Taiping Tianguo Performance Programme

26/8/12 & 28/8/12

Spring Workshop and Para/Site Art Space are pleased to invite you to a special performance programme in the framework of the exhibition 太平天國/Taiping Tianguo, A History of Possible Encounters: Ai Weiwei, Frog King Kwok, Tehching Hsieh, and Martin Wong in New York, currently on view at Para/Site.

Taking place on Sunday, August 26 at Spring Workshop and Tuesday, August 28 at Para/Site Art Space, the programme brings together some of today’s most influential performance artists and choreographers such as Xavier Le Roy (FR), Melati Suryodarmo (IND) and Zan Yamashita (JAP). The programme elaborates on certain issues articulated by the exhibition such as the use of the body as a terrain for artistic practice and the influence of the biographical in the formation of an artist’s vernacular.

The performance programme is curated by Tang Fukuen and is co-produced by Spring Workshop and Para/Site Art Space.

Butter Dance Melati Suryodarmo

Melati Suryodarmo studied under Marina Abramovic, Anzu Furukawa and Mara Mattuschka at the Hochschule fuer Bildende Kuenste Braunschweig between 1994-2001. Apart from participating in performance and exhibitions, she has also lectured and given workshops at various institutions such as the School of Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, School of Arts Umea, Malmo School of Arts and HKW Berlin. Suryodarmo lives and works in Gross Gleidingen and Solo. Artist’s website

IT’S JUST ME, COUGHING Zan Yamashita

Zan Yamashita studied modern dance and classical dance before joining Monochrome Circus in Kyoto in 1990. He started choreographing in 1993 and has been developing his practice through projects and performances since then. Yamashita was the recipient of the Kyoto Theatre Award in 2004 and Senior Fellow Grant from the Saison Foundation for 2011 and 2012. Yamashita lives and works in Osaka. Artist’s website

Product of Circumstances Xavier Le Roy

Xavier Le Roy holds a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Montpellier, France, and has worked as a dancer and choreographer since 1991. Through his works, he has opened new perspectives in the field of choreographic art, becoming one of the seminal figures of contemporary dance. Le Roy explores the relationships between spectators/visitors/performers and the production of subjectivities. Earlier this year, he premiered a piece for an exhibition space in the context of his retrospective at the Tapiès Foundation-Barcelona. Le Roy lives and works in Berlin. Artist’s website

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