studio chongqing symposium 21 april

The Studio Chongqing Symposium (Thursday 21 April) was described as a 'collection of work and experiences from the 501 residency' and was curated by Jessica Longmore and Nina Chua.

I'm still a bit uncertain how to approach covering the event. I don't especially want to start pulling out and reviewing individual contributions - but not to do so risks being a bit vague. Perhaps the best approach is to take the experience as a bewildering barrage of stimuli akin to being in a new country where you have no bearings.

The disorientation started early on with Nicola Smith's performance leading us down to the space where most of the other work and experiences were presented. She then took us through to the seated area where most of the symposium took place. The combination of performance with purposeful actions was both humorous and a little disquieting, certainly not what was expected.

Once the group was seated Nicola played a film of part of her trip to Chongqing, concentrating on an airport. I found it a little ambient - but the seeming length of the piece hinted at the tedium of waiting around in airports while also demonstrating the huge amount of necessary, complex activity happening all the time and usually unregarded.

At the same time I can't have been the only person occasionally looking to their right through the windows onto the stairwell where Sarah Sanders carried out her durational performance for the entirety of the event. Having missed her interventions twice recently (before the symposium at the Text Festival performances at the Green Room - Friday 15 April, and after the symposium at the Text Festival opening last weekend - Saturday 1 May) I'm glad I managed to see her perform at least once.

After the video David Hancock, Chinese Arts Centre's residency co-ordinator, spoke about setting up the residency and being the artist who was guinea-pig for the project.

Then there was a break during which green tea and chinese snacks were served.

In the same space, as the group sat round the tables, Philip Davenport gave an account of his time at the residency through readings from his blog of the trip, and discussions of the poems produced.

It was a shorter discussion than in December when he and Nicola Smith held an event drawing on their respective experiences, and necessarily more structured.

The blog entries perhaps gave a clearer sense of the doubts and difficulties - as well as the excitement and challenge - of being in a foreign country away from your usual support networks.

We then returned to the neighbouring space for a couple of video presentations.

Film of Sue Manchoulas' performance during the residency, Breathless: Part 1 - created with a Chinese dancer - and I believe at least partly improvised.

And film of artists Ed Pein & Johannes Zits answering questions sent in relating to their residency in Chongqing. They gave yet another dimension to the experience.

Having seen work created during the residency, work created in response to the residency, heard about setting up the residency, and had an insight into the personal challenges of being in a strange city, they shed a lot of light on the interpersonal dynamics of a residency. Not just between the two of them, but with other artists.

Finally Ying Kwok, the centre's curator, spoke about the reasons why the Chinese Arts Centre came into being, what its role is now and how the Chongqing residency fits into that. I found it an equally interesting part of the afternoon.

I'm very glad I blagged the time off work - the second half day of two half days and three whole days I managed to get from work over the last fortnight for various artistic purposes.