𝚀𝚒𝚡𝚒 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜
— 𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜

+ performative workshop
+”Qixi weaving tales”  is a collaborative work inspired by the traditional Chinese Qixi Festival (Tanabata in Japanese), developed this summer on the rooftop of Het Nieuwe Instituut. During a performative workshop of storytelling, weaving and writing, we involved the audience in co-creating a woven pattern using various strings and wrote together our wishes for the future.

Qixi Festival is a celebration of the annual reunion of two lovers on a bridge made by magpies over the Milkyway. One is a very skilled heavenly weaver fairy, the other a young man who has lived a tragic life. Their love was forbidden and is jeopardised by the heavenly queen who drew the Milkyway especially to keep them separate. Once a year they reunite.

The birds, moved by their unshakable faith, make a bridge across the sky for the two lovers to finally come together. This festival is widely celebrated in east Asia, as the original story is inspired by two stars across the Milkyway: Altair (α Aquilae) and Vega (α Lyrae) which are prominent in the summer night sky of the Northern hemisphere. Ancient Chinese people translated this starry observation into earthly stories and conduct, bringing the cosmic activities in intimate connection with earthly affairs. In addition to the celebration of love, this festival also celebrates many crafts one of which is the skill of weaving. As our hands weave the fabric that covers our skins, we weave starry existences into stories that carry our dreams 

+ collaboration: June Yu
+ presented: 07.08 Het Podium I Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam 2022
+ photo: Werner van der Zwan