chinatown my chinatown lores (2)
DESCRIPTION
The Sound Agents Mr John Campbell & Ms Kenny produced this newspaper financed by The City of Liverpool as a celebration ofthe success of the Shanghai Expo andrepresents a coming together of artistsand researchers to offer their personalresponses to the oldest ChineseCommunity in Europe.Chinatown My Chinatown was edited,designed and published in Liverpoolby Moira Kenny, John Campbell,Jon Barraclough and Mike Carney.Chinese New Year,Liverpool 2011.TRANSCRIPT
Chinatown My Chinatown
Over a restaurant table somewherein Liverpool 1 Ms Kenny and Mr.Campbell talked of the space theyoccupied, the architecture, theambient sound, the conversations,recalling memories of the Millsbrothers on a juke box way back in time, Chinatown my Chinatownin 2/4 time. Time shifts andthoughts drift towards the streetsand mapping a journey through the moments and snapshots of Chinatown.
Sometime later they meet andretrace each other’s steps. Eachtook a different route crossingbroad themes of community,neighbourhoods, of gentrificationand desolation, seeking out thepenny tray leftovers and the in-betweens. Interested in exploringevery perspective, mapping out a future as The Sound Agents aninvitation is extended to artists and researchers to contribute an impression of Chinatown.
This publication contains reflectionsand observations of memories,dreams lost and found.
This newspaper is a celebration of the success of the Shanghai Expo andrepresents a coming together of artistsand researchers to offer their personalresponses to the oldest ChineseCommunity in Europe.
Chinatown My Chinatown was edited,designed and published in Liverpool by Moira Kenny, John Campbell, Jon Barraclough and Mike Carney.
Chinese New Year, Liverpool 2011.
Space is what we need, room to breathe, call your own...
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Dr Robert MacDonaldChinasquare 1960ish. (2011) 210 x 297mm. Blue pencil, black ink pen on lined writing pad.
Norman KillonFour Eyed Gink outside the Chippie. (2011)Note pad & Family Photo’s. Collage: The Sound Agents.
Philip LoDetached Identity – TMC. (2011)420 x 297mm. Ink on cartridge with digital manipulation.
Richard CreedGhost Story. (2008) 1500 x 1200mm. Oil on canvas.
Jon BarracloughTravel Bug. (2011)250 x 200mm. Pencil and crayon in sketchbook.
Mike O’ShaughnessyThe Importance of Study. (2011)160 x 110mm. Pen / brush / Pentel & ink.
Mike CarneyTake It Away. (2008 to present)Digital photographs.
Quotation from L1 Oral History project. (2005)
“My father came to England in 1908. He wasworking in the laundry. In 1943 when the Japanesecame to our village only about four or five Japanesesoldiers came so we used a gong. We live in a bighouse with my mother and my four brothers. One time I was about eight years old I carried mybrother who was about two to the mountain. My cousin bought me over at the end of the war. I had two years education. When I was sixteen I left school. I did not have a good education at all. I had to send money to my mother and my brother.”
“There was a hostel run by a family called Hebrum oneof the first woman judges. I remember seeing peoplehuddled up. They were very poor. They had their haircovered up as you see them now. All Eastern peopleon their way to America, I was broken-hearted. Theconditions they were living in in the 1920’s. We were a little bit afraid of them but I know now that the smellwas spices.”
Alexandra WolkowiczUntitled. (2011)
John J. CampbellNelson Street Blues. (2011)297 x 210mm. Graphite and ink.
Jagjit ChuhanChinese Red. (2011)Digital image for print or projection.
Will SergeantMiracles are Possible. (2011)841 x 594mm. Silkscreen.
John YoungHouse arrest (for Ai Weiwei). (2011)Collage.
Alun RobertsHappy New Year. (2011)350 x 263mm. Digital.
Moira KennyWIP (Work in Progress). (2005 to present)Audio, graphite, paint.
