Abstract
To write about foreign cultural politics and projects in the Chinese-German context is not an easy task: literature about intercultural projects mostly focuses on some specific genre; studies about foreign cultural politics or cultural diplomacy are extremely limited, especially when it comes to the most recent era. What follows here is a conversation with Chen Ping, Counsellor for Culture at the Chinese embassy in Vienna, who has worked for many years at the Chinese embassies in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. He has organized and co-curated events such as the Cultural Years of China in Germany and Italy, the Europalia China Festival in Belgium, the China-Fest in Berlin and many others. By discussing examples from the fields of the visual arts, theatre (including acrobatics) and music, the conversation outlines the major shifts in Chinese foreign cultural policy since the late 1970s and its interconnections with intercultural projects.
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Notes
- 1.
All in-text references have been added by Anna Stecher for the purpose of directing the reader towards additional sources, e.g. catalogues or other books published in the context of specific cultural events.
- 2.
Chen Ping is referring to 2021, which was the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Austria and China.
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Appendices
Many thanks to Chen Ping for sharing his lists of German theatre performances in China and Chinese theatre performances in Germany.
Appendix 1: German Theatre Performances in China (2010–2019)
Many thanks to Chen Ping for sharing his lists of German theatre performances in China and Chinese theatre performances in Germany.
Date | Production, Director | Ensemble | Context in China | Performance venue in China |
|---|---|---|---|---|
December 2010 | Hamlet, Luk Perceval | Thalia Theater Hamburg | Lin Zhaohua Theatre Festival | Beijing Capital Theatre |
December 2011 | Gift, Johan Simons | Kammerspiele München | Lin Zhaohua Theatre Festival | Beijing Capital Theatre |
December 2011 | Draußen vor der Tür, Luk Perceval | Thalia Theater Hamburg | Lin Zhaohua Theatre Festival | Beijing Capital Theatre |
October 2012 | Woyzeck, Manfred Beilharz | Staatstheater Wiesbaden | International Theatre Festival of NTC | National Theatre of China (NTC), Beijing |
September 2013 | Ödipus Stadt, Stephan Kimmig | Deutsches Theater Berlin | International Theatre Festival of NTC | National Theatre of China, Beijing |
September 2013 | Tschick, Christopher Rüping | Thalia Theater Hamburg | Beijing International Fringe Festival | National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Beijing |
May 2014 | Jedermann, Bastian Kraft | Thalia Theater Hamburg | Tianjin Cao Yu Theatre Festival | Tianjin Grand Theatre |
May 2014 | Fräulein Julie, Katie Mitchell/Leo Warner | Schaubühne Berlin | Tianjin Cao Yu Theatre Festival | Tianjin Grand Theatre; Beijing University Hall |
September 2014 | Brothers in Arms, Ana Zirner | Satellit Produktion | Beijing International Fringe Festival | Nine Theatre, Beijing |
October 2014 | Medea, Michael Thalheimer | Schauspiel Frankfurt | International Theatre Festival of NTC | National Theatre of China, Beijing |
October 2014 | Geschichten aus dem Wiener Wald, Michael Thalheimer | Deutsches Theater Berlin | 6. Theatre Olympics | National Theatre of China, Beijing |
June 2015 | Hamlet, Thomas Ostermeier | Schaubühne Berlin | Tianjin Cao Yu Theatre Festival | Tianjin Grand Theatre; National Theatre of China, Beijing |
June 2015 | TRUST, Falk Richter/Anouk van Dijk | Schaubühne Berlin | Tianjin Cao Yu Theatre Festival | Tianjin Grand Theatre; Millennium Theatre, Beijing |
October 2015 | NIBELUNGEN! Der ganze Ring, Antú Romero Nunes | Thalia Theater Hamburg | Wuzhen Theatre Festival | Wuzhen Grand Theatre |
October 2015 | Physiker, Herbert Fritsch | Züricher Schauspielhaus | Wuzhen Theatre Festival | Wuzhen Grand Theatre |
May 2016 | FRONT—Im Westen nichts Neues, Luk Perceval | Thalia Theater Hamburg | Lin Zhaohua Theatre Festival | Tianjin Grand Theatre |
June 2016 | Richard III, Thomas Ostermeier | Schaubühne Berlin | Tianjin Cao Yu Theatre Festival | Harbin Grand Theatre; Tianjin Grand Theatre |
June 2016 | Common Ground, Yael Ronen | Maxim Gorki Theater | Theatertreffen in China | NCPA; Shanghai Daning Theatre |
June 2016 | John Gabriel Borkman, Karin Henkel | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg | Theatertreffen in China | NCPA; Shanghai Daning Theatre |
