The body as an archive of collective memory: in her latest work, influenced by painful personal experiences, the Chinese choreographer, dancer and co-founder of the legendary Living Dance Studio, Wen Hui, contrasts her life as a woman with excerpts from the silent movies and early talkies of Shanghai in the 30s. These marked a radical change, criticising the prevailing Confucian patriarchal system and commenting on social problems, class struggles and gender equality. In her solo, the Chinese choreographer, dancer and co-founder of the legendary Living Dance Studio asks what parts of the emancipation movement have survived. Wen Hui bends the axes of time and asks: what is left of this emancipation movement? Have the battles we thought had been won actually been won at all? Past and present are superimposed, and the physical experiences of women from different generations, audio and video recordings, texts, images and oral narratives are woven together into a multimedia, documentary, performance of remarkable intensity.

This production will be hosted by the PACT Zollverein on behalf of the Ruhrtriennale.