In L1 there were a number of courtyard houses, a free standing waterpipe in the middle that everybodyshared and the toilets weresomewhere in that ring. The houseswent around it double storey so theywere very high density. Eventuallythey became the breeding groundof cholera. Before that there werealso back to back houses likeDukes Terrace, that was twohouses back to back with no crossventilation vented on one side withno window. They gradually refinedthem. The Bye Law Terracesdesigned on the bye-laws ofLiverpool Authority was the first in the country to design them theidea was to get cross ventilation andto get light in. Kitty Wilkinson,Agnes Jones, Eleanor Rathbone,Florence Nightingale formidablewomen, making huge waves whena womans place was in the homebringing up the kids. Kitty camefrom Ireland and was taking inwashing establishing the secondphase of public health movementfrom the 1840’s.
Quotations from L1 Oral History project. (2005)
“I’m ashamed of Chinatown it’s only half a street”
“Everyone considers this district as Chinatown and it really grates me; it’s L1.”
“Come off it you want to stop moaning. All thechanges in Liverpool One you’ve never had it sogood, it’s safe to walk around here of a night andyour house is lovely.”
“Chinatown sometimes seems stuck in the 70s”
“The Wah Sing started formerly in 1965 on the firstfloor of the Tai Wah Restaurant opposite the ABCCinema In Lime Street. I started the first Chinese classon a table tennis table when all of the Liverpool ChipShops were closed for members to learn the thoughtsof Chairman Mao. Later on members suggested toteach the children. People donated one child each tobe taught Chinese. We would pick them up and takethem home afterwards. We started with eight childrenwe now have over two hundred and sixty! We arededicated to educating the children.”
“It’s that bad here they even hang the ducks! Ifyou had been born years ago the old Chinatownwas the best it used to have on the window ofthe curio shop ‘We do not buy Japenese goods’isn’t it? Do you remember that? Oh aye yeah wehad some good times.”
Jon BarracloughMy piece is a drawing of a plasticant with CHINA debossed on itsabdomen. This is my first sense ofChina from being a short-sightedchild – a word on a plastic, massproduced toy that’s travelled halfway around the world to be in my hand.
I was born in Yorkshire in the 1950sbut now live and work in Liverpool.I studied Fine Art Media at Bradfordand Graphic Design at Newcastlebefore working as a photographerin New York and London in the1980s. Since moving to LiverpoolI’ve done some teaching andworked in various guises as agraphic designer/artist. CurrentlyI’m based at Elevator Studios asJon Barraclough and Companyand share my space with lovely,inspiring people.
www.jonbarraclough.co.uk
John J. CampbellJohn J. Campbell is an artist,musician and co-founder of The Sound Agents whose workencompasses electronicsoundworks, installation and group performance. He haspublished work nationally andinternationally under his own name and various group names for over thirty years including his group Its Immaterial and the French act La Fiancée.
About the contributors
Mike Carney‘Take It Away’ is an ongoingdocumentation of mysterious,abandoned, half eaten chippydinners. In the context of thispublication it is not intended as a derogatory statement aimed atthe Chinese community, it is anobservation of the wastefulness and arrogance of the West.
Mike Carney is a Liverpool baseddesigner and artist. He is a studiomember of The Royal Standardartist collective and curates andpublishes Drawing Paper with Jon Barraclough.
www.mikesstudio.co.ukwww.drawing-paper.tumblr.com
Jagjit Chuhan‘My paintings focus on the humanform in isolation and retaining asense of privacy, suggesting strengthand fragility, pleasure and pain.The digital works use the allure ofcolour and imagery to explore asense of identity; they are designedto be projected or printed up tobill-board size.’
Chuhan’s paintings have beenexhibited in Europe, Asia and UKvenues including Tate Liverpool;Barbican Centre, London; Arnolfini,Bristol and Ikon, Birmingham. Soloexhibition venues include HorizonGallery, London; The Lowry, Salfordand Watermans Arts Centre, London.Her paintings are in collectionsincluding the Arts Council Collection.
Richard Creed“The theme of my paintings is‘paradise lost’ where the materialworld evaporates into a physical or psychological disaster. Ideas of loss and alienation encompassreferences to iconic figures such as the astronaut and Big-foot.”
Creed’s paintings have beenshown at venues including theWalker Art Gallery, Liverpool in theJohn Moores Painting Exhibition;Cornerhouse, Manchester;Pitshanger Manor Gallery, London;Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry; TheLowry, Salford; North-West House,Brussels, Belgium; Orebro Castle,Sweden; Shanghai University,China and Teo Wetterling Gallery,Singapore. His paintings are incollections including the Universityof Liverpool Art Collection.
