist Isaac Julien's Ten Thousand Waves is a 9-screen installation shot on location in China which aims to weave together stories linking China’s ancient past and present. The work looks at immigration, diaspora and the journeys that people make across continents. The installation premièred at the Sydney Biennale in May and was then shown at the Shanghai Expo. Now it is here in London at the Hayward Gallery (with still photographs also on show at the Victoria Miro Gallery).

Filmed on location in Guangxi province the film has many interesting collaborators; most exciting of all the mighty Maggie Cheung Man Yuk! The soundtrack is by Londoner Jah Wobble and The Chinese Dub Orchestra (an artist who has become interested in fusing digital Dub Reggae with Chinese sounds and traditional instruments, as heard in his CD Chinese Dub).

I haven't been to check it out yet but am dying to go, I will report back asap. I am a fan of Julien's work and of course I don't need to declare my love for Maggie Cheung again! Watch this space for a review of the installation....

White Rabbit Gallery Sydney

(Faces of KonKong by artist Xiong Wenyun)

A friend told me about this contemporary Chinese art gallery in Sydney:

www.whiterabbitcollection.org/

It looks wonderful, brilliant web site too. Bit far for me to pop into the teahouse for an Oolong or two though.

Exhibition of Contemporaray Chinese Art in London @ Iniva

Lu Chunsheng & Jia Aili : Counterpoints
31st March - 15th May 2010

Both artists are interested in the rapid modernisation of society and the individual's relationship to the machine.

• The first man who bought a juicer bought it not for drinking juice (2008)
  A film by Lu Chunsheng which mixes documentary and fantasy to theatrical effect.
  The film commissioned and produced by Artpace San Antonio and supported by ShanghART Gallery, China.
  
  
• Make Believe... at Rivington Place is Jia Aili's first solo exhibition in Europe, with new paintings and a site specific piece for the window overlooking Rivington Street (see picture above).
  
  Living and working in Beijing, Jia Aili presents monumental new paintings reflecting on the human condition, and the individual's vulnerability in a rapidly developing world.
  

FREE! @
Iniva, Rivington Place, London EC2A 3BA