Sonic Diary: A Chinese Musician's Exploration of South Asia

A Talk and Presentation of Excerpts from Dadawa's (朱哲琴) new Film, "Sound Pilgrimage"

Date: March 28th, 7:00 PM
Venue: Asian Centre Auditorium, 1871 West Mall, Univesity of British Columbia

Synopsis:

In "Sound Pilgrimage", Chinese World Music Diva, Dadawa, and her co-Director, Oscar Winner Ross Kauffman, document Dadawa's 2006 musical voyages through South Asia and the Himalayas in search of the musical traditions so intertwined with each other and the rest of the world. On the way she encounters the solemn prayers of Islam in Kasmir, the cacophony of Old Delhi, the singing and dancing of itinerant Gypsy minstrels, and the folksongs of the Ganges and Himalayan regions. Dadawa delves into the three great religions of the Sub-Continent; Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism drawing a vivid sound map. Covering a brief 30 days, in cinema verite fashion, Kauffman uses his lens simply and genuinely to document Dadawa's natural and unique sonic diary, a counterpoint to her recent musical album, "Seven Days".

Biography:

Dadawa (aka Zhu Zheqin, 朱哲琴) is the first contemporary Chinese diva to achieve worldwide stardom. Dadawa is a native of Changsha, Hunan. She has traveled China and the world extensively as both a musician and adventurer. She is considered to be the pioneer 'indie' artist in China, having independently produced her music, videos and films for over a decade. Her recordings have won a host of awards including Taiwan's prestigious Golden Tripod Music 'Best Album' Award for her 1995 critically acclaimed "Sister Drum" and "Best Movie Soundtrack" at the Venice Film Festival for her soundtrack for the movie "Chinese Box". In December 2000, Dadawa performed her concert, 'Heavenly Music for Sentient Beings' in Beijing, which was selected by UNESCO as the opening cultural event of the International Year for Culture and Peace. In January 2002, the Hong Kong Government invited Dadawa to write, produce and perform her original multimedia musical spectacle, 'The Riddler'. Most recently, Dadawa completed a collection of completely new contemporary works in the album, 'Seven Days' and finished work on her related and first documentary film project, 'Sound Pilgrimage', in collaboration with Oscar winner, Ross Kauffman. 'Seven Days' became a top-ten CD in China in 2006, a remarkable accomplishment for an alternative music album in that market. Her work on this ground breaking CD was recognized in 2006 by an MTV Asia award for 'Leading Female Artist' and the Tom.com award for 'Most Influential Woman in Chinese Music'. Dadawa is also a nominee for the prestigious BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music. She is currently a visiting Artist in Residence at the Institute for Asian Research, at the University of British Columbia.

For more information in English please see:
www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/a4wm2007/2007_dadawa.shtml

In Chinese:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/zhuzheqin

Her most recent music video can be found here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8iikrlxJWw

Proudly presented by the Centre for Chinese Research at the Institute of Asian Research and the Department of Asian Studies, UBC