2023-05-01 15:57:50
CHARLA CON LA ARTISTA Y ACTIVISTA XIROU XIAO
Mary Good
Mary Good. Give us a few brief brushstrokes of who you are and what you do. How did you get into the world of art?
Xirou Xiao. I was born in China, I came to Spain in 2013, I have been living in Spain for 10 years based in Madrid. Mainly I work as an artist, educator and researcher, I am also an artistic and intercultural performer, producer and mediator. I am the creator and director of the Compañía de Performance Cangrejo Pro. Crab Project (CPCP.); the co-founder of the Association Liwai Intercultural Action; coordinating member of the Chinese Diaspora Network in Spain and the motor group of young artists of Chinese origin in Madrid. I studied Fine Arts in Guangzhou (China), since 2010 I approached the world of performance, and then I came to Spain to study the Master in Art Education in Social and Cultural Institutions at UCM (Madrid), and this year I am finishing my doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Fine Arts at UCM. But since I was little I already liked to paint and dance.
Mary Good. Can you tell us about your interests and how you link them in relation to your artistic practice?
Xirou Xiao. All my artistic and educational practices are closely related to my own process of personal and professional growth. It is the way of relating to the world, it is my practices of values, desires, emotions and bonds. It is my way of living and being.
Mary Good. Among the projects you have carried out, which have been important and decisive?
Xirou Xiao. I do not want to see this question for the separate elements, that is, all the paths I have walked are important to guide me to where, how and with whom I am… All the experiences I have lived, the decisions I have made, the forgotten memories, are important and decisive for me, they are unique landscapes…
Mary Good. What kind of projects or proposals would you say yes to without blinking?
Xirou Xiao. ????
Mary Good. Does your line of work establish a connection with your own identity, with who you are? If so, do you think art is transformative?
Xirou Xiao. Yes, art for me is like a tool, it helps me for (self)discovery, and it has the power to transform and generate hope, individually and collectively.
Maria Good. Tell us about Cangrejo Pro and your recent collective performance “Vamos al chino”.
Xirou Xiao. Cangrejo Pro is the first and the only stage creation project in Spain formed exclusively by a group of young Chinese women in Madrid since 2018. What does it mean (not) to be a young-Chinese-woman in Spain? How do we open this process of identity discovery through collective performance? We resorted to the creation of collective performances as a practice to build a Chinese “sub-community” from within; it is a grouping and sharing process in which we develop collective identities with roots and many roots, which gain strength and grow.
We have created the piece “Vamos al chino” collectively since 2022, during that year, we were presenting it in several cities in Spain: Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Valencia. After a tour, so far we have returned to Madrid again, we are going to do it in June 2023 in Madrid. The collective performance “Vamos al chino” reflects on the concerns about the security of the Chinese community that manages stores in Madrid, especially bazaars and food stores. It is a reality of our community that remains silenced in Spanish society. Through this creation we convey this message. Our intention is for this piece to continue fermenting, generating movement and social resonance in order to show this reality and contribute to improving the situation. Much of the creative and expressive content is based on our own experiences as part of that same Chinese community. The rehearsal process has had proportional ups and downs as it means launching ourselves into the void and constantly exploring our own limits and borders.
Mary Good. Thanks to working as an artist in individual and collective projects, accompanying us in reflection and action, could we say that it is positive for you to share, learn and grow collectively?
Xirou Xiao. Completely. It is where my interest and my belief are. All my actions are revolving around this, creating a platform, creating a creative community with its own identity, creating links, creating a “being together”.
Mary Good. References… Two artist creators.
Xirou Xiao. Chun Hua Catherine Dong Dong Chunhua, Zhang Huan Zhang Huan.
Mary Good. A collective and artistic proposal.
Xirou Xiao. Sad Asian Girls.
Mary Good. An event that has marked you.
Xirou Xiao. Women, Women I Meeting of the Chinese Diaspora in Spain in 2019:
https://www.mataderomadrid.org/programacion/women-women-women-women
Mary Good. A curator, cultural space and artistic trend.
Xirou Xiao. Partnership and the Afro Space.
Mary Good. A song.
Xirou Xiao. “Something with you” by Rita Payés (because she is very pretty and right now I am listening to her, while I am answering this question in the interview).
Mary Good. What clichés, idealizations and stereotypes do you think we fall into when we advocate for diversity and inclusion that, deep down, does not materialize? How can we disable them?
Xirou Xiao. Diversity is not bringing together racialized bodies and that’s it. Really know and value the processes necessary to work in non-mixed groups, know that community processes are slow, require different phases. Get the symbolic and real power in the system.
Mary Good. What connects us creative people in the Spanish artistic context? What do you think makes it easier for us to come together and come together?
Xirou Xiao. Precariousness connects us. Between reality and passion, between hate and love, between disappointment and hope, they bring us closer and unite us.
Mary Good. What strategies do you think allow us to alleviate the needs and difficulties in this current context?
Xirou Xiao. Create and share networks, humility, honesty, the desire to really love the differences, the desire to be together.
Maria Good. Can you tell us something about your upcoming projects?
Xirou Xiao. We are in the phase of change. This year we continue working on the performance piece let’s go to chineseEvery time we do it, we update our desire and relationship about this piece at this moment in our life. And then we are investigating the possibility of further materializing our creation, for example, we no longer feel satisfied just performing the live performance, we want our creation and power to transmit beyond the performance, for example, with the idea of doing a photobook, playing from our performative languages etc.
For more information:
www.liwai.org
www.xiaoxirou.com
#CHARLA #CON #ARTISTA #ACTIVISTA #XIROU #XIAO