Category: cultural

Summerhall Courtyard is the place to find the unique Rickshaw Theatre where from 11-25 August stories of daily life in China will be shared.

Scotsman Review
`In a production that makes the consequences of globalisation personal, its impressively powerful stuff` ****

Fest Magazine Review
`This delicate and sweet-natured performance clashes cultures on very personal and emotive footing ****

Broadway Baby
An unusual and curious idea, this is a meeting of cultures that typifies the spirit of the Fringe ****

STV Review
In the rickshaw a pair of performers create a miniature world for an audience of only two. Step into the rickshaw, sip a cup of Jasmine tea, relax for ten minutes, choose an object and enter the world of Dumpling Dreams

… `What do Westeners eat?` ponder the women working in a Shenzhen factory making outsized jeans.

`How many eggs do I need to pay for a year`s school fees and books?` wonders a 7 year old girl in a Shandong village.

When a women`s baby daughter falls down a well and her fellow villagers say, `Leave her there, she`s a girl`, what can she do?

Through image, music and words in a mix of Mandarin and English, no two stories are the same, but all of them are true. The performers dreams will be complemented by a programme of short films, music, crafts and pop-up events all centred round the Rickshaw.

About this project

The Confucius Institute for Scotland is proud to be one of the sponsors of this fringe production which has resulted from the work of a number of innovative organisations and individuals in China as outlined below.

The Beijing Community Rickshaw Project is the first to work exclusively out of a rickshaw; Hua Dan Theatre is a pioneering Chinese NGO that uses grassroots theatre to work with migrant women, workers and families in urban Beijing and rural Sichuan; entrepreneur, Li Peng and Jessica Fusco-Naish work between China and Europe to support artistic exchange. None receive any state funding in China and exist on donations, sponsorship and small self- generated projects. Tinderbox Theatre Project, and the Red Field are respectively Edinburgh and Fife based community outreach companies whose vision, commitment and hard work have been essential in enabling Dumpling Dreams to come to the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Fringe Details and Advance Booking

To mark the Ming exhibition at National Museum of Scotland, our Institute staff is working with museum staff to deliver family taster sessions for a week in July.

The interactive sessions will give visitors the opportunity to try their hand at the art of decorative knot tying, create beautiful pottery patterns, write your name in Chinese characters and more!

The events will take place Monday 21 to Sunday 27 July from noon till 4pm in the Grand Gallery on Level 1 and the Learning Centre on Level 4.

`Poster Art of Modern China` is a `must see` exhibition running at Adam House, Chambers Street from 6 June to 12 July.

The exhibition comprises a selection of 133 posters on loan from Propaganda Poster Art Centre, Shanghai. From the earliest Shanghai Calendar Girl posters, to the newest poster depicting Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, this collection reveals the turbulent history of China over these decades as well as varying artistic influences on this art form.

There is no charge to view the exhibition more details of which can be found at www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk/posters

Join us in the Playfair Library when the four final teams in the ESU Junior Mace competition will debate the topic: `This house believes in the China Dream`.

Doors open at 18.30 to allow our audience of pupils, teachers, parents and interested parties to determine which team you believe has won the debate. The decision of the judging panels which is of course final, will be announced by 21.30

The four schools taking part in the Scottish Schools Mace Competition are: Beaconhurst School; George Heriots` School; Mary Erskine School; and St Columba`s School.

`It may seem strange that an Institute which is trying to get people to learn Chinese opted to sponsor a competition which encourages effective use of the English language but as part of our remit we also want to give people opportunity to learn about China beyond the cliche of the dragon dance. The opportunity to work with ESU gave us the chance to encourage some of Scotlands brightest youngsters to consider live issues in contemporary China and understand the impact that China has on all our lives.`

Professor Natascha Gentz, Director, Confucius Institute for Scotland

Visitors have flocked to see the larger-than-life lanterns inspired by the ancient Chinese Terracotta warriors which added a burst of colour to the Old College Quad on South Bridge this Chinese New Year from 29 Jan to 7 February 2014.

Please click here to see a video and find out more.

Each day the 90 lantern figures up to 2.5m tall were illuminated from 4pm-9pm.

The spectacle was created by Chinese artist Xia Nan for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. Thanks to a partnership between the Confucius Institute for Scotland, the Festivals Office in the University of Edinburgh and various other departments within the University this exhibition has been brought to Scotland for the first time.

Inspired by terracotta army

The lanterns are inspired by the army of terracotta soldiers, discovered in 1974 when the tomb of the 3rd Century BC First Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang was unearthed in the Xian province of China.

