Art beat in August

About ex-lovers

[Photo/China Daily]

Inspired by a recent online discussion in which micro blog users complained about their ex-boyfriends and girlfriends, scriptwriter Yao Yi and director Yan Yongqi developed a theater production called Ex, which will be staged in Beijing. The drama is composed of several stories including a happy man who commits suicide and a professional mortician who goes crazy. The characters are each connected by their ex-lovers. Pioneering indie musician Zuoxiao Zuzhou composed the music for the drama.

7:30 pm, Aug 1-4. Dayin Theater, 5F, Building C, The Place, Ganghualu,

Chaoyang district, Beijing. 400-610-3721.

Art perspective

Contemporary artist Yuan Gong will talk about his installation project I Don't Know. The work was on display as part of the exhibition Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Money from May 25-July 28. Yuan will share with audiences his understanding of contemporary art, its spread and negative effects.

2 pm, Aug 3. Chi K11 Art Space, B3, K11 Art Mall, 300 Huaihai Road M,

Shanghai. 0135-0110-5990.

[Photo/China Daily]

Festival of harmony

The annual August Choir Festival presented by National Center for the Performing Arts from Aug 2 to 10 will feature six choruses from Spain, Austria, Britain and China. The NCPA Choir will kick off the festival, singing popular Chinese folk songs. The Salzburg Folk Song Choir will perform in their exotic costumes.

7:30 pm, Aug 2-10. National Center for the Performing Arts, West of Tian'anmen square, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.

NCPA celebrates Britten's birthday

[Photo/China Daily]

The National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra will give a concert to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Britten's birth. The English composer, conductor and pianist (1913-1976) was an important figure in 20th-century British classical music. He wrote a wide range of opera, orchestral and chamber music. NCPA's concert will feature two of Britten's works: Russian Funeral (1936) and Suite from his last opera Death in Venice (1970). The performance will be the Chinesepremiereof both works. Zhang Guoyong, music director of Shanghai Opera, will take the baton.

7:30 pm, Aug 3. West of Tian'anmen Square, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010- 6655-0000.

Best of show

Beijing Concert Hall is throwing together the best of the city's crosstalk shows, magic performances, traditional operas and music. It will present performances of sanxian - a plucked three-string instrument - and xihedagu, a drumming sing-along tongue-twister native to Hebei.

7:30 pm, Aug 3. Beijing Concert Hall, 1 Beixinhua Street, Xicheng district. 010-6605-7006.

Commemoration concert

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Benjamin Britten's birth, the National Center for PerformingArts is staging a concert that depicts the composer's funeral and death in a Venice suite. The Shanghai Opera House's Zhang Guoyang will conduct the orchestra.

7:30 pm, Aug 3. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district. 010-6655-0000.

Soda pop

Taiwan pop group Soda Green will soon give its first large-scale outdoor stadium concert. Soda Green is known for leading vocalist and songwriter Wu Tsing-fong's vast vocal range. The lineup hasn't changed since the outfit was founded in 2001 - there's Liu Jia-kai on electric guitar, Huo Jing-yang on acoustic guitar, Gong Yu-chi on keyboard, Hsieh Hsin-Yi on bass and Shih Chun-wei on drums.

7:30 pm, Aug 3. Hongkou Football Stadium, 444 Jiangwan East Road. 021-6217-2426.

Girl power

Women Empowering Women is a dialogue series chaired by Shero consultancy founder Christine Liu. The dialogue gathers successful professional women to talk with audiences about their careers, lives and ideas once every month. The upcoming session will feature Zhou Jing, a reporter-turned-entrepreneur based in Shanghai. She will speak about "possibilities for happiness".

3:30 pm, Aug 3. Forterra Connections, 2F, Central Plaza, 227 Huangpi North Road. www.sherochina.com.

Talk on HK writers

Chan Koon-chung, Writer of the Year at Hong Kong Book Fair 2013, will share his insights on Chinese writing in Hong Kong at a public lecture this Sunday at Fangsuo Commune in Guangzhou. Hong Kong authors writing kung fu stories, such as Louis Cha Leung-yung, were hugely popular in the Chinese mainland last century. Hong Kong writers are still popular today, with diverse works such as Amy Cheung Siu-han's analysis of relationships and Leung Man-tao's commentary on current affairs still grabbing readers. Chan will try to decode the success of Hong Kong writers in the Chinese mainland.

3 pm-5 pm, Aug 4. Fangsuo Commune, TaiKoo Hui Shopping Mall, 383 Tianhe Road, Tianhe district, Guangzhou.

020-3868-2327.

Donated artworks

A donation of 117 Western artworks from German collectors Irene and Peter Ludwig in 1996 is one of the most important contributions that the National Art Museum of China has received. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the museum displays a selection of 50 modern art pieces from the donation, which includes paintings, sculptures and installation of such artists as Roy Lichtenstein, Gerhard Richter and David Hockney. "When Ludwig visited China to discuss a donation, he was at first not very sure. I assured him that one-quarter of the world's population will support and remember him for his generosity," says Yang Lizhou, then the museum's deputy director.

9 am-5 pm, no entrance after 4 pm, until Aug 4. National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010- 6400-1476.

Easy narrative

[Photo/China Daily]

Taiwan's best storyteller's new production is a 25-minute film that explores a middle-aged man's longings. The subject could be complicated, but director Wu Nien-jen (pictured below) is known for explaining complexity in an effortless narrative.

In the short film A New Year, the Same Days, Wu focuses on the sitting room of an ordinary Taiwan family. He presents the gains and pains of a middle-aged man, who tries to re-organize his routine life after attending a friend's funeral. Sharp dialogue and seasoned Taiwan actors like Lo Pei-an and Lin Mei-shiu lead to a humorous twist at the end.

Wu, also a renowned novelist and scriptwriter, worked with Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang frequently as writer and actor to create Taiwan New Cinema, which has produced milestones, such as A City of Sadness and Yi Yi: A One and a Two. The new film is available on Youku.com.

Sichuan reality from master artist

[Photo/China Daily]

The National Art Museum of China is presenting a solo exhibition of Chinese artist Pang Maokun. Pang, deputy director of Sichuan Art Institute, is an artist who has persisted in realistic art language. The 50-year-old demonstrates life scenes with a paintingstylethat is realistic yet keeps a distance from reality, without criticizing or flattering. The exhibition features more than 50 of Pang's oil paintings and hand crafts, which mostly are his latest works.

9 am-5 pm, until Aug 5. Hall 2 and 4, National Art Museum of China, 1 Wusi Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.

Peony Pavilion to be staged in Beijing

[Photo/China Daily]

The Northern Kunqu Opera Theater is reviving the famous Kunqu Opera Peony Pavilion. Written by Tang Xianzu (1550-1616), the opera tells the story of a secret love affair between the young scholar Liu Mengmei and Du Liniang, daughter of a high-ranking official. The 600-year-old opera originated in East China's Jiangsu province, and was listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2001. Shao Zheng plays Liu while Wang Linlin sings Du.

7:30 pm, Aug 7. Forbidden City Concert Hall, inside Zhongshan Park, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6559-8285.