Source: Media Outreach
#ReConnect – a hybrid festival featuring online and offline work by leading British art and cultural organisations and artists, launched by the British Council.
Partnering with over 35 cultural organisations from the UK and China, the Festival offers thought provoking and stimulating experiences with British arts and culture.
The Festival presents the diverse breadth of contemporary UK arts, culture and education to inspire and connect audiences in China and beyond with British creativity.
The Festival aims to strengthen the connection between China and the UK through shared values in culture and education.
BEIJING, KUNMING, SHANGHAI, SHENZHEN AND ZHENGZHOU – Media OutReach – 6 September 2021 – The British Council launched the 2021 UK-China Contemporary Culture Festival. Titled #ReConnect, this year’s edition is a hybrid festival featuring work by leading British art and cultural organisations and artists via online and offline platforms, offering audiences in China an opportunity to reconnect with British art from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. Organised by the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and education opportunities, and sponsored by the Welsh Government, the festival will present nearly 40 cultural performances and projects online and offline in multiple cities across China between 1 and 20 September 2021.
“We are delighted to be a partner of the British Council, supporting the 2021 UK-China Contemporary Culture Festival to give people in China an opportunity to experience three wonderful examples of art and culture from Wales.The theme of the festival, reconnecting, is more important now than ever – reconnecting with our environment and our communities, both locally and across borders. I hope our contribution to the festival will encourage audiences to do just that, building new cultural connections between our two nations” said Rt Hon Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales.
Focusing on three different themes, the Festival will encourage audiences to #ReConnect with nature, community and the self through a variety of exhibitions, talks, panel discussions, film screenings and performances. #ReConnect with Nature will explore the deep relationship between humans and nature; #ReConnect with Community will explore the connection and consequence of human experience and our community; and #ReConnect with Self will support individuals to increase empathy and self-awareness.
Highlight projects under #ReConnect with Nature include:
British visual artist Celyn Bricker’s first solo exhibition in China, titled The Fifth Season. Bringing together interactive, AI generated artworks, paintings and prototypes, the exhibition held in Beijing will explore our relationship with nature and new technology.
An online talk held in partnership with the Natural History Museum, -titled Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix It will see young changemakers from the UK and China debate why and how our relationship with the natural world needs to change.
Eye of the Storm, a documentary film featuring Scottish landscape painter James Morrison will be screened in Shanghai, directed by award-winning director Anthony Baxter.
Dog Ballet, from the London International Festival of Theatre, is a webinar about a new participatory work of public art to celebrate the community around dogs and their owners to appreciate the joy and tenderness that can be found in these relationships of mutual care.
#ReConnect with Community will share work from the UK that places emphasis on the changing nature of community, as well as talks from leading arts and cultural experts alongside knowledge sharing events from dance and theatre producers. Selected highlights include:
O’r Graig, a short documentary featuring slate mines in North Wales, which have recently been designated UNESCO heritage status.
Journey to the Eyeth Art, a virtual art gallery showcasing the creativity of deaf artists in an imaginary world called Eyeth and a celebration of inclusiveness in the art for all.
Match Make is a series of short films which paired 8 dance artists and 8 artist collaborators during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which include natural, industrial, rural, urban and coastal settings throughout Northern Ireland.
#ReConnect with Self will focus on activities that explore mental health and well-being. Highlight projects include:
Time to Dance China, an international digital collaboration between the Scottish Ballet and Shanghai International Dance Centre designed to deliver dementia-friendly dance activities for elderly people as well as a dance film screening.
An online solo exhibition of works by award-winning British artist Sir Christopher Le Brun, in addition to an online talk between Sir Christopher Le Brun and renowned art critic, writer and curator Shen Qilan.
“At this time of limited travel, we are excited to once again bring some of the most dynamic and vibrant artistic and cultural performances, exhibitions and talks from the UK to audiences in China and offer people the choice to experience these in person or online. With the theme of #ReConnect, we hope to inspire our audience to re-evaluate their relationship with the natural environment, their community, and themselves. The world is going though unprecedented changes at this time, and arts and culture have the power to bring people together through presenting programmes in partnership with institutions and artists in the UK and China. The Festival acts as a platform to share knowledge, spark discussions and stimulate thinking among our audiences.” Said Rehana Mughal, Director Arts for the British Council China.