The figures were found in an underground vault of 12,000 square meters and comprised more than 8,000 terracotta sculptures depicting warriors and horses arranged in battle formation.

It is thought that they were created to defend the emperors immortal soul.

Traditional technique

Xia Nan has used traditional Chinese lantern designs to re-imagine this awe-inspiring historic discovery.

The figures that will populate Old College quadrangle includes women and children as well as men with horses.

`We are delighted to be showcasing this incredible exhibition to coincide with Chinese New Year. People of all ages are sure to be wowed by the scale and beauty of the lanterns, while also learning about this important aspect of Chinese history.`

Professor Natascha Gentz
Director of the Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh in association with the Confucius Institute for Scotland is delighted to present this exhibition in partnership with Event International, and with thanks to Chaoyang Cultural Centre, Beijing.

Confucius Institute for Scotland visiting artist Li Huai will open a site-specific installation `Heavenly Pond` at the Mathew Architecture Gallery on Monday, 11 November.

An artists` reception will be held from 5.30pm to 7.00pm on Tuesday, 12 November. All welcome. RSVP to info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk.

Li Huai received her BA in fine arts at the Beijing Film Academy and her MFA in art at the California Institute of the Arts. She is on the faculty in the Visual Arts Department at the University of California, San Diego. Li Huai`s specialties include installation, painting, drawing, multi-media, and Chinese calligraphy. In thematic terms, her work deals with various issues related to East-West cultural interaction in an increasingly transnational age, including issues involving the Asian diaspora. Her major one-person shows include: Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, the San Diego Museum of Art, Boehm Gallery, The Arts House (Singapore), The Substation Gallery (Singapore), the Carroll Gallery (Tulane University), the Hong Kong City University Gallery, and Galleria Ninapi (Ravenna, Italy). Her work has also been shown in group exhibitions in various national and international venues, including: the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art (San Diego), Morlan Gallery (Transylvania University), the Centro Cultural de Tijuana (Mexico), the Centre Internationale d`Art Contemporain (Montreal), the Third Chengdu Biennale (Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu, China) and in various contemporary art spaces in South Africa, Japan, and Italy. Li Huai is also art curator for the Women`s Museum of California.

The exhibition runs till 17 November. Open daily from 09.00 to 17.00.

Matthew Architecture Gallery
University of Edinburgh,
Minto House, 20 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JZ

Eminent China scholar David Shambaugh will speak about his new book: China Goes Global—a sweeping account of China`s growing prominence on the international stage on Friday, 8 November 2013 at the Confucius Institute for Scotland.

Thirty years ago, China`s role in global affairs beyond its immediate East Asian periphery was decidedly minor and it had little geostrategic power. As Shambaugh charts, though, China`s expanding economic power has allowed it to extend its reach virtually everywhere—from mineral mines in Africa, to currency markets in the West, to oilfields in the Middle East, to agribusiness in Latin America, to the factories of East Asia. Shambaugh offers an enlightening look into the manifestations of China`s global presence: its extensive commercial footprint, its growing military power, its increasing cultural influence or `soft power`, its diplomatic activity, and its new prominence in global governance institutions. But Shambaugh is no alarmist. In this balanced and well-researched volume, he argues that China`s global presence is more broad than deep and that China still lacks the influence befitting a major world power—what he terms a `partial power`.

The talk will start from 18.00, followed by book signing and drinks reception. This event is free but booking is requested. To book a place please email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk or call 0131 662 2180.

A viewing of documentary film of China in 1971 shot by Lewis McLeod, followed by discussion with Rory McLeod and Professor Paul Pickowicz(University of California, San Diego)

Lewis McLeod, who passed away in April 2013, was a professional lighting cameraman whose work stretched from documentaries with the naturalist Peter Scott to stints covering wars in Vietnam and the Middle East. In 1971 Lewis visited China at a time when remarkably few were allowed to enter the country, a year before the historic visit of Richard Nixon.

In 2012 the 10,000 feet of Eastman colour 16mm film that he shot in China were donated to the University of Edinburgh. The film is being transferred to DVD and will be stored in the university.

In this special event, you will have the opportunity to view this remarkable documentary of a closed off world during the Cultural Revolution.

The event will take place from 6pm to 8pm on Wednesday, 6th November 2013 at Seminar Room 2, Chrystal Macmillan Building, George Square Edinburgh EH8 9LD. All welcome.

This year China`s best known director of modern drama, LIN Zhaohua, will stage The Tragedy of Coriolanus at the Edinburgh International Festival. This modern adaptation of Shakespeares tragedy features Chinese heavy metal performances and was a great success when staged in Beijing. The Edinburgh International Festivals performances will be its European premiere.

