We are very honored to invite Director TIAN Gebing and Choreographer WANG Yanan. They will host the workshop at the University of Göttingen on April 13 and 14. Amid the commonly experienced disorientation in this game-changing crisis, the workshop “Waiting for Testing – Rewriting Theatre History” proposes to hold a discussion on the history of the past two decades to look again at how, in contemporary performance, fugitive resistance and personal insurgence have formed biographies of surprise, as well at how collective heterogeneous energy was generated through fragmentary and inorganic connections, against the backdrop of the development of socio-historical space and power landscape in China. Director Tian will also briefly introduce his new performance at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. He will lead the workshop from the modern history of East-West exchanges since the 18th century to enter topics such as “revolution” and “colonization”, trying to initiate discussions from a historical and macro perspective.

Time: April 13, 1: 00 PM-3: 00 PM (TIAN)

Venue: VG3.104, the University of Göttingen

The first in-person event is limited to 40 attendees. Scan the QR code on the poster to register.

TIAN Gebing is a director, curator, and writer. He graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing in 1991. In 1997 he initiated the founding of Paper Tiger Studio. Over the past 20 years, he has created a large number of artistic works and events mixing visual arts and performance. His works are seen in international cities and festivals around the world. Early works are exemplified by “Killer is Not Cold and High Art” (1998), “Cool” (2006), “Reading” (2010). From 2010 on he has shifted his focus to transcultural research and collaboration. Works in this period include “Dekalog” (2016), “500 Meters: Kafka, Great Wall or Images from the Unreal World and Daily Heroism” (2017), “Infection, State of Emergency, Beethoven” (2020). Further in 2014 “Totally Happy” premiered at Münchner Kammerspiele. In 2021, he collaborated with the ensemble of Muenchner Kammerspiele for “Hart Chamber Fragments”.

Time: April 14, 1: 00 PM-4: 00 PM (Wang)

Venue: VG3.104, the University of Göttingen

The second in-person event on April 14 is limited to 20 attendees. Scan the QR code on the poster to register.

WANG Yanan is a dancer and choreographer. She graduated from Beijing Dance Academy. Since 1999 Wang worked for ten years with Living Dance Studio and was part of productions such as Birth Report and Body Report. She toured international cities and festivals and won the ZKB Award at Zürcher Theater Spektakel. In 2004, she founded Le Se Dance Studio and has created works such as Le Se 1, Le Se 2, House, etc. She collaborated with artists with various backgrounds and toured in European countries. She has been part of Paper Tiger works since 2001, as a performer, concept, and choreography. In 2014, she was commissioned by Hong Kong Arts Festival for Iron Horse. In 2014 she collaborated with Münchner Kammerspiele and Goethe Institute (China) for Totally Happy. In 2016 she was commissioned by Stary Teatr Kraków for “Dekalog”. In 2017 she worked with Thalia Theater Hamburg to create 500 Meters: Kafka, Great Wall or Images from the Unreal World, and Daily Heroism. In 2021 she collaborated again with Münchner Kammerspiele for “Heart Chamber Fragments”.

Initiator: Dr. Yumin Ao

Assistants: Nathalie Morenings, Jiayue Li

Organizers:

The Department of East Asian Studies of the University of Göttingen; The Department of Theater, Film and TV Arts of Nanjing University; The Academic Confucius Institute at the University of Göttingen

Partners:

The Center for Modern East Asian Studies; The Journal of Ying Ming Theater; The Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Göttingen