July 2016 | Warten auf Godot, Ivan Panteleev | Deutsches Theater Berlin | Theatertreffen in China | Shanghai Daning Theatre; NCPA |
September 2016 | Tartuffe, Michael Thalheimer | Schaubühne Berlin | International Theatre Festival NCPA | NCPA |
October 2016 | Der Spieler, Frank Castorf | Volksbühne Berlin | Wuzhen Theatre Festival | Wuzhen Grand Theatre |
June 2017 | Der die Mann, Herbert Fritsch | Volksbühne Berlin | Theatertreffen in China | Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre |
June 2017 | Stolpersteine Staatstheater, Hans-Werner Kroesinger | Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe | Theatertreffen in China | Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre |
June 2017 | Terror, Frank Behnke | Staatstheater Nürnberg | International Theatre Festival NCPA | NCPA |
June 2017 | Die 39 Stufen, Petra Luisa Meyer | Staatstheater Nürnberg | International Theatre Festival NCPA | NCPA |
June 2018 | Five Easy Pieces, Milo Rau | CAMPO Art Centre | Theatertreffen in China | Tianjin Grand Theatre; Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre; Changzhou Grand Theatre |
September 2018 | Der Volksfeind, Thomas Ostermeier | Schaubühne Berlin | International Theatre Festival NCPA | NCPA |
October 2018 | Dancer in the Dark, Bastian Kraft | Thalia Theater Hamburg | Wuzhen Theatre Festival | N Theatre, Wuzhen |
November 2018 | Der Sandmann, Robert Wilson | Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus | Shanghai International Arts Festival | Shanghai Grand Theatre |
June 2019 | Die Odyssee, Antú Romero Nunes | Thalia Theater Hamburg | Theatertreffen in China | Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre; Great Theatre of China, Shanghai |
July 2019 | Trommeln in der Nacht, Christopher Rüping | Kammerspiele München | Theatertreffen in China | Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre |
November 2019 | Der kaukasische Kreidekreis, Michael Thalheimer | Berliner Ensemble | Wuzhen Theatre Festival | N Theatre, Wuzhen |
December 2019 | Medea. Stimmen, Tilmann Köhler | Deutsches Theater Berlin | Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre |
Appendix 2: Chinese Theatre Performances in Germany (2010–2019)
Date | Production, Director | Ensemble | Context in Germany | Performance venue in Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
February 2011 | Der Unterhändler, Lin Zhaohua | Lin Zhaohua Theatre Studio | Lessingtage | Thalia Theater Hamburg |
November 2012 | Flowers in the Mirror, Moon on the Water, Meng Jinghui | Beijing Young Dramatists Association | Chinesischer Herbst Festival | Kühlhaus, Berlin |
November 2012 | Tea—Zen, Zhao Liang | Beijing Young Dramatists Association | Chinesischer Herbst Festival | Kühlhaus, Berlin |
November 2012 | A Madman’s Diary, Li Jianjun | Beijing Young Dramatists Association | Chinesischer Herbst Festival | Kühlhaus, Berlin |
November 2012 | Reading-Mistake, Feng Jiangzhou/Zhang Lin | Beijing Young Dramatists Association | Chinesischer Herbst Festival | Kühlhaus, Berlin |
February 2013 | Der Attentäter, Lin Zhaohua | Lin Zhaohua Theatre Studio | Lessingtage | Thalia Theater Hamburg |
January 2014 | Cooking a Dream, Huang Ying | Full Show Lane Studio | Altonaer Theater Hamburg; Gallus Theater Frankfurt | |
February 2014 | Leben!, Meng Jinghui | National Theatre of China | Lessingtage | Thalia Theater Hamburg; Deutsches Theater Berlin |
October 2014 | Totally Happy, Tian Gebing | Paper Tiger Theatre Studio, Beijing | Kammerspiele München | |
January 2015 | Bernstein, Meng Jinghui | Beijing Young Dramatists Association | Lessingtage | Thalia Theater Hamburg |
July 2015 | Das Teehaus, Yang Lixin | Beijing People’s Art Theatre | Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg | |
January 2016 | Die Masse, Desmond Wai-Kit Tang | Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre | Lessingtage | Thalia Theater Hamburg |
June 2017 | A Man who Flies up to the Sky, Li Jianjun | New Youth Group | Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen | Haus der Ruhrfestspiele |
April 2019 | Popular Mechanics, Li Jianjun | New Youth Group | Schaubühne Berlin |
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Stecher, A. (2023). Blessed Bodies, Extraordinary Exhibitions and Missed Opportunities: Forty Years of Chinese-German Cultural Projects and Diplomacy—A Conversation with Chen Ping. In: Jin, H., Stecher, A., Ehrenwirth, R. (eds) Contemporary German–Chinese Cultures in Dialogue. Global Germany in Transnational Dialogues. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26779-6_2
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