Join us here at Goldsmiths Confucius Institute for Dance and Performance in celebrating 10 years of the department.
We will be marking the occasion with an exciting period of talks and seminars from eminent guest speakers from around the globe as they explore Chinese art, book culture, language acquisition, social sciences, film, dance, theatre and philosophy and an array of other disciplines relating to Chinese culture, language and society.
The Past, Present, Future Forum offers a platform for interdisciplinary discussion and critical engagement.
The conference is free and open to all, please register your place here.
Meet our guest speakers…
Dr. Shaolin Ou
17th and 19th June
Opening Speeches
Dr. Shaolin Ou is Chinese Director at Goldsmiths Confucius Institute. She is an artist, researcher and producer, her areas of research and teaching cluster around Chinese Dance, Chinese Aesthetics, Performing Arts and Art Criticism.
Past, Present, Future – Chinese Arts Practice and Society (Friday 17th June)
17th June, LG01, Professor Stuart Hall Building, Goldsmiths campus, New Cross
Dr. Martin Albrow
10:05am, 17th June 2022
Talk: Confucius and the West
Image Credit: Xinhua News
Professor Martin Albrow is an eminent globalisation theorist and international sociologist. He is noted for his works on globalization, the theory of the global age and global civil society.
Professor Albrow was appointed as the first full-time sociologist at Reading University in 1963, and subsequently worked at the University College Cardiff, where he was Head of Department, and at Roehampton University. He has also held visiting or guest positions at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, the London School of Economics, the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the Beijing Foreign Studies University, and the University of Bonn.
In his career spanning more than half a century, he has been a pioneer of the globalization theory, former President of the British Sociological Association and founding editor of the prestigious academic journal, International Sociology. In recent years he has written extensively on China’s place in the world today.
Jessica Harrison-Hall
10:35am, 17th June 2022
Talk: Curating China
Jessica Harrison-Hall is Head of the China Section, Curator of the Sir Percival David Collections of Chinese Ceramics, and of Chinese Decorative Arts and Ceramics at the British Museum.
She is a curator with experience of leading curatorial and research teams in the delivery of exciting and complex projects which reimages China’s histories and global relationships through visual and material culture. She has delivered significant exhibitions, galleries and other interpretation projects and has substantial experience of co-curation and collaboration internationally.
Jessica Harrison-Hall is currently Principal Investigator of a major UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) project with Professor Julia Lovell of London University and an international team investigating diverse aspects of Cultural Creativity and Resilience in Qing China 1796-1912.
Jessica led the China team, curating, researching and developing content and narrative for the Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery of China and South Asia at the British Museum (2015–2017) and for a broad public wrote China: A History in Objects (Thames and Hudson 2017).
Mei-Xin Wang
11:05am, 17th June 2022
Talk: Tradition and Innovation – New Acquisitions from China
Mei-Xin Wang is China Resource Specialist at the Department of Asia at the British Museum. She has an MA from SOAS in Chinese Art and Archaeology.
Mei-Xin’s research interests include Chinese seals, Chinese lacquer and early 20th century Chinese ceramics. Her conference paper, Chinese Seals as Status of Power, was published in the British Museum Research Publication in 2018.
Mengyan Luo
11.50am, 17th June 2022
Talk: The End of Life; The Beginning of Hope (Chinese Funeral Culture in Artistic Works)
Mengyan is an artist from Xiamen, Fujian in China. Mengyan was formerly an interior designer and is due to obtain her Graduate Diploma in Art from Goldsmiths this summer.
Frances Wood
12.00pm, 17th June 2022
Talk: Sir Hans Sloane’s Collection of Chinese Books (collected in the 17th and 18th centuries)
Frances Wood is an English librarian, sinologue and historian with a wealth of experience and known for her writings on Chinese history. Following her undergraduate studies in Chinese at Cambridge University, Frances went on to undertake further studies in Chinese at Peking University in 1975–1976.
Frances joined the staff of the British Library in London in 1977 as a junior curator, and later served as Head Curator of the Chinese collection until her retirement in 2013. She is also a member of the steering committee of the International Dunhuang Project, and the editor of the Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society. Frances has written extensively on China, publishing books in subjects such as Marco Polo, the Forbidden City, the first emperor of China and the Silk Road.
