People living in Britain will know Chinese culture better as the
country gets ready to play host to the largest ever Chinese
cultural festival in 2008, local media reported Tuesday.
Dubbed as "China Now", the festival will begin on Feb. 7, and
last until August, providing the British audiences with some 800
exhibitions and performances, said The Independent.
Works of China's new and established artists will be displayed
across the country during the period, and dances with a strong
Chinese flavor will also be seen in many British theaters, the
report said.
"China Art Now", as part of the festival, is expected to feature
a huge brontosaurus installation by Xu Zhen, known as the maverick
of the Chinese art world. And He An, a young artist who explores
the contemporary environment of China, is creating four neon signs,
which will be displayed on iconic buildings around Britain.
The sound artists Zhong Minjie, Yan Jun and Wang Changcun are
creating installations at the Southbank Center ballroom, bringing
sounds from the streets, shops, bars and workplaces of modern China
to London.
Sadler's Wells will put on a season of Chinese dance in May and
June. The dancer and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui has teamed
up with the artist Antony Gormley to create a piece inspired by the
martial arts of the Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple.
China has a very strong classical dance tradition and the
impresario Victor Hochhauser is bringing the National Ballet of
China to Covent Garden for a week of performances including a new
production of Swan Lake by Natalia Makarova and Raise The Red
Lantern, based on the controversial 1991 film of the same name.
Hochhauser's China Season will also feature Acrobatic Swan Lake,
a radical makeover of the ballet by the Guandong Acrobatic Company,
which combines classical ballet with pole balancing, rope walking,
and jumping through fire hoops.
The Liverpool Biennial is working with the artist Ai Weiwei, who
designed the Beijing Olympic stadium, on a proposal for an
ambitious installation, which would consist of a giant spider's
web, made of illuminated crystalline strands stretching across the
city's Albert Dock.
There will also be a design spectacular, China Design Now, at
the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Despite China's economic importance, its contemporary culture
remains remote in the West. Bringing it to Britain will present the
world with "a more balanced and layered picture of contemporary
China", the report said, quoting one of the organizers.?
(Xinhua News Agency?January 2, 2008)