Nini Sum and IdleBeats recently did an interview with
BBC for China Creativity series on the BBC World Service’s World Today programme. There are several other Chinese creatives participated in this program as well - B6, Bigger Bang,
NeochaEDGE, Ai Weiwei and more. You can listen to the live broadcasting by click
'Listen Live' button on the top right corner on
BBC website during July 13, 14, 15.
RADIO OUTPUT:
0000 - 0100 BST (0700 – 0800 Beijing Time)
0300 – 0500 BST (1000 – 1200 Beijing Time)
0600 – 0830 BST (1300 – 1530 Beijing Time)
You can also hear the programme after broadcast by going to the page for the ‘World Today’ programme.
Nini also created an illustration for the series called 'A Masterpiece', click the image below to view the web page. IdleBeats will also make this one into art prints in a limited edition of 100, now
pre-ordering is available.
Schedule is as follows:
DAY ONE - Tues 13th July
Branding and youth culture - Lisa Li interview by Lawrence Pollard
32 year-old head of the consultancy China Youthology. Interview looks at Chinese youth and how Western brands need to market to them, what influences Chinese youth and the effects of internet censorship on this group.
- Interview from BBC Beijing bureau
www.chinayouthology.com
Being an artist in China then and now – Illustrated discussion between Maleonn and his parents Tong Zhengwei and Ma Ke
Maleonn is a successful photographer aged 38, here he discusses his work with his parents Tong Zhengwei (former theatre actress) and Ma Ke (former Beijing Opera director). They also talk about the Cultural Revolution and its effects on Maleonn’s generation of Chinese born in the 1970s.
- Recorded Maleonn's exhibition in Shanghai
www.maleonn.com
Being a music fan and musician in China and changes over the past 15 years – discussion between B6 and Abe (Bigger Bang and the band) hosted by Lawrence Pollard
Disco between a 28 year-old electronic musician B6 and indie rock guitar player Abe (29 years old), talking about how they got hold of Western music when teenagers, their influences and the effect the internet has had on the them as both fans and makers of music. The discussion includes their music.
- Discussion with B6 in the BBC Shanghai bureau and Abe in the BBC Beijing bureau
www.myspace.com/b6music
www.myspace.com/biggerbangtheband
DAY TWO - Weds 14th July
Social networking, creative influences and youth culture - Sean Leow interview by Lawrence Pollard
29 year-old Chinese American is from Silicon Valley and is founder of social networking site Neocha.com, and the consultancy and creative agency NeochaEDGE. He tells Lawrence about internet use by the young in China, whether China has the infrastructure to become a soft power, the influences on young creatives and linkages between global brands and local emerging artists.
- Interview from BBC Shanghai bureau
www.edge.neocha.com
www.neocha.com
Surviving as an artist, setting up a studio/arts business and influences – illustrated feature with Nini Sum
Up and coming 23 year-old artist and printmaker who the Idle Beats screen printing studio. She tells us about what it's like surviving as an artist in China, why she set up her screen printing studio, her influences and what younger and older Chinese artists think about each others work. She also describes a piece created especially for the BBC.
- Recorded at her studio in Shanghai
http://www.ninisum.com/
http://idlebeats.com/
The future of China and the US – discussion between Zixi Jin and Arton Gjonbalaj
Zixi Jin is Chinese and has just completed her first year at university in New York. Arton Gjonbalaj is a young New Yorker who will be going to China for the first time this summer. They discuss expectations from each other’s countries, how they feel about the growing influences of China on the world stage and America’s continued cultural influence around the world.
- Recorded in a restaurant in New York
DAY THREE - Thursday 15th July
Overview on China's contemporary and future cultural potential - Ai Weiwei interviewed by Lawrence Pollard
China's most famous contemporary artist and cultural critic tells us whether he thinks China will be a soft power in the near future, the potential of creative activity under China’s political system and what he thinks of the work being created by China's youth.
- Interview from his studio in Beijing
Design overview from Hong Kong to Shenzhen - illustrated feature by Javin Mo
Award winning graphic designer Javin Mo is 33 and runs the Milkxhake design studio in Hong Kong. He takes us around 'Frontier City' and 'Design City' Shenzhen and details the close link between Shenzhen’s status as the First Economic Zone and it’s design scene. Also talks about how growth in China is affecting designers in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
- Recorded by Javin as he travels from his studio in Hong Kong to design centres in Shenzhen
www.milkxhake.org