MA KE: WuYong at V&A

May 2nd, 2008

What could be more exciting than our friend’s astonishing achievement of their first collaboration project which have received Orizzonti Documentary Prize in the 64th Venice Film Festival and have thier lovely visit to London (and Paris again!) in May? Ke-Ke: One of the most prolific Chinese fashion designer Ma Ke, and the sixth generation Chinese film director Jia Zhang Ke, winner of  Golden Lion Award 2006 in the 63rd Venice Film Festival, has finally landed on the London cultural scene (Jia’s award winning documentary, WuYong (Useless), was shown last year end at the ICA, unfortunately short-lived and under-publicized). Constant Stream at the Royal College of Art on 10 May and Next Fashion in Motion on  16 May at the V&A are 2 unique exhibitions that you cannot miss.

Ma Ke’s interest in the crossover between cotemporary art and fashion led her to establish the artistic brand WuYong (Useless) in 2006. WuYong is an examination of the concept of “uselessness” and how such interpretation varies when seen from different point of view. In Feburary 2007, WuYong was presented at Paris Fashion Week, catwalk in a secondary school hall for the first time and the concept received much attention within both art and fashion circles. At Next Fashion in Motion, Ma Ke will recreate the essence of the catwalk demonstrated in Paris last year in a smaller venue at the V&A yet with much profound impact to the audience.

During the establishment of WuYong since 2006, Jia was invited by Ma to follow and document the process from beginning to launch in Paris  in 2007. In this documentary, WuYong (Useless), Jia’s cinematography speaks to a vision of “authentic” Chinese life, somehow link to interweaving themes of traditional value and ordinary objects, alienation and disorientation with narrative in favour of a more nuanced style. Useless willl be re-edited and shown at Constant Stream together with his latest project in its entirety, City of Expiration and Regeneration - a 25 mins short film about the impact of regeneration of three cities in China. A public screening of WuYong (Useless) will be held at the V&A on 18 May.

 

WuYong - Next Fashion in Motion, V&A

16th May, 14:00,17:00 and 20:00

WuYong (Useless) movie screening

18th May (time TBC)

Above:

Image Courtesy Mixmind Photographer: Zhou Mi

Image below:

WuYong catwalk at Paris Fashion Week 2007