#ReConnect 2021 UK-China Contemporary Culture Festival launched

• #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

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We build connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language. Last year we reached over 80 million people directly and 791 million people overall including online, broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934 we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. We receive a 15 per cent core funding grant from the UK government.

www.britishcouncil.cn

Please visit our official website in Chinese and English for detailed programme.

Festival visual material bank:

Baidu Cloud Link: https://pan.baidu.com/s/1v-0MiFLbomjVJFHsQVpUxw

Pin: p7wt

We will update our programme on daily basis through our social media accounts, please stay tuned with us on:

Weibo @英国大使馆文化教育处 @艺述英国

Wechat

bc-china (英国大使馆文化教育处)

UK_NOW (艺述英国)