August residency in Chongqing at 501 Artspace

   
Day 30- Sept. 1

I think we were too excited on leaving for Hong Kong, that we woke up super early (5:30am), but managed to get some beautiful sunrise photos and videos. We killed time by Skyping all morning. Honestly, when we got into Hong Kong, I felt simultaneously like being released from prison and like a country bumpkin in the city for the first time. Would I repeat this experience again? I'm not sure. I am happy with the work I produced during the residency, that my Mandarin improved tremendously, and that I met some really nice artists the past few days. I believe though that there is much to improve and change for 501 Artspace/Contemporary Art Center's residency program to be successful and truly beneficial for all parties involved.

 

Day 29- August 31

We made another trip out of Huangjueping, this time to Jiefangbei. More shopping. When we got back to the studio, we Skyped with my dad and my aunt Cindie who was in Montreal for the week. I hung out with Huang Lin, Xiao Hu, and Shen Hua in the afternoon at the 108 building, chatting and Internet-surfing.

 

Day 28- August 30

Feeling much more relaxed, my mom and I decided to have a nice outing to Yangjiaping in the morning, for (surprise!) congee breakfast at KFC, then some shopping. We hit up Yishion for tee-shirts for my aunt, and picked up several cotton dresses, and Peking-style embroidered shoes. In the afternoon, a local musician Li Bo came by for a chat and to perform several songs he wrote about Chongqing life. It was too bad that YanYan didn't arrange the meeting earlier in my residency, as it would have been helpful for one of my projects.

 

Day 27- August 29

I met up with Huang Lin, Shen Hua, and Hu Pinchun (Xiao Hu) at the bookstore in the afternoon to have a chat, lunch at Orange Colored Kitchen, and visiting the 102 Warehouse studios. It was great to finally make friends here- but a pity that we didn't meet sooner, as they were all in Chongqing the past month. My mom and I had dinner with Xiao Hu, his girlfriend Xiao Yeen Jee (my phonetic spelling), and Li Cui, who had gone to my talk as well.

Huang Lin phoned us later to meet up and to introduce us to Organhaus' new resident artist from Germany, Neringa Naujokaite, as well as a few more artists at the bookstore. The bookstore is owned by Liu Jinghuo, a sculpture professor at the Sichuan Fine Art Institute, who generously lets students and local artists peruse books, drink tea, enjoy A/C, and eat snacks.

 

Day 26- August 28

We finally finished the cut-out in the morning, yeah! Totally on time before the artist talk, at which I quite a number of young artists. (You can see Xiao Hu, Xiao Yeen Jee (my spelling), Huang Lin in the left image, and Wan Jia Ming, Wang-hun, Mao Yan Yang, Li Cui, YanYan, Shen Hua, Pang Xuen in the right image).

 

Day 25- August 27

I met with Yang Shu, a friend of Gu Xiong, who showed me around Organhaus' gallery, his studio and the other artists in his building, and the Organhaus office. It was very cool to ride in a red, convertible, sports car (BMW). I enjoyed looking at the work (mostly painting) of the young artists in his building, and especially Yang Shu's own paintings.

I was worried that I'd be late in catching my mom's friend's phone call, letting us know he was on his way to pick us up for dinner at The Soup Dragon in Yangjiaping. It was the nicest meal we've had all month, and we got to meet his family and his friends who were all university professors. Afterwards, they took us to view Chongqing's skyline at night.

 

Day 24- August 26

Working on the last metre of the cut-out, very excited to finish! We went into Yangjiaping with Wang-jun, Yoyo, YanYan, and Ting-ting for dinner at a Western-inspired restaurant where bats, butterflies, and birds flew in and out. This was the only restaurant where the staff was unwilling to be interviewed- bummer! There was a dancing class taking place in a nearby square. Wang-jun and I kept taking photos and videos, to the extent where the dancing instructor was suspicious and kept asking if we were reporters.

 

Day 23- August 25

Gao Xiang leaves today for Fujian- good luck! Woke up really early to have congee at KFC in Yangjiaping, then we took the light rail into Jiefangbei to look for DVDs and CDs of Sichuan opera, Shadow Puppet theatre, Mongolian folk musicians such as Teng'er and Dedema. I also picked up a film, "Erma's Wedding" and some Red Cinema Classic movie for John. Then off to shoe market to get my dad his requested Army shoes, which stank so much of cheap rubber. Got back to the apartment to have a snooze, then to the studio where I was pretty much useless, since it was a hot one (40+Celsius)!

 

Day 22- August 24

Gao Xiang's friend, Wan Jia Ming, who is a Peking opera enthusiast, took time out of his busy schedule to stop by the studio and to perform a selection for us, and even taught me a few lines. Am quite looking forward to reviewing the video footage. Afterwards, we went back to the Mao/Revolution-themed restaurant for dinner!

 

next page

back to website

 

© karen tam 2005-2021. All rights reserved