Hairpin Beneath 钗之后
a collaborative project with Zishi Han
Emerging from Zishi Han and Wei Yang’s ongoing collaborative research project into historical Chinese homoerotic literature, Hairpin Beneath is an evolving performance that intertwines multiple narratives to explore queer existences in China and the Chinese diaspora. The point of their departure is a Ming dynasty anthology of homoerotic stories, ‘弁而釵’ (‘Biàn ér chāi’). The title of the book implies the scene of a man taking off his ceremonial headgear and putting on a woman's hairpin. Structured around a set of excerpts from the book, they loosely interpret its storylines and draw on a variety of Chinese historical and contemporary cultural practices, such as poetry, Chinese Opera, literati landscape painting, Danmei literature, pop music and reality TV shows.
Oscillating between live reading and video projection, they assemble formally distinct but correlating components of the performance to dwell amidst the blurry boundary between the fictional and the biographical. Live reading texts are drawn from ‘Biàn ér chāi’ (bai hua version), translated into written vernacular Chinese by 执迷 (Zh. m.), published in instalments on 书香门第 (Shū xiāng m.n d.). Excerpts are edited and translated into English by Zishi Han and Wei Yang.
Upcoming
2025
In Practice, Sculpture Center, New York, the U.S.
Solo show, Politikens Forhal, Copenhagen, Denmark
Solo show, San Mei Gallery, London, the U.K.
-
28/05/2024 (06)
The Digest
Pickle Bar with Slavs and Tatars
18/02/2024 (05)
Hairpin Beneath 钗之后
Pols, Valencia, Spain02/02-03/03/2024 (04)
Spring Exhibition 2024
Kunsthal Charlottenborg Forårsudstillingen, Copenhagen, Denmark18/01/2024 (03)
Pickle Bar presents
West Den Haag, the Hague, The Netherlands
15/11/2023 (02)
Tea Room Relay
Delfina Foundation, London, the UK
28/10/2023 (01)
THANK YOU!
Pickle Bar, Berlin, Germany