Programme list
Activity
Date
Partner
Format
Geography
ReConnect with Nature
1
British Library Exhibitions in Two Cities: London – Shenzhen
Sept 1 – 20
British Library
Online showcase
England
2
Affiliated Event – The Fifth Season by Celyn Bricker (online talk)
Sept 18
Winland
Online event
England/Beijing
3
Broken Planet Programme (online talk for climate change between Glasgow and Kunming)
Sept 17
Natural History Museum
Online event
England/Scotland/Kunming
4
Eye of the Storm documentary featuring Scottish landscape painter James Morrison in Shanghai
Sept 16
Montrose Pictures
Offline event
Scotland/Shanghai
5
Eye of the Storm documentary featuring Scottish landscape painter James Morrison in Shanghai
Sept 19
Montrose Pictures
Online showcase
Scotland
6
Our Future Planet (Films and talks for Sustainability and the impact of Climate Change)
Sept 1 – 20
Science Museum Group
Online showcase
England
7
The Children of Lir (performances of raising environmental awareness)
Sept 1 – 20
Folk NI Theatre
Online showcase
Northern Ireland
8
Dog Ballet (Webinar)
Sept 15
London International Festival of Theatre
Online event
England
9
CURRENT (films of the exhibition)
Sept 13 – 20
Cooper Gallery
Online showcase
Scotland
10
Design and Sustainable Business Futures (panel discussion with Joey Pringle and others)
TBC
Veshin Factory
Online Event
England
ReConnect with Community
11
Making Matters
Sept 13 – 20
IM
Online showcase
Across UK
12
Short Film Project for Female Directors (panel discussion)
Sept 12
Encounters Film Festival, One International Women’s Festival
Online event
England/Beijing
13
Breathe and Draw (Orchestra Music)
Sept 1 – 20
Nevis Ensemble
Online showcase
Scotland
14
Mojo Mickybo (theatre film)
Sept 1 – 20
Bruiser Theatre Company
Online showcase
Northern Ireland
15
Songs for Heritage and Culture of Northern Ireland
Sept 6 – 20
Brigid O’Neill
Online showcase
Northern Ireland
16
Match Make (8 short films)
Sept 1 – 20
Maiden Voyage Dance Company
Online showcase
Northern Ireland
17
Plethu/Weave Project (series of dance-poetry performance films)
Sept 1 – 20
National Dance Company Wales, Literature Wales
Online showcase
Wales
18
Nurture (performance film)
Sept 1 – 20
Bbeyond
Online showcase
Northern Ireland
19
Creative Ageing in Scotland (online talk by Luminate Festival)
Sept 1 – 20
Luminate Festival
Online showcase
Scotland
20
O’r Graig (short documentary of UNESCO world heritage slate in North Wales)
Sept 1 – 20
Wicked Wales Film
Online showcase
Wales
21
Beijing Stories (film screening)
Sept 1 – 20
Scottish Documentary Institute
Online showcase
Scotland
22
Beijing Stories (artist talk)
Sept 20
Scottish Documentary Institute
Online event
Scotland
23
Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth an introduction speaker: Nikki Locke
Sept 16
British Council
Online event
Across UK
24
Deaf Culture Online Exhibition curated by Zhou Jiayi
Sept 1 – 20
Artist Jiayi Zhou
Online showcase
Across UK
25
Selector Online Competition
Sept 15
British Council
Online Showcase
Across UK
ReConnect with Self
26
合[Hé]
Scottish Dance Theatre x Shanghai International Dance Centre Collaboration (dance film screening)
Sept 1- 20
Scottish Dance Theatre, Shanghai International Dance Centre
Online showcase
Scotland
27
Time to Dance (film screening)
Sept 7
Scottish Ballet, Luminous Festival
Online showcase
Scotland
28
Notes on Stone (Anna Mahler) film screening
Sept 10 – 20
Stephenson Art
Online showcase
England
29
Future of Art Education (film screening & panel discussion)
Sept 16
Cloud Intelligence
Online event
Beijing
30
Affiliated event -Solo Exhibition of works by Sir Christopher Le Brun (online talk with artist Sir Christopher Le Brun & Shen Qilan)
Sept 13
Lisson Gallery
Online event
England/Shenzhen
31
Affiliated event – Italian Renaissance Drawings
Sept 17
British Museum, M Woods
Online event
England/Beijing
32
Affiliated event – Masterpieces in Miniature: Treasures from the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection
Sept 19
V&A Museum
Offline event
England/Zhengzhou
33
Glass Meet the Future short films
Sept 1-20
North Lands Creative
Online showcase
Scotland
34
Artes Mundi Prabhakar Pachpute Exhibition (artist introduction)
Sept 1-20
ARTES MUNDI
Online showcase
Wales
35
Origin to Future Thinking, podcast with Farooq Chaudhry, Xu Rui, and Rui Fu
Sept 1-20
China House Arts
Online showcase
England
36
2021 British Classical Art Film Festival at Lumiere Beijing, New Live Screenings
Sept 1-5
New Live
Offline showcase
Media kit
#ReConnect
2021 UK-China Contemporary Culture Festival
Organiser: British Council
Sponsor: The Welsh Government
Period: 1-20 September 2021
Festival portal: http://reconnect.britishcouncil.cn/
British Council WeChat ‘bc-china’ and ‘UK_NOW’
British Council Weibo @英国大使馆文化教育处, @艺述英国
Festival visual material bank:
Baidu Cloud Link: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1v-0MiFLbomjVJFHsQVpUxw
Pin: p7wt
Notes to editors
The Welsh Government
Wales is a country in the UK with distinctive traditions, heritage, culture and language. It is known as a land of song and a country steeped in myth and legend, which, when you see the awe-inspiring landscape, is no surprise.
The Welsh national anthem picks out ‘beirdd a chantorion’ – the poets and singers – for special mention. Today, the Welsh music and arts scenes are alive with the sounds of bilingual music, poetry, art, and everything in between.
Learn more about Wales at wales.com
#BritishCouncil #ReConnect
– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.
