Overseas, Close By (OVERSEAS：里九外七)

October 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24 (19:00)
Huzhu Xiang 8, off Fuyou Street (Zhongnanhai West) and Guangming Hutong, Xicheng District, Beijing

Throughout the month of October, a small hutong courtyard in Xicheng district will host “Overseas, Close By,” a new multimedia project by Elaine W. Ho, Monika Truong, and Simone Truong. Since 2008, Chinese-American artist Ho has utilized another Beijing hutong as the location for “Homeshop,” an eclectic independent project space exploring the divisions between public and private geography, and new modes of community interaction. These themes continue into this latest endeavour, which has been created in collaboration with Swiss dancers Monika and Simone Truong, as well as musician Xiao He, artist Liang Shuo, and others, through a process of interactions and workshops in the courtyard site. The result is a fusion of performance, installation, music, encounters, and food – each one unlike the last.

PRESS RELEASE:

“What happens when we spend time together? What paths are crossed, how is intimacy created, what are the limits of togetherness and what spaces lie in between the ordinary and the extraordinary? This October, join us for dinner at the courtyard at Huzhu Xiang 8 and share this experience with us, both as a familiarity and as something completely new.”

The OVERSEAS project began in 2008 as a performance arts project by three creators of the Chinese diaspora [何颖雅 Elaine W. HO (USA/HK), 张秀娥 Monika TRUONG (CH) and 张秀芳 Simone TRUONG (CH)], their shared background as the starting point and from whence the overall name OVERSEAS is derived.

The term ‘overseas’ references those of Chinese heritage living outside of China, but rather than any claims to a particular identity, it is how we go beyond it towards relating to one another that remains the focus of our work. Identity can be a daily routine, it can be a performance. But the context, and the strength of the relation, are what enrich the process.

Since 2008 OVERSEAS has developed as a series of workshops, movement research and video explorations between Zürich and Beijing. Investigations have brought the team into the very heart of the old capital, and since August of this year the initiators and a team of local Chinese artists and performers have lived and worked intensively within a traditional courtyard in the center of Beijing, using this site as workspace, living space and point of inspiration for a series of confrontations and exchanges between daily life and representation, language and meaning, the ordinary and the extraordinary. The result is OVERSEAS, close by, a multidisciplinary event combining an evening of food and friends with visual arts and performance.

The gate at Huzhu Xiang No. 8 opens from the 10th of October for a series of exclusive gatherings involving a visual and theatrical experiment quite different from anything experienced before in Beijing. For one evening, OVERSEAS invites you to drop into the courtyard and explore its spaces as we have—both as a familiarity and something completely new.

OVERSEAS, close by premieres Saturday, 10 October with performances running through 24 October. Please check details online for the exact schedule. Each performance, including fine dining created by the chefs of Café Sambal Group, lasts from 19.00 to 21.00, and due to the nature of the event audiences are asked to remain for the full three-hour duration. Reservations required. For inquiries, please call 139 1108 8640 or e-mail overseas_china@sina.com.

活动时间 ／ PERFORMANCE DATES:
2009年10月10、11、12、17、18、19、22、23、24日, 19:00开始
2009年10月10日（周六）19:30首演
premiere Saturday 10 October, 19:30

咨询联系 ／ For inquiries and reservations:
电话 tel: 139 1108 8640
e-mail：overseas_china@sina.com
网站 web：www.overseasproject.net

北京市西城区府右街（中南海西）光明胡同互助巷8号
Huzhu Xiang 8, off Fuyou Street (Zhongnanhai West) and Guangming Hutong, Xicheng District, Beijing

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项目发起者 / A project by:
何颖雅 Elaine W. HO、张秀娥 Monika TRUONG、张秀芳 Simone TRUONG

合作艺术家和表演者 ／ Artists and performers in collaboration:
小河 Xiao HE、利珂 LI Ke、梁硕 LIANG Shuo、刘斌 LIU Bin、刘亚囡 LIU Yanan、Aloun MARCHAL、萧薇 XIAO Wei

项目顾问 / Project consultants:
刘鼎 LIU Ding, 卢迎华 Carol LU Yinghua

餐饮指导 ／ Culinary design:
Café Sambal Group

制作经理 / Production manager:
裴延丰 Jam PEI

《OVERSEAS：里九外七》是瑞士文化基金会开展的交流与合作项 目之一。
OVERSEAS, close by is part of the exchange and cooperation programme “Swiss Chinese Explorations” of Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts council.

对该项目作出支持的还有 / Additional support by:
Café Sambal Group、Theatre in Motion、Theaterhaus Gessnerallee Zürich、Südpol Luzern、Alice Tak Yip Chin