NYC Chinese Cultural Events and Art Exhibitions: August 18 – August 24, 2017

This week: A studio visit at Flux Factory; the Old School Kung Fu Fest kicks ass with a special focus on the wonder women of classic wuxia cinema; an up and coming band; the highest grossing movie EVER at AMC Empire 25; your last chance to see Body, Self, Society – Chinese Performance Photography of the 1990s at The Walthers Collection; and more…

The DC Chinese Film Festival, in partnership with VCinema, has launched a call for guest bloggers to write about Chinese cinema as part of their Retrospective on Chinese Cinema of the 1980s and 1990s which will take place September 21 – 24.  If you’re interested in contributing take a look at the open call page.

More locally, here in New York, W.O.W. Project and China Residencies has just put out an open call for the the second Storefront 店面 Residency at Wing on Wo & Co. at 26 Mott Street in Chinatown.  We’ll have more on it later, but it’s a great opportunity for artists interested exploring the Asian diaspora and social issues.

Coming up:

September 6 – Abacus: Small Enough to Jail – the acclaimed documentary about a Chinatown bank which was the only bank to face charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

September 8 – Enchanted Formosa – Singer-songwriter Yu-Wei Hsieh combines music from indigenous tribes, Hoklo groups, and Hakka villages into contemporary folk, pop, and alt-rock forms

September 10 – Chui Wan at Baby’s All Right

We add talks, films, performances, exhibitions, featuring or relating to Chinese, Taiwanese, diasporic artists and topics to our event and ongoing exhibition calendars as we learn of them.

We post frequently on our Facebook page.  So check the page for links we share and get a heads up on events before we include them in these weekly posts.  For art, images, and other instances of Chineseness we see, follow our Instagram page.

We’re looking for contributors!  If you’re interested in writing an article, contributing photos or artwork to be featured with our weekly events and exhibitions listing, letting us know about an event, send a pitch at beyondchinatown@gmail.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

1) Delicate Failure: Open Studio hours with Chen An An and friends  – artists Chen An An, LuLu Meng and Tzu-An Wu will be collectively working on an ongoing installation that includes video and sculpture in the Flux Factory gallery space. Come meet them to talk about their work and see their processes.

Open Studio Hours
Friday – Sunday, August 18 – 20, 12 – 6 PM

Closing Reception
Sunday, August 20, 3 – 6 PM

Flux Factory, 39-31 29th St, Long Island City

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2) Hapkido 《合氣道》– A watershed in Mao’s filmography, Hapkido is a thrilling paean to the Korean fighting style that the lifelong martial arts disciple and superstar studied in real life. Angela and compatriots Sammo Hung and Carter Wong star as Chinese students of the titular Korean martial art who find themselves forced by the scenery-chewing imperialist Japanese baddies into defending honor and righteousness with dazzling hand-to-hand combat. Don’t blink!

Dir. Huang Feng
1972, Hong Kong, 97 min.

Screens as part of the series Old School Kung Fu Fest

Friday, August 18, 2:45 PM and 7 PM
Metrograph

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3) The Fate of Lee Khan 《迎春閣之風波》 – King Hu enlisted a bevy of female stars including Hong Kong cinema stalwart Li Li-hua and martial arts ingénue Mao to lead the action and intrigue in this classic wuxia adventure. Hu once again centers the plot at an inn, a veritable hot pot of simmering conflict, where girl-gang undercover resistance fighters are pitted against oppressive Mongols, trying to stop a traitor from passing vital information to warlord Lee Khan. The ensuing struggle is perfectly highlighted by wry comic moments, masterful mise-en-scene, and breakout fight scenes from choreographer Sammo Hung.

Dir. King Hu
1973, Hong Kong, 105 min. In Cantonese with English subtitles

Screens as part of the series Old School Kung Fu Fest

Saturday, August 19, 3 PM
Metrograph

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4) My Young Auntie 《長輩》– Choreographer-turned-star director Lau Kar-leung proved not only a consummate martial artist but also a champion of women with this brilliant Cantonese comedy of manners/fight fest. An elderly landowner takes a new bride to keep his coveted land away from his unscrupulous brother after his death, but traditional and demure Kara Hui Ying Hung also happens to be a kung fu expert, a fact that the scheming brother learns amidst glorious melee and hi-jinks which make for a classic of rough-and-tumble empowerment.

Dir. Lau Kar-Leung
1981, Hong Kong, 121 min.
In Cantonese with English subtitles

Screens as part of the series Old School Kung Fu Fest

Saturday, August 19, 5:30 PM
Metrograph

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5) Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan 《愛奴》 – This luscious production by the premiere auteur of phantasmagorical wuxia films puts a surprising new spin on his usual motifs of gallantry and intrigue. Lilly Ho plays a seductive but innocent girl sold into a brothel where the lascivious madame (Betty Pei Ti), ensnared by the young nubile’s charms, lets her in on the secrets of esoteric and deadly kung fu, unwittingly sowing the seeds of a devious revenge plot. A singularly provocative martial arts film, its feminist subtext coyly veiled by its elegant yet decidedly lurid veneer.

Dir. Chor Yuen
1972, Hong Kong, 90 min.
In Mandarin with English subtitles

Screens as part of the series Old School Kung Fu Fest

Saturday, August 19, 8 PM
Metrograph

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6) Come Drink With Me 《大醉俠》– Pioneer King Hu revolutionized wuxia films with cinematography reminiscent of Chinese painting, kinetic camera moves, innovative action choreography, and meticulous period production design, all melded into female-forward fist-and-sword tales. Breakthrough Come Drink with Me put vibrant 19-year-old dancer-cum-actress Cheng Pei Pei on the action film map as Golden Swallow, a general’s daughter tasked with rescuing her brother from the clutches of bandits, managing to take on all opponents with several breathtaking bounds, as one of cinema’s greatest personifications of the martial arts.

