Theater Identity
2023-03-15 13:00 - 14:00 (Europe/Berlin) | Zoom
ZHANG Xian
March 15, 2023, Wednesday, CET 13:00 PM, Beijing Time 20:00 PM
Zoom: https://uni-goettingen.zoom.us/j/64857394408
Meeting ID: 648 5739 4408
Hosts: Prof. Dr. Ziwen Gao (Nanjing University), Dr. Yumin Ao (The University of Göttingen)
Zhang Xian is a playwright, theater director, social choreographer, and art activist. As one of the earliest independent dramatists in China in the post-Mao era, he has long been based on the idea of civil society, initiating and hosting several folk art groups, pan-theater spaces, and art festivals. He devotes himself to socio-theatrical actions in the hope of transforming lives. In 2005, he participated in the creation of the independent artists’ consensus group—Zuhe Niao (Teaser Association), where he presented his creative works of anarchist dramatic performances, ranging from dance theater, physical theater, and installation performance to forum theater and conceptual theater, which continue to influence the resistance culture of the younger generation. He has published books, including The Theatre of the Occult, Myth in Action, and How to Create Yourself.
张献，剧作家、剧场导演、社会编舞家、艺术行动者。作为后毛泽东时代中国最早的独立戏剧家，他长期立足民间社会，发起组织、主持多个民间艺术团体、泛剧场空间及艺术节，致力于改造生活的社会戏剧行动。2005年参与创建独立艺术家共识组织”组合嬲”，逐一推出从舞蹈剧场、身体剧场、装置表演，到言论行动剧场、概念剧场等创造性安那其社会表演代表作品，与其主要著作《隐修剧场》、《神话行动》和《怎样创造自己》一道，持续地影响着年青一代的抵抗文化。

“Contemporary Theatre Arts” Seminar No. 18: Theatre as Wild Grass
2023-05-17 14:00 - 16:00
Speaker: Kai Tuchmann
Time: May 17, 2023, Wednesday, CET 14:00 PM, Beijing time 20:00 PM
Language: English
Zoom: https://uni-goettingen.zoom.us/j/64821966382
Meeting ID: 648 2196 6382

“The past life has died. I exult over its death because from this I know that it once existed. From the clay of life abandoned on the ground grow no lofty trees, only wild grass. Wild grass strikes no empty roots, has no beautiful flowers and leaves, yet it imbibes dew, water, and the blood and flesh of the dead, although all try to rob it of life.” –Lu Xun Wild Grass

The Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Göttingen is delighted to extend an invitation to Mr. Kai Tuchmann, a distinguished dramaturge, director, author, and fellow of the Mellon School of Theatre at Harvard University. Mr. Tuchmann will be delivering a talk on May 17th. This event is jointly organized with the Department of Theater, Film, and TV Arts at Nanjing University.
This talk circles around Kai Tuchmann’s most recent publication “Postdramatic Dramaturgies-Resonances between Asia and Europe”. This volume introduces the reader to the aesthetics of leading practitioners of post-dramatic theatre from China and the German-speaking world: Zhao Chuan, Wen Hui, Boris Nikitin, and Hans-Werner Kroesinger. The dramaturgies of these theatre makers utilize the assembly of theatre in a way that is not primarily concerned with aesthetic matters, but instead, they focus on connections to the neglected and forgotten. In his talk, Kai will situate this dramaturgical approach by evoking Lu Xun’s metaphor of Wild Grass.

