The OVERSEAS project began in 2008 as a performance arts project by three creators of the Chinese diaspora [Elaine W. HO (USA/HK), Monika TRUONG (CH) and Simone TRUONG (CH)], their shared identity as the starting point and from whence the overall name OVERSEAS is derived. But rather than any claims to a particular identity, it is how we go beyond it towards relating to one another that remains the focus of our work.

Since 2008 OVERSEAS has developed as a series of workshops, movement research and video explorations between Zürich and Beijing. Investigations have brought the team into the very heart of the old capital, and since August of this year the initiators and a team of local Chinese artists and performers have lived and worked intensively within a traditional courtyard in the center of Beijing, using this site as workspace, living space and point of inspiration for a series of confrontations and exchanges between daily life and representation, language and meaning, the ordinary and the extraordinary. The result is OVERSEAS, CLOSE BY, a multidisciplinary event combining an evening of food and friends with visual arts and performance.

The gate at Huzhu Xiang No. 8 opens from the 10th of October for a series of exclusive gatherings involving fine dining created by the chefs of Cafe Sambal Group and a visual and theatrical experiment quite different from anything experienced before in Beijing. OVERSEAS invites you to drop into the courtyard and explore its spaces as we have—both as a familiarity and something completely new.

Please check details online for exact schedule and ticket information. Each performance lasts from 19.00-22.00, and due to the nature of the event audiences are asked to remain for the full duration. RSVP required.

-- This project is part of the exchange and cooperation programme “Swiss Chinese Explorations” of Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts council.