Bungee Screening: Spring Message of Wuhan 武汉春信 | Nov, 17 2024 Sun 7PM
Join us at Bungee Space on Nov. 17th, Sunday, at 7pm for Spring Message of Wuhan screenings, this event brings documentary films “Go to Street with Boat Towards Coop” and “Wuhan Seven Days of Joy”, which capture young people in Wuhan celebrating the Lunar New Year together in the streets during 2022 and 2023. One of the primary organizers, Mr. Gong Hao (director of Pangolin Art Space), will be present at the screening event to interact and engage with the audience.
Due to space capacity at Bungee Space, this is a TICKETED event ($5). Each ticket can be used as a $5 discount toward any purchase of publications at Bungee Space during the event.
Work Title: GO TO STREET WITH BOAT TOWARDS COOP Duration: 45 minutes Languages: Mandarin, Wuhan Dialect Organizers: Go to Street with Boat Towards Coop, Jamming, Spring, Pangolin Art Space, Wuhan Nirvana, Fuyin-Info, Dahua, and others. Participants: Chenchen, Hanhan, Luxi Liu, Jenson, Plike, Daqiao and Anan, Dahua, Fafa, Gonghao and Niuniu, Han Qian and friends, Goldfish, Jiang Yi, Kun, Li Ke and Qiaoba, Li Haibing and friends, Liu Qing, Aping, Shixingxing, Mahuan, Pan Chennong, Wu Zhiqiang, Xin Heng, Yan An, Yang Zichen, Zijie, Zhongzhong, and many other friends who joined in the street celebration. Photography: Luxi Liu, Li Haibing, Yan An, Zijie, and others. Editing: Yan An
About the Film:
“During the New Year, we transported a boat from Wuchang to Hankou and walked around the streets with it.”
…She said we should set up a temporary temple on the street! Immediately, I pictured the traditional Minnan custom of carrying a deity in a sedan chair through the bustling crowd during festivals. Locals would carry the deity to nearby villages, a ritual called 'jiaoyoujing,' meaning the god is inspecting the territory. …They said, 'why don't we just carry the boat onto the street?’”
“In Part III, 'The Police and Symbolic Order' of Another Art World by Graeber and Nika, they mention that in global movements since 2020, many local protests have found a common language, one of which is dismantling monuments and replacing them with temporary, dismantling puppets.”
…A friend suddenly sent me a screenshot from a social media post, saying, 'come out tomorrow, we got a boat and drew a route map.' I wasn't sure what kind of event it would be—on the river or on the street? Where's the boat from? Who's ferrying it? But I didn't need answers and immediately asked, 'What time is the boat event?’”
“Only the term 'on the road' could capture our wandering with the boat through the city's body, rather than just contrasting the boat's movement from water to land.”
“The Yangtze River's waterway connects the world, flowing downstream to the sea. Wuhan is a coastal city.”
“The boat's bow twisted into a shop, circling half-way; the staff were surprised, faces full of wonder and delight, unsure if they should laugh, asking what we were doing. Someone replied we were celebrating the Winter Olympics opening, and we went straight upstairs.”
“It was like a water-and-land hybrid boat with wheels, or like we drilled holes in the boat bottom, walking on land with the boat shell. In the group chat, I asked, 'If everyone comes, where will we sit?’”
"…She was excited all the way, though she said these were the strangest people she'd met, feeling overly 'normal' among them. But I sensed she shared the same excitement and bewilderment as I did.”
"We sailed down the crowded Jianghan Road, with pedestrians parting like waves around us, their gazes like water droplets landing on us and the boat. The deeper we went, the denser the waves, the more droplets gathered. …I felt Jianghan Road, the waves, and everything around us… celebrating our own New Year.”
"…Amid these imagined words, I saw a mist formed by myth, oral history, and personal stories, creating a shifting, ritual-like image of the boat. As we entered as outsiders and were met by strangers, we eventually became the intruders, producing a push-and-pull of forces, a perspective resistant to regulation and definition.”
“On the road, naturally, is the route. On the fifth day, the 'Welcoming Wealth God' day,… W.T.P… achieved the new feat of 'Tiger Across the River'.”
Work Title: HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR AND SEVEN DAYS TOWARDS COOP (Wuhan Seven Days of Joy), video sequence Duration: 30 minutes Languages: Mandarin, Wuhan Dialect Organizer: Happy Chinese New Year and Seven Days Towards Coop Participants: Gao Xiaoyu, Li Ke, Goldfish, Yan Cheng, Gong Hao, Sun Bangrui, neighborhood friends, Xiao Wu's family, Huan Shi, Sway, Mud, Facing Space, Xia Jie, Ye Wuji, Husky, Oka, Pengpeng, Happy, Cheng Jin, Miloti, Tantan, Chen Xin, Xiao Shan, Chen Shiyou, Yang Han, Wu Hao, Chen Cen, Fafa, Zi Yang, Yan An, Xiao Wei, Liu Qing, Tian Nan, Ash, Alan, Yu Yun, Jiang Hua, Li Sichen, and other friends joining in the New Year festivities. Photography: Husky, Oka, Pengpeng, Cheng Jin, Huan Shi, Liu Zhenyu, Miloti, Tantan, Yan Cheng, Zijie, and others. Editing: Yan An
About the Film:
Around the 2023 New Year, friends in Wuhan continued last year's street celebrations by finding locations in the city for music, camping, bonfires, and parties, trying out a new spot each day for a demo party and finally hosting a large gathering by the river. “This spot would be one of our grazing campsites on our city's songline.” Since then, young people have organized various wild parties in different public spaces, like ruins and under bridges.
Fuyin-info, located in Wuhan next to a music rehearsal studio, is a photocopy and risograph printing studio that not only serves the neighborhood but also fosters the exchange of knowledge, movement, and DIY culture. This setup aims to inspire and explore the potential for new alliances.
Art observation, art criticism, and art exhibitions, dedicated to the development of Chinese art. With a strong stance, thus named Pangolin Art Space. Established in Wuhan on November 11, 2017.
Event flyer designed by Sixuan Tong & Gong Hao
All photos courtesy of Go to the Street with a Boat Towards Coop & Happy Chinese New Year and Seven Days Towards Coop
Edited by Shuyu Peng