The Confucius Institute for Scotland will host a special conversation event with LIN Zhaohua on 21 August at the Festival Theatre. Director Lin will talk about his current production and Chinese modern theatre today in this event.

Event Time: 2-3.30pm, Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Location: Empire Room, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Followed by a drinks reception

The event is free, but reservation is required.
RSVP to info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk or 0131 662 2180

The second play in the National Theatre of Scotland and Oran Mor`s International`A Play, A Pie and A Pint` programme presented by the Institute at the Bedlam is a darkly comic play `Thieves and Boy` running from 14-18 May 2013.

Two construction workers turn vigilante, trying to right the wrongs of society by burgling the home of a high ranking, corrupt government official. However once they get inside it turns out they both have very different ideas about justice.

Written by Hao Jingfang and adapted by Davey Anderson tickets are available from the Bedlam Box Office on performance days. Doors open at noon to allow time for a Chinese dumplings lunch and a drink before the play begins at 1pm.

www.bedlamtheatre.co.uk/playpiepint

http://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com

As an extension to the two week programme of new writings from China scheduled at the Bedlam Theatre under the lunchtime `A Play, A Pie and A Pint` programme from late April-mid May, join us for an evening in conversation with some of the key players behind this significant initiative.

DISCUSSION PANEL:

Davey Anderson, National Theatre of Scotland, Curator of New Writings season
George Aza-Sellinger, National Theatre of Scotland, Literary Manager
Tian Qinxin, Theatre Director, National Theatre of China
Lin Weiran, author of ‘Secrets’

Chair: Professor Natascha Gentz, Director, Confucius Institute for Scotland

Evening Timetable

1715-1800: Pre-panel reception (optional)
1800-1815: Welcome remarks from Cabinet Secretary Fiona Hyslop
1815-1930: Panel Discussion
1930-2000: Networking reception (optional)

For an interview with Davey Anderson, curator of China Season please go to http://vimeo.com/61644392

To reserve a seat please click here. or email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk. You can also call 0131 662 2180

If you have not already booked to attend a lunchtime show at the Bedlam please click here to book at Bedlam.

With a four star review for the first of the two plays from National Theatre of Scotland and Oran Mor`s International`A Play, A Pie and A Pint` programme presented by the Institute at the Bedlam Theatre, Edinburgh plan an extended lunch-break and make sure you don`t miss out.

`Secrets` 30 April-4 May 2013

By Lin Weiran. Adapted by Rona Munro, Directed by Graeme Maley

An ex-lover shows up on the doorstep of a married woman. He disappeared two years ago without warning and she has built a new life without him. His reappearance threatens to shatter her new existence and rekindle their romance. But first she wants the truth about why he left her.

Tuesday 30 April – Saturday 4 May 2013
Doors open noon, play starts 1pm

To see the review of the above play from its Oran Mor please see http://joycemcmillan.wordpress.com/

`Thieves and Boy` 14-18 May 2013

By Hao Jingfang. Adapted and directed by Davey Anderson

A darkly comic crime story. Two construction workers turn vigilante, trying to right the wrongs of society by burgling a high ranking, corrupt, government official. However once they get inside it turns out they both have very different ideas about justice.

Tuesday 14 May – Saturday 18 May 2013
Doors open noon, play starts 1pm

These world-premiere plays by contemporary Chinese playwrights, are specially commissioned by the National Theatre of Scotland and Oran Mor in partnership with the National Theatre of China.

As cities grow at an astonishing rate and power shifts from one generation to the next,we take a glimpse into the lives of a handful of individuals whose stories paint a portrait of a society in flux.

Inspired by real events, both intimate and political, each play emphasises the tension between public and private lives, the gap between rich and poor, and the dangers of telling lies to ourselves and others.

Tickets

Tickets INCLUSIVE OF A DRINK AND CHINESE EQUIVALENT OF A PIE(delicious Chinese dumplings known as jiaozi) �12/�10 plus 50p booking fee per ticket for online advance booking. Tickets are on sale at the door from noon on performance dates. Shows start at 1pm and will finish shortly before 2pm.

Click here for advance ticket booking

For a short video interview with programme curator, Davey Anderson please visit this link: https://vimeo.com/61644392

Any questions?

Tel: 0131 662 2180
Email: info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk

Join us in the evening of Wed 23rd March for the 2011 final of the English Speaking Union`s MACE debate. Since late summer 2010 schools across Scotland have been competing to win a place in the final which will take in the Playfair Library on Wed 23 March from 6.30pm-9.30pm approx.