Dir. King Hu
1966, Hong Kong, 95 min.
In Mandarin with English subitles

Screens as part of the series Old School Kung Fu Fest

Sunday, August 20, 1 PM and 9 PM
Metrograph

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7) A Touch of Zen 《俠女》 – Wuxia godfather King Hu’s ultimate masterpiece of chivalry and intrigue follows an effete scholar who gets involved with an indomitable female fugitive in an ancient Chinese town, sweeping us into a fever-dream of mystical proportions, at once romantic and suspenseful. A three-hour martial arts film and the first fight doesn’t happen until the last act! But it’s so transcendentally beautiful, profound, and exhilarating in its artistry as to mesmerize audiences to this day—and when the action does come, you’ll see why the movie was awarded a technical grand prize at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival. Not to be missed!

Dir. King Hu
1971, Hong Kong, 180 min.
In Mandarin with English subtitles

Screens as part of the series Old School Kung Fu Fest

Sunday, August 20, 3:15 PM
Metrograph

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8) The Either – This electronic band, made up of members Zongli (vocals), Jiaju (pipa), and Yang (erhu), are known for their unique futurism/minimalism composition style and the voices from traditional Asian instruments, that blends the likes of indie electronic, electronic rock, progressive metal and dream pop.

Sunday, August 20, 6:30 PM
Wicked Willy’s, 149 Bleecker Street

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9) Yes, Madam 《皇家師姐》– Girls with guns (and kung fu bona fides, too) ruled Hong Kong screens in the ’80s and ’90s, and this is the movie that set the template. A flimsy plot about stolen microfilm serves as a pretext for non-stop fights and chases, with star-making turns by former dancer and beauty queen Michelle Yeoh and real-life martial arts champion Cynthia Rothrock as Dirty Harriet policewomen who team up to best all the bad guys with acrobatic aplomb and explosive force. The women did their own unbelievable stunts—and somehow lived to tell the tale!

Dir. Corey Yuen
1985, Hong Kong, 95 min.
In Cantonese with English subtitles.

Screens as part of the series Old School Kung Fu Fest

Sunday, August 20, 7 PM
Metrograph

ONGOING FILMS, SHOWS, AND EVENTS

1) Once Upon a Time 《三生三世十里桃花》– Based on the best-selling fantasy novel Three Lives Three World, Ten Miles of  Peach Blossoms, Once Upon a Time is a story of epic battles, deep passion, and the powerful forces that drive mortals and gods alike toward revenge, loyalty, and eternal love. Bai Qian, a goddess and monarch from the Heavenly Realms, is sent to the mortal world to undergo a trial to become a High Goddess. There, she meets Ye Hua, with whom she falls in love and marries. When an old enemy reappears in her life, everything she holds dear is threatened.

At AMC Empire 25

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2) Wolf Warrior 2 《战狼2》– The Wolf Warrior is back, bigger and badder than ever, in this action-packed sequel to the 2015 blockbuster hit. With his career in tatters, China’s deadliest Special Forces operative has settled into a quiet life on the sea. But when he crosses paths with a sadistic band of mercenaries terrorizing innocent civilians, he must reaffirm his duty as a soldier and save the day once again. Fists (and bullets, tanks, missiles and much more) will fly in this adrenaline-fueled tour de force of bravura action filmmaking, all culminating into a climactic battle between the Wolf Warrior and the mercenary leader (Frank Grillo, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War).

The film is known for its patriotism, some call it the Chinese Rambo, and has become the highest-grossing movie ever in China in the world.

At AMC Empire 25

ART EXHIBITIONS

Opening and New Listed:

No new listings this week, but there’s plenty to see.  It’s your last chance to see Body, Self, Society – Chinese Performance Photography of the 1990s at The Walther Collection.

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Dongfan Chen is part of the Studio Artists Exhibition at NARS Foundation, which opens on August 4.

Asia Society hosts Inspired by Zao Wou-Ki as part of a series of exhibitions that presents the work of New York City students created in response to the great artistic traditions of Asia.  This year the exhibition presents student artwork inspired by the Asia Society fall 2016 exhibition No Limits: Zao Wou-Ki.  The exhibition runs through August 6.

Hai-Hsin Huang‘s humorous and insightful observations of people out in the world — including one of the enormous drawings showing a moment at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will be on view as part of Revealing Reflected Refractions at Tiger Strikes Asteroid August 4 – September 10.

In addition to an installation at Fully Loaded: Tainan – New York 2017, Lulu Meng‘s will also exhibit her sculpture series Impression in which “softness and movement [of articles of clothing are] frozen in the solidity of the object” is part of the Fourth AIM Biennial at the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

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Closing soon:

Body, Self, Society – Chinese Performance Photography of the 1990s (The Walther Collection, 4/14 – 8/19)

Discursive Selves (Westbeth Gallery, 7/11 – 8/21)

Jennifer Wen Ma: Entry Niches (Van Doren Waxter, 5/11 – 8/25)

Informality (group show with Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong, NYFA Gallery, 5/4 – 9/1)

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Current shows:

Visit the exhibition calendar for details for the current shows listed below. Check the museum or gallery’s website for hours of operation.

NSFW: Female Gaze(Museum of Sex, 6/21 – TBC)