CHOP FESTIVAL :: Polish Experimental Music in China (November 16—18, 2012)

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The ChoP Project is a unique transnational initiative that includes sound and visual artists from China and Poland. It was created in 2006 out of a passion for contemporary music by two independent artists, Zen Lu [CN] and Grzegorz Bojanek [PL], and it has provided an opportunity for many Polish and Chinese artists to interact and collaborate with each other across two different continents. The ChoP festival, which is taking place in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, reflects the six years of fruitful collaboration between the Polish and Chinese artists.

THROUGHOUT the centuries, Poland and China have been well known for giving the world great artists and enriching all of us with their unique cultural life. Nevertheless, interactions between artists from Europe and Asia have been rather limited and the possibilities of creating something new together, non-existent.

In 2006, Grzegorz Bojanek [PL] and Zen Lu [CN] started a humble project that was later called the ChoP Project, standing for “China—Poland”. It has become an ideal platform for artists from both countries to meet, brainstorm new ideas, perform concerts in China and Europe, and record albums characterized by a new approach to music in the contemporary world.

After 6 years, the time has come to present the accomplishments of the ChoP Project and summarize the successful transnational collaboration of over 20 artists from Poland and China. With the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Art and Technology Foundation [PL] in collaboration with Mooka Space [CN] decided to organize the ChoP Festival in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

The artists involved in the activities of the ChoP Project meet for several days prior to the festival in order to create new compositions that will be performed live in Shenzhen and later in Hong Kong. Additionally, Polish artists will perform their own compositions inspired by both Polish and Chinese cultures. Apart from the concerts, the audience of the festival will have a chance to attend lectures and workshops and participate in interactive installations supported by the Art and Technology Foundation.

About the ChoP Project ::
The ChoP Project is a unique transnational initiative that includes sound and visual artists from China and Poland. It was created in 2006 out of a passion for contemporary music by two independent artists, Zen Lu [CN] and Grzegorz Bojanek [PL], and it has provided an opportunity for many Polish and Chinese artists to interact and collaborate with each other across two different continents. In the beginning, only small concerts were being organized. In 2009, artists from Poland together with their Chinese partners, took part in a two week Chinese tour visiting such cities as Shenzhen, Foshan, Changsha, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The following year, the Chinese artists visited Europe and performed in Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany. In 2010, the artists of the ChoP Project were invited by the British independent film director Isaac Julien to compose part of the soundtrack for his 9-screen video installation “Ten Thousand Waves,” starring Maggie Cheung. Later, Zen Lu and Grzegorz Bojanek were invited by Isaac Julien to join him during the 8th Shanghai Biennale and perform live improvised music for his one-screen version of the installation called “Better Life” that had a vast support from the British Council. In October 2011, several new artists from Poland went to China and visited Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing and Wuhan during a two week tour. They performed a number of concerts, including a live-act at the Shanghai Electronic Music Week.

The ChoP festival, which is taking place in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, reflects the six years of fruitful collaboration between the Polish and Chinese artists. Its artistic accomplishments have been recognized by the Art and Technology Foundation and the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, which provided the vital financial support to make the festival a reality.

Since 2006, many artists have been invited to join the ChoP project. They recorded albums and performed live-acts both in China and Poland. The artists involved in the project include: Grzegorz Bojanek, Zen Lu, Dickson Dee, RND, Minoo, Sin:Ned, Nejmano, KLC_NIR, Krzysztof Orluk, Bai Tian, Kim_Nasung, Piotr Michałowski, Er Dao, VU, Gold Plated Face, B6, Nini, jfi, and Krzysztof Cybulski.

Releases ::
ChoP vol. 1 :: Grzegorz Bojanek & Zen Lu – “over a foul line / simple questions”
ChoP vol. 2 :: RND & Dickson Dee – “8 Rooms”
ChoP vol. 3 :: Sin:Ned & Minoo – “Improvision”
ChoP vol. 4 :: KLC_NIR & Nejmano – “SounDual”
ChoP vol. 5 :: Krzysztof Orluk & Bai Tian – “Structure Of”
ChoP vol. 1 :: Grzegorz Bojanek & Zen Lu – “June” – live