The Institute sponsored the first round and the final round thereby ensuring that in schools across Scotland aspects of contemporary China worthy of debate have resonated in assembly halls from Lerwick to Lockerbie.

Topics debated in the first round were

1/ This house believes that Western companies producing in China should be held responsible for helping to finance alternative greener energy schemes
2/ This house would make it compulsory for all students to learn Chinese in school

For the final, the debate topics are

1/ This house believes China should break off ties with North Korea
2/ This house believes China should abandon its one child policy

Attendance is open to all. Please email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk if you would like to come along to help us plan the seating. If attending as part of a school support group no email notification is required.

Schools competing to be in the final are shown below.

Stewart`s Melville (Edinburgh)
George Heriot`s (Edinburgh)
St. Joseph`s College(Dumfries)
Bearsden Academy(Glasgow)
St Columba`s High School(Kilmacolm)
Lomond School (Helensburgh)
High School of Glasgow (Glasgow)
Largs Academy
High School of Dundee
Madras College (St. Andrews)
Robert Gordon`s College (Aberdeen)
Dollar Academy
Craigmount High (Edinburgh)
Fettes College (Edinburgh)
St. Margaret`s Academy (Livingston)
Merchiston Castle (Edinburgh)

Event Date: 11/09/2012

Two Chinese orchestral concerts took place in September thanks to a week long visit by Peking University`s Chinese Orchestra. The 60 strong orchestra visited Scotland for one week during which time they undertook outreach programmes to a number of local authority schools where in a series of informal performances and talks with students they built on the earlier work of the Silk Road project.

Full details of the visit, information about the Silk Road project and a selection of images from the concerts can be seen on the microsite www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk/silk

From across Scotland, the finalists in the English Speaking Union public speaking competition for schools will gather in the Playfair Library on Wednesday 18th April to present their speeches on the topic `Why does China Matter?`

This event is open to the public and you are very welcome to attend and listen to some or all of the speeches. Doors will open at 5.15 with welcome remarks at 5.45. The first finalists will speak between 6pm and 7pm when there will be a short break before the second group of finalists share their thoughts with the audience. Following judging the results will be announced and after closing remarks the event will end around 9pm.

If you would like to drop into this event please feel free to do so. While not essential a courtesy email to advise of your attendance would be appreciated – info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk.

The Confucius Institute for Scotland has sponsored this competition in order to stimulate school children in Scotland to consider the wider implications of Scotland (and the wider world`s) engagement with China.

Think you know China? Think again. To mark Chinese New Year, four award-winning films offering different perspectives on the complex transformations taking place in contemporary Chinese cinema, society and industry, and how they relate to the wider world will run at Edinburgh Filmhouse on Wed 25, Thurs 26, Sat 28 and Sun 29 January 2012. Please check out the Filmhouse website for timings, ticket prices and special offers.

Presented by Take One Action Film Festivals, all screenings will be followed by expert and audience discussion. This programme is supported by the Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh, Scotland China Education Network, Scotland-China Association and the Blackford Trust.

Wed 25th Jan 2012 (eve) `Mr Tree` (Jie Han, 2011)

Synopsis
This double prize winner at Shanghai Film Festival is a complex reflection on the challenges and questions arising from China`s rapidly changing rural economy. The film charts a year in the life of Mr Shu (aka Tree), a Chinese man with learning difficulties whose life allegorically mirrors the social and economic development of his home-town. Generally viewed as a benign but lazy idiot, Shu loses his job after a workplace accident but at the same time transcends community hierarchies, giving the viewer a unique insight into the ties between local leaders, families, workers, businessmen, and even the past and future. When in parallel, a locally-run mining company starts to relocate the townspeople, and Shu gets drawn into doomed marriage with a deaf mute girl, the town`s carefully maintained boundaries between order and disorder begin to unravel. Although it is never clear whether the dangers associated with a changing China are merely a mental disturbance or situated more widely, the film nonetheless begs the question: where is China going?

“A satire that bridges the personal and political with fantasy and black humour.” The Hollywood Reporter

Winner – Jury Prize, Best Director, Shanghai International Film Festival

This film will be followed by a discussion on the changing face of China’s rural economy and Chinese cinema.

Thursday 26th January 2012 (eve) `Last Train Home` (Lixin Fan, 2009)

Synopsis
Every spring, China’s cities are plunged into chaos, as all at once, a tidal wave of humanity attempts to return home by train. It is the Chinese New Year. The wave is made up of millions of migrant factory workers, and the homes they seek are the rural villages and families they left behind to find work in the booming coastal cities. It is an epic spectacle that tells us much about China, as it rapidly modernises and increases its global economic dominance. Last Train Home draws us into the fractured lives of a single migrant family caught up in this annual migration. Intimate and candid, the film paints a human portrait of the dramatic changes sweeping China.

