Southbank Centre: Series celebrates East and Southeast Asian culture
From Japanese musical legends to breathtaking performance theatre and dance, a new series is coming to the South Bank to celebrate East and Southeast Asian culture.
The Southbank Centre has announced the lineup for its latest showcase, ESEA Encounters, running from July 17 to 20.
Bringing together some of the most exciting contemporary art and culture of East and Southeast Asia, ESEA Encounters has billed an incredible lineup of performances, music, poetry, literature and art alongside a pop-up market.
Kicking things off on July 17, a new adaptation of the Chinese folk story Ye Xian will be performed in the Purcell Room – Ye Xian – A Story Untold.
Combining contemporary music with Chinese and Western instruments, composer Alex Ho presents an intimate reflection on Ye Xian’s journey between and beyond different cultures.
Next up, the visionary Chinese artist Tianzhuo Chen will join his Asian Dope Boys collective in TRANCE – a 12-hour-theatre-meets-rave event.
In the course of the performance’s six chapters, TRANCE presents a web of science fiction stories that establish connections between traditional rituals and contemporary culture.
Elsewhere in the series audiences can witness the spectacle of Japanese music icon Haroumi Hosono, performing a headline show in the Royal Festival Hall, or attend the ESEA Lit Fest to hear discussions from the likes of Turner Prize-shortlisted artist Pio Abad and novelist Susan Barker.
Across the weekend, from July 19 to 20, a pop-up Yokimono Japanese Summer Market will take place in the Royal Festival Hall foyers, where visitors can browse traditional and contemporary Japanese food, culture, arts and crafts.
Rounding things up, music collective en Rapport will present two audio-visual projects, Ayatori & Lotus Code and No One’s an Island, under the title You to We.
These experiences will layer visual imagery with live music and sound, melding contemporary jazz and Japanese folk music.
Southbank Centre artistic director Mark Ball said: “This is an insight into the work of artists from East and Southeast Asia and its diaspora communities that illuminates the preoccupations and ideas that are driving new artistic forms through a plethora of events.
“This is an open programme welcoming anyone of any age and background to be inspired by the span of creativity in this major cultural hub of the world.”
Tickets for ESEA Encounters are on sale now via southbankcentre.co.uk.
Pictured top: No One’s an Island, part two of the audio project You to We by Rapport, which will close the series on July 20 (Picture: Southbank Centre)