Aveta Shakespeare
12.30pm, 17th June 2022
Talk: Past, Present, Future of Chinese Musical Development and Short Workshop
Aveta received her MA in Musical Theatre Performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland following a first class distinction from Sichuan Conservatoire of Music with a BA in Pop Singing. Before taking up a position as lecturer of Musical Theatre at the Sichuan Conservatoire of Music, Aveta enjoyed a stage career in theatres, films, TV, adverts across China and the West End including CATS, Avenue Q, Glee’Don’t Stop Believin’ as well as winning the distinguished Chinese Ministry of Culture 13th national singing competition and being a finalist in a host of national talent shows.
Aveta is currently working as a teacher of music and drama in an outstanding secondary school in the UK, alongside private tuition. She is a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and Sichuan Provincial Musicians Association, Project manager for MTC musical China media company.
Past, Present, Future – Chinese Arts Practice and Society (Sunday 19th June)
19th June, Lower- Ian Gulland Lecture Theatre, Whitehead Building, Goldsmiths campus, New Cross
Yiyun Li
11.05am, 19th June 2022
Talk: Intercultural Dance Performance
Talk: Experience sharing of Underwater Dance Practice
Chinese Dance Teacher at Goldsmiths Confucius Institute for Dance and Performance
Yiyun Li is a professional dance practitioner, experienced dance teacher and creative choreographer who has worked in Chongqing No.47 College as a specialised dance teacher and for 5 years at Chongqing Broadcasting and Television Station as a choreographer.
Yiyun obtained the Gold Award of a performer in a professional group and Silver Award in performance for her self-choreographed dance piece Taste of Sichuan in the Third Shaanxi Province Lotus Dance Contest. She was also awarded the honour of Excellent Choreographer in 2012. Yiyun teaches on the departmental Outreach for Schools programme as well as our Asian Contemporary Dance and Chinese Folk Dance and Chinese Fan Dance short courses here at Goldsmiths Confucius Institute.
Monica Yu
11.15am, 19th June 2022
Talk: Chinese Classical Dance and Actor’s Physical Training
Monica is an actor trainer and coach who oversees the Acting Studies Programme at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Monica was trained in the Acting Programme at Central Academy of Drama, Beijing. On finishing the degree, she joined the National Theatre of China and worked as a professional actor. Later, she came to London for enriching her acting skills and practice experience. Meanwhile, Monica took an MA in Actor Training and Coaching at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Recently, Monica is doing a part-time Ph.D. degree at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, her research is about developing an actor’s training system with integrating Chinese performing arts practice. Monica joined the Acting Studies Programme when it started, acting as a “bridge” between teachers and students, and a “connection” between the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. Monica administers her professional knowledge to develop the international actor cultivation. Also, she applies her artistic experience into intercultural theatre-making and acting creation.
Bo Ning
11.25am, 19th June 2022
Talk: Contemporary Creation of Chinese Traditional Performance Art through Online Sharing.
Bo received his BA in Dance Choreography and MA in Creation of Dance and Drama from Beijing Dance Academy in China. He has worked as an associate professor of choreography and MA supervisor in the Dance Department of Xian Conservatory of Music with his own independent body troupe. His research focuses on the practice of dance theatre, involving 3 aspects, namely research on creation of dance with ethnic elements, dance theatre in folk context and dramatic research on body language.
Christopher Bannerman
11.45am, 19th June 2022
Talk: ArtsCross/Danscross 2009-2022: A Decade of Dance and Dialogue
Christopher Bannerman had an international career as a dancer, choreographer and arts education worker before becoming Professor of Dance and Head of ResCen Research Centre at Middlesex University. He has served on panels for the Prudential and the Olivier Awards for the Arts, as well as on the Drama, Dance and Performing Arts Panel for two Higher Education Research Assessment Exercises, and as a Specialist Assessor for the Quality Assurance Agency.
He has also served as Chair of Dance UK, Chair of the Arts Council England’s Advisory Panel for Dance, Chair of the National Dance Coordinating Committee, Chair of London North Creative Partnerships and as a member of the Dance Forum of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). He has also been co-facilitator of Rural Retreats, an international intensive seminar series, aimed at current and developing leaders in the arts and has directed studio based research projects internationally.
