Here are some photos from La Commune (Paris, 1871)’s mainland China premiere on March 26 at the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, followed by a discussion about the film with guest speakers Dick Chu and Deng Siu Wah from Hong Kong, Andrew Yu from Beijing, and Tang Shui’en from Wuhan. We’d like to express our gratitude to UCCA, the event’s co-organiser for all their support.
Our posters at the front entrance of UCCA auditorium.
We are a bit late with the English posts lately, but here’s the photo log of CROSSTALK Beijing #3: Social Space and the Post-1980s Generation. The event was a blast, largely due to the presence of Leung Man Tao, an outspoken and well-respected columnist and TV commentator based in Hong Kong. (Although his writings are often published on mainland Chinese publications in recent years.) Three Hong Kong activists and writers shared the stage with a social entrepreneur, a post-1980s writer and a punk musician / anarchist from the mainland China. We’ve already uploaded the audio recording of the whole event, you can go and listen to it here. (Chinese only.) An English report on the event is coming soon.
From the left: Leung Man Tao (moderator), Tang Shui’en, Deng Siu Wah, Zhang Yueran, Cheng Kin-Yip, Andrew Yu, Chu Hoidick.
This afternoon, a panel discussion on the topic ‘Does China have an image problem?’ took place in Beijing Angle Modern Art Gallery (BAMA). As an emerging power, China feels it has an image problem which does not commensurate with its rising status in the world. The incidents such as Olympic Torch Relay, Violence in Lhasa. Successful 2008 Olympic reports were mixed with China’s lack of openness by not approving any peaceful demonstration. These incidents plus the powerful Sichuan earthquake have effected a series of discussion and introspection by the domestic intellectual and political class. These are now press reports (SCMP, People’s Daily) which claimed that the Central Government may soon approve a budget as much as 45 billon RMB (6.6 billon U.S.) to boost its state-owned media outlets: CCTV, Xinhua News Agency and People’s Daily. The new funding may be used to launch a CNN-like Chinese television news channel, expanding existing Xinhua News Agency overseas bureaus, and publishing Global Times in English. The panel discussion was moderated by Liu Heung Shing, who is editorial director of Modern Weekly. Several authors of great reputation such as James Fallows, Jasper Becker and Glenn Mott were invited as international panelists. Some Chinese artists and scholars e.g. Chen Danqing, Shi Yinhong, Li Kun, participated the discussion of image problem with which China is confronted in the course of rising period.
Liu Heung Shing, editorial director of Modern Weekly and Australian scholar Geremie Barme
This week we brought Shao Foundation’s knowledge sharing meeting to the studio of Approach Architecture, which was recently relocated to Steven Holl’s Linked Hybrid. The entire SF team, members of Approach Architecture, Huang Wenjing from O.P.E.N. Architecture, Zhao Xiaoli from Beijing Youth Daily, photographer Hotzing Tone, and Elevation Workshop had the opportunity to exchange with each other some interesting ideas and information.
Viewing northwest from the studio of Approach Architecture at Linked Hybrid, designed by Steven Holl Architects.
Last Saturday, Shao Foundation arranged an one-time preview screening of Jia Zhangke’s upcoming feature 24 City at Megabox cinema, The Village, Sanlitun, followed by CROSSTALK Beijing #2, a panel discussion titled ‘Reflection of Times: From Industrialisation to Urbanisation’ at Beijing Angle Modern Art. Topics such as industrialisation, urbanisation, the definition of ‘real’ in a documentary were discussed. Director Jia Zhangke, poet and screenwriter Zhai Yongming, film historian Lin Xüdong and film critic Wang Hong were among the guest speakers of this special event moderated by SF director Ou Ning.
Preview screening tickets being collected at the entrance.
Just got a stack of tickets from Eva Lam, project manager of X stream which handles Jia Zhangke’s productions. We appreciate their efforts in negotiating with Megabox cinema for the preview screening, it’s a pity that we couldn’t let more people in, but the film will be screened nationwide on March 6.
Don’t forget to check out CROSSTALK Beijing #2, a panel discussion with the presence of Jia Zhangke about 24 City, urbanisation, and other topics. It’s gonna take place from 16:00 to 18:00, Feb 28, right after the screening. Our staff will guide you to the CROSSTALK venue from the cinema. If you are going to come by yourself, here’s the address:
Beijing Angle Modern Art, 4/F, Tower 1, Zhongguo Hongjie (China View), Jia 2 Gongti Dong Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing.
See you all on Saturday.
At 2:00pm, Feb 23, Jia Zhangke: 24 City exhibition held its opening in Beijing Angle Modern Art. The major cast of the film 24 City, including director Jia Zhangke, lead actress Zhao Tao and playwright Zhai Yongming attended the opening with poet Ouyang Jianghe, director Li Hongqi and many other guests. This is the first exhibition of Jia Zhangke and the second exhibition presented by Shao Foundation.
On Feb 28 afternoon, Jia Zhangke will come back to Beijing Modern Angle Art to join the second installment of Shao Foundaiton’s serial talk events — CROSSTALK Beijing.
The entrance of Beijing Angle Modern Art
Tonight I was at a friend’s birthday party when someone suddenly mentioned the preview screening of Jia Zhangke’s 24 City which we organise and sponsor. To my surprise, they all think the screening will be on February 23 (Monday). This is not true, and we take responsibility of the misunderstanding.
Here’s a straightforward description of the events that’s going to unfold soon:
1. An exhibition based on the film 24 City at Beijing Angle Modern Art. Time: February 23–March 8.
2. A free preview screening of 24 City. Time: 13:30, February 28 (Saturday). Place: Megabox cinema, The Village, Sanlitun.
3. A panel discussion (CROSSTALK Beijing #2) on the film and related topics. Time: 16:00–18:00, February 28 (Saturday).
It seems that many people got the news from our Facebook event page, on which the actual date of the screening (not the exhibition) was tucked at the end of the press release. The confusion may also come from the fact that we’ve compressed the above three events into one press release. Again, we apologise for the inconvenience.
To avoid having people going to the theatre on Monday only to find that they have the wrong date, we are going to publish the final list of audiences by tomorrow evening on our website. Everyone on the list will also be notified via email.
Several days ago, hundreds of the objects from the old Chengdu factory featured in Jia Zhangke’s 24 City arrived at Shao Foundation’s Beijing office. With their history spanning over the past 30 years, these objects came in large variety: working pass, tea cup, award, diary, mix tape of Teresa Deng (Taiwanese pop singer who gained great popularity in the Greater China area since the 1980s), etc. They are the silent story-tellers conveying the ups and downs of a large state-owned enterprise and the daily life of the individuals who used to belong and work there. We’ve spent the past few days on selecting and categorising these objects, trying to figure out an intriguing way of exhibition setting and lighting. As of today, a few exhibits are put in place, and our exhibition designer Xu Yijing is busy experimenting with various ways of placing different media in the venue.