“An exceptional documentary… stunningly photographed.” IndieWire

Winner – Best Feature Documentary, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam

This showing will be followed by a discussion

Saturday 28th January 2012(eve) `Apart Together` (Wang Quan’an, 2010)

Synopsis
In his follow-up to the Berlin Golden Bear winner `Tuya`s Marriage`, director Wang Quan’an has fashioned a bittersweet late life romance, reuniting former lovers separated some fifty years earlier by the end of China’s civil war.

When a political thaw permits surviving veterans in Taiwan to return to Shanghai to visit their families, ex nationalist soldier Liu returns to his native city Shanghai to find the first love of his life, Qiao, who he left behind, pregnant, five decades earlier. In the meantime, Qiao has married and built a family, but Liu tracks her down and is determined to get the family’s approval to take her away with him. Made with support from the Chinese government, `Apart Together` marks a new frontier in representations of China’s history and its relationships with the outside world.

“An engaging chamber piece about autumnal romance, bittersweet memory and self-sacrifice.” The Times

Winner – Best Screenplay, Berlin International Film Festival
This programme will be followed by a discussion

Sunday 28th January 2012 (eve) `Manufactured Landscapes` (Jennifer Baichwal, 2008)

Synopsis

In this series of extraordinary visual portraits, renowned artist Edward Burtynsky travels through China photographing the evidence and effects of its massive industrial revolution and the implicit impact on the environment. Director Jennifer Baichwal captures the artist at work amid some of the most surreal landscapes of the 21st century: the mountains of `ewaste` in China where 50% of the world`s computers end up to be recycled; the Yangtze Valley where whole towns are being demolished to make way for the Three Gorges Dam and the crowded skyline of Shanghai which has recently attracted millions of new inhabitants.

“Powerful! Engrossing! Unsettlingly beautiful!” LA Times

Winner – Best Canadian Film, Toronto International Film Festival

This showing will be followed by discussion about Chinese industrialisation and its social and environmental impacts.
Plus…

Free School Screening `Please Vote For Me`(2009) Wed 25th Jan 2012 at 10.30am

Sponsored by SCEN
Synopsis
Although millions of Chinese recently voted in China’s version of Pop Idol, political elections in China currently only take place only inside the Communist Party. Against this background, `Please Vote For Me` follows the experiment of one grade 3 class in an elementary school in the Chinese city of Wuhan, where three eight year old candidates stand for election to the coveted position of class monitor. As their campaigns progress, they are abetted and egged on by teachers and their doting parents, whose actions start to influence the results.

Director Weijun Chen’s film explores how, if democracy came to China, it would be received. Is democracy a universal value that fits human nature or do elections inevitably lead to manipulation? `Please Vote for Me` paints a portrait of a society and a town through a school, its children and its families.

For more world-changing cinema visit www.takeoneaction.org.uk

Event Date: 05/11/2011

Book now for one of the three unique musical fusion evenings with Emma Smith and the Silk String Quartert in early November.

Emma Smith, Scottish double bass player, a regular with Eliza Carthy`s band and Gorillaz, to name but two, will join with Silk String Quartet on of Europe’s best professional Chinese music ensembles for classical and contemporary music. Performing on traditional Chinese instruments – the pipa, yangqin, erhu and guzheng – they have performed with collaborators including Lang Lang and Damon Albarn.

Kimho Ip, musical curator at the Confucius Institute for Scotland will join the ensemble playing the Yang Qin.

The China Project explores the blend of Scottish and Chinese musical cultures. Including music by Mo Fan and Lau, the concert also features a new commission by renowned Scottish composer Jim Sutherland. This is a rare opportunity to hear these captivating instruments both in their own musical world and delving into a radical new one, where western and eastern instruments form a wholly new ensemble.

Thu 3 Nov 2011, 7.30pm Eden Court Theatre, Inverness
£12/£10 concession/£5 under 18 – Friends £2 discount.
www.eden-court.co.uk Tel 01463 234234

Fri 4 Nov 2011, 7.30pm The Bongo Club, Edinburgh
£10/£8 concession/£5 students.
Tickets on the door or from www.bongoclub.co.uk Over 18`s only

Sat 5 Nov 2011, 7.30pm Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh
£13.75/£11.75 concession
www.bruntontheatre.co.uk TelL 0131 665 2240