Between the personal and historical: the Chinese diaspora, chinoiserie and photography
Saturday 22 June
2 - 4:30 pm
At our Meanwhile Space, 2-4 Matilda St, Sheffield S1 4QY
Free (Suggested Donation: £3 - 5)
Video still from This is China of a particular sort, I do not know (2020). Image courtesy of the artist.
What can family photographs reveal about identity, colonialism and migration? In this special screening and conversation event, we are delighted to host artist-filmmaker Clare Chun-yu Liu and researcher Emily Beswick to bring together their respective research on family photographs of the Chinese diaspora.
Clare will screen two of her films This is China of a particular sort, I do not know and Another beautiful dream. These films re-interpret English chinoiserie — a decorative style characterised by the use of faux Chinese materials and motifs — from a perspective informed by postcolonial thinking and the artist’s Taiwanese background.
Emily will share her ongoing research on family photographs belonging to the Chinese community in Liverpool. She will discuss the process and outcomes of Traces of Memory, a collaborative research project with individuals from Liverpool’s East and South East Asian communities.
Clare Chun-yu Liu is a UK-based Taiwanese artist, researcher and lecturer, and holds a practice-based Fine Art PhD from Manchester School of Art. Clare is interested in exploring oral history and lived experience through fiction and nonfiction to challenge the grand narratives. Her films have been screened and exhibited internationally, including at the ICA London, Raven Row, Oxford University, New Art Exchange, EXiS, Image Forum Festival, Kasseler Dokfest, Taipei International Video Art Exhibition, Goethe Institut Lisbon and Ming sheng Art Museum Beijing. Her work is in collections at Asian Film Archive in Singapore and VIDEOTAGE in Hong Kong. Clare is a member of Paul Mellon Centre Early Career Researchers Network and British Art Network.
Emily Beswick is an AHRC-funded collaborative PhD student at the University of Liverpool and Tate Liverpool. Her research investigates forms of looking and engagement with photographs of the Chinese community in Liverpool, through newspaper, documentary and family photograph archives, and using autobiographical, creative and participatory approaches. Emily is a member of the British Art Network and trustee of Kakilang, a UK charity which platforms East and South East Asian artists. She is also an organiser with the Liverpool East and South East Asian Network.