Battle of the Strings
What do you get when you put two music masters that have never met in a room
with a sold-out audience of curious minds? An evening full of insight, inspiration and
pure music magic!
Getting Crafty in Chinatown
Over the summer, China Exchange has run Made in Chinatown, a pilot project working with community groups to create unique souvenirs for London’s Chinatown. All items will be sold to raise money for the groups involved, including Chinese National Healthy Living Centre, Newham Chinese Association and the London Chinese Community Centre.
Through six workshops, participants have learned embroidery, applique, painting and printing techniques and produced a small collection of items that will be sold during markets in the autumn. Some people taking part in the project have a variety of different needs including dementia, mobility issues and learning difficulties.
Lord Ashdown
The evening spent with Lord Ashdown was inspiring and filled with humorous anecdotes. He discussed his experiences of learning multiple languages – including translater level Mandarin Chinese. By our reckoning, he is the UK’s highest profile non-Chinese Chinese speaker. We learned more about his early life, his motivation for entering politics and his passion for […]
Hidden in Plain View: Wallpapers in Britain & Ireland
How did Chinese wallpaper influence the history of British interiors? National Trust expert Emile de Bruijn explored this topic in detail from Chinese bird and flower designs to landscapes to daily life scenes. This talk focused on how these very traditional images were adapted for the western palate. Symbolism is abundant in Chinese art and […]
Film Club – Youth 芳华
China Exchange held its second film screening on 2 May following A Simple Life with Roger Lee in March. With a turnout of over a 100 audience members, our prudential hall was bustling with anticipation as the lights lowered to showcase Youth 芳华, the latest work directed by Feng Xiaogang. Set in the backdrop of […]
Winnie M Li – Translating personal experience into fiction
Winnie M Li, author, activist and film producer took part in our China in Context festival, describing how she translated her personal experience into fiction for her debit novel, Dark Chapter. During this talk, Li was in conversation with BBC Journalist Helier Cheung. Li’s debut novel Dark Chapter is a fictionalised account of her own […]
Yaji – An elegant gathering
A yaji 雅集, or ‘elegant gathering’, is a Chinese art salon. Historically, it was where intellectuals and artists gathered and learnt from each other by practicing and appreciating art, and exchanging views and ideas. This year, China Exchange welcomed the second edition of Yaji during the China in Context book fair weekend. Visitors to our […]
Stories Told in Chinese Painting
Painting is a significant part of cultural heritage in China, taking not just inspiration from the natural world, but also from literature and writing. Yet for those unfamiliar with Chinese literary epics and writings, these meanings are often lost. In this lecture Dr Malcolm McNeill, Chinese Paintings Specialist at Christie’s auction house, de-mystified the link […]
Feast on Poetry – free writing workshop
This event formed part of the Hong Kong Focus at China in Context – three events supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office celebrating the role that Hong Kong has played as a cultural translator and the creativity of writing from this unique region. This free workshop was led by Hong Kong Poet […]
Sunday lunch (writing) with Ching He Huang 黄瀞亿
At our event Sunday lunch-time talk on 18 March, our audience met TV Chef, and award-winning cookery author, Ching He Huang. Ching shared her early entrepreneurial experiences in the food industry, and how she was first scouted to attend a TV cooking programme audition. Ching encouraged the audience to work hard for what they truly […]