Michael HeadMichael Head is a musician. He is most famous as the lead singerand songwriter for Shack and thePale Fountains. The New MusicalExpress has described him as ‘a lost genius and among the most gifted British songwriters of his generation’.
www.shacknet.co.uk
Moira KennyArtist / PhD Researcher.Thesis Title: ‘Chinese Whispers: An Audio Visual History of theChinese Elders in Liverpool’.Co-founder: The Sound Agents.Work encompasses Art Direction,Film, Audio, Oral History, Drawing.
www.internationalchinesesoundagency.blogspot.com
www.ming-ai.org.uk/chineseworkforce
Norman ‘The Cat’ KillonCockney by BirthScouser by ChoiceStep Father Chang Pu TsaiDJ since 1963Eric’s since 1970’sContributor to the myth of ProbeWalker Art Gallery 17 years
Philip LoMy first encounter of Chinatown inLiverpool was a palpable awakeningof my familial roots and in particularmy close relationship with mygrandparents.
The dialect and the raw characterof Liverpool’s Chinatown awakenedin me, my childhood memories ofthe times spent with my grandfatherwho will always remain an inspirationin my life.
Like Liverpool, he too, was detachedfrom the motherland but throughhis sheer spiritual perseveranceagainst all odds, he illuminated apath for all of us...
Dr Robert MacDonaldDoctor Robert was born in Liverpoolin 1951. His father was a LiverpoolPrize fighter and his mother workedin Jacobs the cracker factory.Robert went on to become anarchitect with a double first classhonours at The Liverpool School of Architecture.
Mike O’ShaughnessyThere is a small Drawing in the British Museum. Hendrickje Stoffels by Rembrandt van Rijn. The painted marks are spare,exacting and very beautiful. A quintessentially Europeandrawing, the calligraphic brushstrokes appear oriental in influence and origin. Part Chinese and part western. This drawing is my ownobservation. From Hong Kong to Liverpool. The importance of study.
Senior Lecturer in Graphic Arts /Illustration at Liverpool School ofArt & Design / LJMU. Illustrationclients have included VogueMagazine, Penguin Books, Sony,The Royal Mail and V2 for Elbow.
Alun RobertsAlun Roberts was born in Liverpoolin 1983, and studied Fine Art at theCardiff School of Art and Design.He then moved to Bristol, beforecoming full circle and returning toLiverpool. He is a foundingmember of the MassEye ArtCollective, which has exhibitedthroughout the UK at private venuesand various festivals. He is also amember of Osun Arts and the SolarArts Project, both of which arebased in Liverpool.
Will Sergeant Will Sergeant is best known for hiswork as songwriter and guitaristwith Echo & The Bunnymen withwhom he has recorded andperformed world-wide for thirtyyears. He also has long-term tieswith the experimental side of life in the fields of performance,recording and the visual arts. He has produced solo andcollaborative works since the 1980s.
www.willsergeant.com
Alexandra WolkowiczIt is believed that the ritual burningof spirit money transforms it intoreal currency in the other world.
Alexandra Wolkowicz is a Polish /German photographer and artistcurrently resident in Liverpool UK.Her work explores themes aboutour relationship with the world andhow we share it with each otherand other living things. Essentiallytactile and documentary, her work springs from her experiencewith photography, performance, theatre and the creation of uniquerepresentations of places, thingsand histories.
www.wolkowicz.com
John Young“The guilty pleasures of idealisedMaoist propaganda collide withgestures of artistic solidarity – thisis my Chinatown.”
John Young works across severaldisciplines particularly GraphicDesign, and the sonic and visualarts. His projects have taken him toTokyo, Barcelona and Long Island.He currently is the pathway leaderfor the Visual Communicationspathway of the Graphic Artscourse at Liverpool School of Art and Design.
Art & Design AcademyDuckinfield StreetOff Brownlow HillLiverpoolL3 5YD
T. 0151 904 1216
What does Chinatown mean to you?
