Course: Discovering Socially Engaged Art in Contemporary China

We interviewed Zhao Tianji in front of the factory’s bike shed in early 2016. Tianji first came to the factory in 2014. In this excerpt, we ask her to reflect …

We interviewed Alessandro Rolandi at the factory in Beijing in early 2016. In this excerpt, we asked him two questions: What is the difference between the free will of a …

Since 2010, more than 40 artists have been invited to a French factory in Beijing to interact with people working there to create artworks in a variety of mediums. After …

We visited Picun, where the New Worker Art Troupe is based, and captured the village with a 360-degree camera. You can watch this video on YouTube. The first half of …

We interviewed Xu Duo, a core member of the New Worker Art Troupe, in front of the migrant workers’ museum in early 2016. In this excerpt, he discusses how he …

The New Worker Art Troupe has been writing songs for migrant workers since 2002, and have performed at hundreds of construction sites. After watching the video above, you can visit …

What are the similarities and differences between the 2014 play “World Factory” and 1920s workers’ theatre in Anyuan?

Pedagogical theater is not new. Let’s go back in history and revisit an episode in the early 1920s: the workers’ theater organized by young communists in Anyuan.

We interviewed Zhao Chuan, the founder of theatre collective Grass Stage. In this excerpt, we asked him two questions: How does Grass Stage develop its plays? What is the significance …

“World Factory,” a 2014 play about Chinese workers and global capitalism, was created by Shanghai-based theater collective Grass Stage. After watching the video above, you can visit seachina.net to see …

This week, we looked at three projects: “Keepers of the Waters” in Chengdu in 1995, “Qianmen Wedding Photo Shoot” in Beijing in 2009, and “Everyone’s East Lake” in Wuhan in …

Seven years after the performance, we revisited Qianmen Avenue on a similar winter day and captured the site with a 360-degree camera. You can watch this 360-degree video on YouTube. …

We interviewed Xian, one of the organizers of the 2009 performance. In this excerpt, we asked her three questions: Why did the organizers choose Qianmen as the location for the …

In 2009 on Valentine’s Day, a performance was staged by LGBT activists on Qianmen Avenue, a popular tourist destination in the heart of Beijing. Remember, after watching the video above, …

We interviewed Li Juchuan in the summer of 2014 on the shore of East Lake. In this excerpt, we asked him four questions: What’s the primary concern of this project? …