Framer Framed

20 Jun –
3 Jul 2021

Online Filmprogramma: Now water can flow or it can crash, my friend

Onze verontschuldigingen, dit bericht is alleen beschikbaar in English. Voor het gemak van de kijker, is de inhoud hieronder weergegeven in de alternatieve taal. Je kunt klikken op de link om naar de actieve taal over te schakelen.

The program ‘Now water can flow or it can crash, my friend: Fluid archives of active discontents from East Asia and beyond’ consists of a series of online/offline roundtable discussions, interactive workshops, screenings and lectures to explore notions of art, archive, and activism in the context of East Asia and beyond. From June 20th to July 3rd, we have online film screenings curated in line with the main programs. The selected films from Mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong will serve in-depth context of different notions and questions raised within the series.

1. Online Film Program

2. Screening: 20th June – 27th June on Vimeo
3. The Ultra Clan Wedding Collection (2019)
4. by Chao Family
5. China | 80′ | colour | Subtitles: English

Film still: The Ultra Clan Wedding Collection (2019)

In September 2019, Miaozi and friends hosted a wedding without a groom at the Yiyuan Karaoke and Dance Hall of the Guangzhou Second Workers’ Cultural Palace. The ceremony was adapted from the classic Teochew opera Ten Immortals Celebrating a Birthday, with new lyrics sung and performed by ten fairies:

Today I give a wedding banquet
kiss the air
marry to all
I especially invite the immortals
to gather in Yiyuan
showing their magical powers
to tell the truth to the relatives in the hometown
life is like a play
passes only once…

The Ultra Clan Wedding Collection (2019) is edited documentation of the wedding and a video essay on the entanglements of a relationship breakup, the psychological and emotional wear of social movements, the oppression of traditional family values, and finally, an invitation to join the new Chao Family.

This work is screening in the context of Polymaternalism and alternative kinship, a public program imagining alternative ways to practice care and support, and the Online Roundtable: mutual help, collegiality, and living and practicing together otherwise, which explores creative ways to live together in times of crisis.

1. ---

    

2. Screening: 20th June – 27th June on Vimeo
3. Battle City (2011-) —Episode 1: The Glory of Taiwan and Episode 2: Economic Miracle
4. by Li-Ren Chang
5. Taiwan | 44′ | colour | Subtitles: English

Film Still: Battle City (2011-) —Episode 1: The Glory of Taiwan and Episode 2: Economic Miracle

1. Taiwanese artist Li-Ren Chang creates video installations, conceptual projects, and animations. In his works, he aims to construct a virtual world situated between reality and imagination by means of narration. His ongoing animation project Battle City (2011-) currently consists of two episodes—Episode 1: The Glory of Taiwan and Episode 2: Economic Miracle. The artist spent several years building solitarily a small-scale city constructed on the basis of his impressions of cities and his memories as a child. Through compelling storytelling techniques, Battle City playfully addresses the geopolitical histories and contemporary realities of Taiwan.

This work is screening in the context of the Online Roundtable: Curating Against Oblivion, a public program exploring curating as a form of resistance and remembrance. You can watch the panel on our YouTube link here.

1. Screening: 28th June – 3rd July on Vimeo
2. The Fearless and Vulnerable (2019)
3. by Sungyeon Jeon
   1. South Korea | 84′ | colour | Subtitles: English

1. The year 2015 served as the momentum of South Korea’s feminist movement. The Seocho-dong public toilet femicide case triggered millennial activists to ponder upon feminism as a means of survival and rush out onto the streets to protest. The Fearless And Vulnerable closely follows the lives of the members of Femidangdang, an activist group that was part of this momentum. The film revolves around their struggles in forming solidarity and presents a candid depiction of how fearless activism and individual vulnerability co-exist.

Register
The event is FREE and has limited spots. Please register to watch the film via Eventbrite. You will receive an invitation by email.

This work is screening in the context of the Online Roundtable: Resistant Bodies, a public program exploring women’s stories in the sites of resistance. You can watch the panel on our YouTube link here.

1. Screening: 27th June – 29rd June on Vimeo
2. A Thousand Sails (2019)
3. by Hing Weng Eric Tsang
   1. Hong Kong | 15′ | colour | Subtitles: English

In a traditional fishing village where most youngsters have left to work in the city, the older generations are left behind. Ren, a widow who lives in the village helps her neighbour, Mrs Wah, to deliver a gift to her son, Chung in the city. Ren finds out that Chung is leading a harsh life. Back in the village, there is no one with whom she can share this secret. The only refuge from the sleepless night is her deceased husband. A Thousand Sails is a short tale about the poignant separation between city and village, mother and son, life and death. With long shots and sophisticated art direction, Eric TSANG Hing-weng compellingly captures the actors’ performances, especially that of Professor CHOW Po-chung’s surprising debut.

Register
The event is FREE and has limited spots. Please register to watch the film via Eventbrite. You will receive an invitation by email.

Background of the Series

How to live life in a time of intense insecurity? A pandemic time, with a climate crisis looming and with populism, systematic racism worldwide on the rise? What can we learn from art practices and recent social movements hailing from East Asia to imagine a more sustainable future from our own situated context? The title of this program, taken from Hong Kong American martial artist Bruce Lee’s philosophy, reminds us that resilience and care come from fluidity, flexibility, and tenacity. In a turbulent time, we need even more so friends close and afar to make alliances for a journey in building a better world.

Together with artists, collectives, activists, and scholars, this new series digs into the question: what role do cultural practitioners play in social movements in East Asia? How do they transgress nation-based boundaries and join the flows with others? How can we archive actions that are always in flux, and so often, on the verge of destruction, disappearance, and alteration by the ruling powers? What symbolic and material techniques do artists mobilise to address ethics of resilience? And how can such artistic practices be restored so that we can learn from them?

In the coming months, we invite you to explore the various forms and creative potentials of resistance, remembrance; of fluidity, porosity, non-oppositionality, and care. Through this program, we advocate for a better world where we attend to our interconnectedness, where we float freely yet at the same time hold each other firmly, like water—formless and shapeless, maybe, but also more resilient.

Credits

This series is a collaboration of Framer Framed and ASCA/University of Amsterdam.

Research Team: Emily Shin-Jie Lee, Jiyoung Kim, Yvette Lok Yee Wong, Zoénie Liwen Deng
Visual identity & Graphic Design: Simo Tse
Facilitator: Jeroen de Kloet

Agenda

Netwerk

Hing Weng Eric Tsang

Filmmaker

Li-Ren Chang

Visual artist

Sungyeon Jeon

Filmmaker