29 October, 4.00pm-7.00pm – International Museum and Library of Music (Bologna, Italy) – EVENTS HALL
Event on reservation
The contemporary Chinese artist Echo Morgan (Xie Rong) will present a new performance at the International Museum and Library of Music in Bologna, imagining a fusion between calligraphy, audio-visual projection, body painting and improvised music, all represented within a neoclassical setting. On the melodies composed by Zhang Yaqin, a guzheng (a traditional Chinese musical instrument) player, the artist will invite the audience to write musical notes on her body, as well as in English or Chinese, fusing music with Chinese calligraphy and blending together Eastern and Western language.
The audio-visual projection, accompanied by notes of Zhang Yaqin, implements a reflection on the three main urban development projects of Sichuan, the artist’s homeland, placing emphasis on how much the current excess of Chinese urbanization is eclipsing and undermining nature, the environment and individuals.
The artists’ goal is to create a “new sound” that tells the story of transformation, perseverance, resilience and soul loss of the “Celestial City”, while advocating for greater inclusiveness and human care for biodiversity.
This performance also honors the legacy of Maddalena Casulana, remembered for being the first woman composer to have published in the history of Western music and whose works are preserved in the Museum. The artist will thus pay homage to women in the arts, transcending cultural boundaries and celebrating human creativity in harmony with nature.
Planning:
4.00pm-5.30pm “Musicaligraphy performance” by Echo Morgan and Zhang Yaqin
5.30pm-6.00pm Break
6.00pm-7.00pm Artist presentation by Echo Morgan (in English)
INFO AND RESERVATIONS: http://www.museibologna.it/musica
It is possible to listen the interview of the PI of the WRITE project Adriana Iezzi on “Neu Radio” during the “Portici” program in which the exhibition “INKiostro di Voci: Luo Qi and 30 years of calligraphy” and the performance of Echo Morgan and Zhang Yaqin are presented in detail. Click here to listen the interview: https://www.neuradio.it/interneu/
The performance is correlated and financed by the European Research Council Starting Grant Project “WRITE – New Forms of Calligraphy in China: A Contemporary Culture Mirror” (GA. 949645). The event is linked to the exhibition “Sounds of Ink: Luo Qi and 30 years of Calligraphyism”.
