#ConnectedByCreativity brings together theatres, galleries, museums, artists and educators from the UK and China for the first time in an online festival run by the British Council.
The festival organised by the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for education and culture, in partnership with the UK’s Department for International Trade and Chengdu Foreign Affairs Office, will see over 75 cultural performances and projects staged online throughout October, with support from VisitBritain, VisitScotland, the British Embassy in China and Chinese Visual Festival.
Kicking off in the UK on 1 October, the festival focuses on promoting in the UK the work of Chinese artists and institutions over the Mid-Autumn Festival. Since 9 October, this will be followed by a programme of online performances and talks from the UK in China.
The festival will include showcases and projects relating to trending social topics such as Creative Industries response to the pandemic, sustainability and climate change, inclusion and diversity.
Highlights from the festival include:
- The Making of Samsara, Aakash Odedra Company, theatre and dance, England
- Three works from Barrowland Ballet, theatre and dance, Scotland
- Tate programme featuring four exhibitions in Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives visual arts, England
- Bernando Evaristo Talk at Hay Literature Festival, 2019 Booker Prize winner
- Chinese Artist Peng Wei in conversation with Curator Michael Guo
- Crafting Futures Chengdu – textile designer Odette Steele & Shu Embroidery
- Art of Troubles Ulster Museum, visual arts, Northern Ireland
- Wales in Venice, contemporary visual arts, Wales
- Uncertain Kingdom, a selected screening of films made by mostly female filmmakers, British Council Collection, film from various locations
- BBC Culture in Quarantine series including Swan Lake performed in bathtubs