In 1999, he established ResCen Research Centre at Middlesex University, London, an innovative, multi-disciplinary, artist–focused research initiative designed to be a bridge between academia and the practices of professional performing artists. With Joshua Sofaer and Jane Watt, he contributed to and edited Navigating the Unknown: The Creative Process in Contemporary Performing Arts (2006) followed by ‘Dancing Transcultural Dialogues’, a dedicated edition of Choreographic Practices (2016). He is currently developing dialogues with international producers creating resources as part of a project supported by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council called The Producers Toolbox: The Way/Dào of the Producer.
Zhibo Zhao
11.45am, 19th June 2022
Talk (co-presenter): ArtsCross/Danscross 2009-2022: A Decade of Dance and Dialogue
Zhibo Zhao is a highly-trained Chinese dance artist now based in London for her PhD study at Middlesex University and has been a dancer, choreographer and teacher at Beijing Dance Academy (BDA) since 2003. She has received many awards internationally and was awarded the title of National First-Rank Dance Artist, the highest rating given to Chinese artists by the Chinese government. She currently serves as one of the ambassadors for Advancing Women’s Aspirations with Dance, UK.
She has worked as a leading dancer with the BDA Resident Dance Company, performing in over 40 countries worldwide. During this time, she published her autobiography The Thirty Years Old Dancer and translated the classic book on dance improvisation: The Moment of movement: Dance Improvisation into Chinese, the only book in mainland China focusing on dance improvisation. Since 2009, she has been involved as the only ongoing dancer in the international dance research project called ArtsCross/Danscross, collaborating with dance practitioners and scholars from around the world.
Through dance and dancing, her vision is to communicate with artists from different cultures and backgrounds, to promote exchange and dialogue between Chinese dances and the world, and to support the development of a younger generation of Chinese artists.
Han-Lin Hsieh
1.20pm, 19th June 2022
Talk: What is on that shelf? Not only books… Chinese collections in the British Library
Han-Lin is a curator for the Chinese Collections at the British Library in London. Han-Lin completed a BA in Biology in Taiwan and an MSc in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester. Before joining the Library in 2018, she worked in various museums and cultural institutions, in the fields of exhibition, education and collection management. Han-Lin is also a trained teacher of Science. Her current duties in the Library include the management of Chinese collections, with focus on cataloguing, conservation and assistance to readers. Han-Lin is particularly interested in science and technology, Buddhism, and education.
Prof. Michael Dutton
1.50pm, 19th June 2022
Talk: Teaching in China, Learning in China
Michael Dutton holds a joint professorship with the Faculty of Literature at Beijing Capital Normal University and the Department of Politics at Goldsmiths. Dutton’s work circles around his principle of intellectual interest (social theory) and his principle geographic archive, China. Increasingly the distinction between archive and interest, however, has become blurred.
Michael’s earliest major work, Policing and Punishment in China (Cambridge UP 1992), explored the way various Chinese governments disciplined the subject, while his second major work, Streetlife China (1998 Cambridge UP) looked at the popular responses to governmental disciplining. His third book, Policing Chinese Politics (Duke UP 2005) —for which he won the 2007 Levenson Award for the best book on modern China from American Asian Studies Association— explored the underlying dynamic propelling the Maoist revolution while his last book, Beijing Time (Harvard UP), co-authored with former students, revealed another sometimes hidden side to life in the Chinese capital.
Dr. Xiaoying Zhang
2.20pm, 19th June 2022
Talk: Chinese Philosophy – Understanding Chinese Society through Daodejing 《道德经》
Dr. Xiaoying Zhang is a professor at the School of International Journalism and Communication, at Beijing Foreign Studies University in China and she is currently also the Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Tirana, Albania.
Her research interests include international communication and cross-cultural communication; some of her notable academic papers include, The Economist’s Construction of Globalization (1985-2010): A Narrative Analysis with a Chinese Perspective; Chinese Media Micro Communication, Annual Report on International Influence (co-author, first author); and translator of the book, What Can America Learn from China? She has written several English commentary articles for newspapers, such as, The Guardian and has published more than 50 papers in academic books and periodicals.
Alice Qianhui Sun
2.40pm, 19th June 2022
Talk: The Influence of Chinese Mythology on my Artistic Practices
Alice Qianhui Sun is an artist studying Fine Art at Goldsmiths whose work takes on many forms, including, ceramics, painting and printwork, and aims to express inventive interpretations of emotive and psychologically troubling subjects like the politics of birthrights and gender representation. Alice Qianhui has recently exhibited at Espacio Gallery, Peckham Safe House and local New Cross gallery, hARTslane.
