UK-China music textile trees planted in Shanghai

Between 26th and 28th January 2024, Bridging the Gaps UK-China team met and planted the UK-China music textile trees in Shanghai!

This is the fourth collaborative digital output of Bridging the Gaps (2020-2024), funded by UKRI AHRC. Over the past four years, the team has created six documentary films (2020), a mixed reality performance Song of the Female Textile Workers (2021), a mobile immersive performance Song the Future (2022) and the UK-China Music Textile Tree (2023). The project ends in March 2024.

Bridging the Gaps as a research project examines the parallel development of UK-China creative industries, focusing on textile industry transformation, the recycled factories as the creative cluster heritage sites. The digital outputs tell the less known story of Shanghai redundant female textile workers and their own cultural art form, the Shanghai all-female yueju, aiming to evoke shared memories of UK textile heritage and music industry.

In the January Shanghai visit, the UK-China team tested the final digital product, the Music Textile Tree. During the three days, the UK team, which consists of Human, Megaverse and University of Leeds met with partners from Shanghai Yue Opera House, Shanghai Textile Museum, Shanghai Theatre Academy, Shanghai Arts Research Institute and Shanghai Municipal Government, reviewed the project progression and planted the Music Textile Tree with the wide public audience.

At Shanghai Textile Museum, young audience praised the product as 'amazing'! STM curator Jia Yiliang welcomes audience feedback to permanently host the interactive UK-China music textile tree at STM.

Shanghai partners will be visiting Leeds/UK in March (1st - 10th), to plant further trees and to discuss future UK-China creative industries partnership.

Using your mobile, scan the barcode below or enter our website directly https://www.textiletreear.com to plant a tree yourself!