What memories do you have? It may be a fleeting journey past the arch on the way into town, architectural interest, itmay mean nothing to you, in that case whyis that? You may have strong links throughfamily or friends.
Please get in touch and share yourthoughts and experiences.
Design: Mike Carney and Jon Barraclough.
All artworks copyright © The Artists.Published in February 2011.
www.mikesstudio.co.ukwww.jonbarraclough.co.uk
This project is financially supportedby the City of Liverpool to celebratethe success of the Shanghai Expo.
Thanks to everyone who hascontributed to this publication in all their varying ways.Bill Harpe, Black-E.Dr Angie Thew.Martin Downie, Director, Art & Design Academy, LJMU.All of the pupils at Wah SingChinese School, Duke Street for the rabbit drawings.Master C. K. Cheung for thecalligraphy titles.
Wah Sing Chinese School www.liverpoolwahsing.org
Thankyou to everyone who tookpart in the L1 Oral History project in 2005.
Quotes taken from audio recordingsof Michael Swerdlow, Lilly Clarke,Maureen, Patsy and Nancy, Georgeand Johnny, and other members ofthe community.
Public Realm / Health quotes takenfrom interviews with Professor John Ashton, the North WestRegional Director of Public Healthand Regional Medical Officer and Dr Robert MacDonald
Black and White Drawings basedon original photographs sourcedfrom the local Chinese CommunityReference source, copyrightunknown: courtesy of NationalMuseums Liverpool (MerseysideMaritime Museum)
Paintings include participants,Nancy and Patsy, George andJohnny, Maureen, Jimi and anunknown friend, June and George.RIP Johnny and Nancy.
Seel Street / Slater StreetPhotographic Image Designed byMoira Kenny Funded by LiverpoolCulture Company, supported by Frenson. 2007.
Michael HeadChinatown. (2011)
My earliest memories of Chinatown would have to bewhen I was about six. My dad and his mates comingback to the house on a Saturday night. “Where’ve youbeen?” I’d say and a chorus of drunken verse wouldshout back in unison “Chinatown”. Wow, I’d think,evoking magical thoughts of this place that soundedthousands of miles away.
A few years later I went for my first meal with my dad andhis mate and my brother John. “Where are we goin’?”I asked, “Chinatown”, still sang in unison.Wow, I thought,at last. We went to a restaurant about two down fromthe Mabo, but the excitement soon turned to horror. My dad and his mate, two aging teddyboys feeding theexotic fish in the tank next to us bits of their banquet for two, me and my brother open mouthed, not knowingwhether to laugh or grass them up. A memorable meal to say the least.
Years later I had the pleasure and privilege to meet BertHardy, the famous war photographer who worked forPicture Post in the 40’s and 50’s. He was working on aproject for the magazine about inner cities and came toChinatown. His photographs of the area are legendary.He told me for some reason the locals took to him beingan Eastend cockney and having a down to earthpersonality, he was allowed access into the mythicalopium dens, brothels and gambling sessions and tooksome amazing shots. My daughter Alice went to schoolin Chinatown, so dropping her off or picking her up, I gotto know the area quite well. Being an inquisitive little soand so as me Ma used to call me, I got books on the areato see what it was like a hundred years ago.
With the stories pictures and tales in the books I wasn’tfar off as a six year old growing up thousands of milesaway in Everton imagining this magical romantic almostmythical place called Chinatown.
Anyway, I could have written about the history of theplace like when it was formed or the famous peoplewho have visited, but you can go on line for that.
Love Mick. Photograph: Jon BarracloughModel: Alexandra Wolkowicz
The Sound Agents is an artist lednot for profit arts organisationfounded by Mr John J Campbell and Ms Moira Kenny in 2010.Working with the Chinesecommunity, L1 residents andbusiness sector to highlight andencourage international research,collaborations and development within Chinatowns in London, Paris,New York and San Francisco.
The Sound Work in The Black-EDome was recorded, developed and produced by Mr Campbell and Ms Kenny using archived audio material of residents ofChinatown and present dayrecordings, ambient sound ofshipping, Chinatown sounds and morse code. Sedan Chair and Unicorn on loan from Mr Colin Wan, Founder of the UK Chinese Unicorn Academy.
www.internationalchinesesoundagency.blogspot.com