Kai Tuchmann graduated in directing from Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch in Berlin. He works as a dramaturge, director, and academic. As a visiting professor at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, he helped develop the curriculum for the BA Dramaturgy program there. In his internationally shown documentary theatre works, Kai has explored the afterlife of the Cultural Revolution in contemporary China, the impact of urbanization on migrant workers in Europe and Asia, and the role of the body in the face of digital technologies. His stagings and dramaturgies were invited, among others, to Seoul Marginal Theatre Festival, Zürcher Theaterspektakel, Festival d’Automne à Paris, and documenta-institute.
Kai’s open-access publication is downloadable here:
https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-5997-9/postdramatic-dramaturgies/?c=311000028

“Contemporary Theater Art” Seminar Series No. 20: The Force of Mortality and Urban Villages Futurism of Butterfly Island 蝴蝶岛死亡力与城中村未来主义
2023-11-16 13:00 - 15:00
Speaker: Sun Xiaoxing
Venue: Zoom 686 4710 3798
Time: Nov. 16th, 2023. 13: 00 CET / 20: 00 Beijing Time
Language: Chinese with English translation
Abstract:
The dramaturgy Sun Xiaoxing will base his analysis of the tragic nature and multiple futures presented in “Butterfly Island” on his article “The Force of Mortality and Urban Villages Futurism of The Butterfly Island”. He will dissect the metaphor of the ephemerality of the butterfly’s brief life and youth, as well as the coexisting splendor and despair of the young lives on the island, and their circumstance of being both detached from and connected to the world. Moreover, by analyzing the significance implied in the “relocation” from the premiere in Hong Kong to the performance in urban villages in Shenzhen, he will explore the shift from a Sinofuturism tinged with Techno-Orientalism or Techno-Nationalism to a pluralistic Urban Villages Futurism.
戏剧构作者孙晓星将以他的文章《蝴蝶岛死亡力与城中村未来主义》为基础，解析《蝴蝶岛》所呈现的悲剧性和对未来的多重想象，蝴蝶短暂的一生与青春易逝的隐喻，以及岛上年轻生命绚烂与绝望并存的状态，和这种与世界既脱节又联系的处境。此外，通过分析由香港首演至深圳城中村“迁移”所蕴含的意义，探讨从一个带有技术东方主义或技术民族主义色彩的中华未来主义，向复数未来的城中村未来主义的转变。
Short Bio:
Sun Xiaoxing, with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the Central Academy of Drama and a Ph.D. candidate at Shanghai Theatre Academy, is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Drama, Film and Television at Tianjin Conservatory of Music. As a playwright, director, and artist, he has developed a series of works under the concept of “Cyber Theatre”, and was invited to Festival/Tokyo, Kyoto Experiment, OzAsia Festival in Adelaide, New Art Fest in Lisbon, CPH Stage, Low Fat Art Fes in Bangkok, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Shanghai Biennale, Wuzhen Theatre Festival, Beijing Fringe Festival, Aranya Theatre Festival etc. As a dramaturgy, he has collaborated with New Youth Group, Ergao Dance Production Group etc. As a curator, he curated Sphinx Metaverse Theatre Festival “4399. Paradise: To the Dying Web 2.0 Era”, and Contemporary Theatre Biennale 2018 Performance Unit “Sceno Place” Public Space Performance Series “Glitch and Error” etc.
孙晓星，中央戏剧学院学士、硕士，上海戏剧学院博士研究生，现为天津音乐学院戏剧影视系副教授。作为编剧、导演和艺术家，他以“赛博剧场”的概念开发了一系列作品，曾受邀参加东京国际剧场艺术节、京都国际舞台艺术祭、阿德莱德澳亚艺术节、里斯本新艺术节、曼谷低脂艺术节、香港艺术节、上海双年展、乌镇戏剧节、北京国际青年戏剧节、阿那亚戏剧节等；作为戏剧构作，他曾与新青年剧团、二高表演等合作；作为策展人，他曾策划斯芬克斯元宇宙戏剧节“4399.乐园——致即将逝去的Web2.0时代”、2018当代戏剧双年展/深圳福田展演单元“情场”公共空间表演系列《乱码过失》等。
Organizers:
Ying Ming Theater
Akademisches Konfuzius-Institut Göttingen
Ostasiatisches Seminar
CeMEAS
Verein chinesischer Studenten und Wissenschaftler in Göttingen
