Bridging the Gaps
Bridging the Gaps is funded by UKRI (UK Research Innovation) AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) through its UK-China Research-Industry Creative Partnership Grant with matched funding and in-kind contribution from partners across the UK and China. Project Partners include Shanghai Pudong Municipal Government, Leeds City Council, Shanghai Textile Museum, Leeds Industrial Museum, Shanghai Yue Opera House, Yorkshire based digital SMEs: HUMAN and Megaverse, and Shanghai Theatre Academy.
After nearly two years temporary pause due to Covid travel restriction, Bridging the Gaps restarted in the mid-2022 and scheduled to finish in March 2024. Built on the experience of online collaboration gained through Song the Female Textile Workers (2020-2021) and Song: The Future (20222-2023), Bridging the Gaps will continue to develop game products with a team of UK-China creative partners to test digital compatibility and audiences connectivity across rural-urban Shanghai as well as UK-China.
As an ‘action-research’, the project will be highly iterative. Throughout the project development, the team will work closely in a reflective and participatory manner to understand the UK-China creative industries compatibility and distinction.
Mobile game 3 The Jigsaw
One question emerged at the end of Song: The Future: why has the UK female textile workers not developed their own folk music/performance to a modern theatrical form that is still performed today, such as Shanghai Yueju? Could the reason be the lack of government funding leading to different cultural consumption habits between the North and the South/London? This question will be probed in our final phase of Bridging the Gaps project - The Jigsaw, a mobile game to be launched later this year (2023).