Category — United Kingdom

Mathmos, inventors of the legendary Lava lamp, have just launch their first foray into the art toy market with Chuppi – an interactive child’s night light and/or a collectable art toy for adults! Disclaimer – we were kindly sent a Chuppi to check out but we liked it enough to post about it.

You can find out all the basic details on the Chuppi page at the Mathmos site, but we liked the Chuppi for a number of reasons.

The first is that because you can customise it, we could make him/her(?) “ours” as soon as it was out of the box. A bit of stickering never goes amiss! The face feature stickers aren’t too sticky either, so they can be rearranged and of course, taken off so that other stickers can be used.

You get quite a few stickers so we can easily see them being used to change Chuppi’s expression over it’s lifetime – say a couple of years or more? The downside to them is that they go onto a round surface so some of them peel off at the edges.

The next reason we liked Chuppi is that because it’s rechargeable, we can stick it on the charger during the day and then take it off and place where we want (wireless) through the night. The power lasts 6 hours, so it’s generally enough for a night before the morning light peeks over the horizon.
Finally, if we do get bored of Chuppi, we can then bung it into our toddler’s room. The light colour changes are bound to keep her occupied for a bit.

Check out Chuppi on the Mathmos site!

Technorati Tags: art toy, Chuppi, designer toys, lava lamp, Mathmos, toys, United Kingdom

Ok, so you’re not dropping £300 (+ VAT!) for a print by an artist you may not have heard of but looking at the resale value of art nowadays, you might be wise to switch your financial interests (if you have any!).

Eyestorm’s publication of Jacky Tsai‘s Flying Tiger is the piece we’ve been drawn to recently. It’s an East-West montage combining traditional China with western icons, and complete with clichés galore. But the title and perhaps substance of the piece comes with imagery of a plane – the ‘Flying Tigers‘ were a World War II unit of the Chinese Air Force formed of US Army pilots, set up to defend China against Japan.

East-West gets serious but ultimately, perhaps if you’re inclined to invest in art, we’ve read that you should really only buy pieces you like the look of and this is pushes our buttons.

Jacky Tsai – Flying Tiger on Eyestorm

Technorati Tags: art, China, Eyestorm, Flying Tiger, Jacky Tsai, United Kingdom

Comedy ‘Fortune Cookies‘ is the first film from new British Chinese writer/director Brenda Lee to be shot in the Midlands and London in 2012. Les Dennis stars and you can see a promo clip of him below “losing the plot”.


Family vs Ambition. Love vs Duty. Chekhov vs Chicken Feet?!
Set to star Elaine Tan (CSI), David Yip (Chinese Detective), Pik Sen Lim (Dr Who), Meline Danielewicz (The Tempest), David Tse (Spooks) and Ozzie Yue (Father Ted) amongst others.

Will Susan Lee forfeit her dream stage debut to save the family Chinese takeaway from repossession by appearing alongside her tradition yet extrememly embarrassing family on Les Dennis’ TV game show ‘Fame To Fortune’?

Watch an interview with our director and find out more about the educational element of the film – working with young people to provide them with a Learning, Literacy and Livelihoods workshop programme – at www.sponsume.com/project/fortune-cookies-feature-film.

More on the website www.fortunecookiesmovie.co.uk.

Technorati Tags: Brenda Lee, British Chinese, David Tse, David Yip, Elaine Tan, film, Fortune Cookies, Meline Danielewicz, Pik Sen Lim, Ozzie Yue, United Kingdom

We’ve just seen Li-Chu Wu‘s pretty amazing paper jewellery that she makes by also mixing in silver with metalsmithing techniques and new technologies. She uses multiple layers to create subtle movement and tactile qualities.

See more on LiChuWu.co.uk

Via

Technorati Tags: crafts, jewellery, Li-Chu Wu, Paper jewellery

Lumenis Theatre Company in association with Southwark Playhouse presents a double bill:

Magical Chairs by Mary Mazzilli and There’s Only One Wayne Lee by Roy Williams
Directed by Jonathan Man
30th August to 3rd September 2011

Photo by Elaine Wong


CELEBRATING YOUTH and BRITISH CHINESE CULTURE

A double bill of plays open at Southwark Playhouse for a one-week run on 
30 August 2011 before playing at the Beijing International Fringe Festival

Magical Chairs is an entertainingly absurd short play. Two young lads grappling with growing up and our societal attitudes to youth become two trapped Magicians trying to escape a room filled with chairs. By playing with storytelling the audience is brought to look at universal truths and the consequences of our preconceptions and choices on our youth of today.

By casting British actors of Chinese and African Caribbean descent, Lumenis aims to allude to the global clashes between East and West, old world and new world, head and heart, in a way to deeply appeal and engage with the diverse audiences of London.

There’s Only One Wayne Lee is a unique coming of age tale. Wayne, a bookish British Chinese teen unexpectedly befriends Carl, the British African Caribbean school football captain. Set in 1970s Britain, where intolerance was brazen and rife, this is a fresh exploration of what it means to try to fit in and thrive in contemporary Britain, and the hitherto unseen parallels and divergences between the different diaspora communities.

After opening at Southwark Playhouse, this double bill Magical Chairs and There’s Only One Wayne Lee will go on to play at the Beijing International Fringe Festival in September 2011. Representing the UK this will be the first ever British production to be presented at this pioneering festival.

Lumenis Theatre

Southwark Playhouse

There’s Only One Wayne Lee and Magical Chairs on Facebook

Technorati Tags: London, Magical Chairs, Mary Mazzilli, Jonathan Man, Roy Williams, Theatre, There’s Only One Wayne Lee, United Kingdom

If you’re in London later this week, be sure to check out some of the films showing at the annual Terracotta Festival – now in it’s 3rd year, presenting a choice of hand-picked films from the far east. Check out the festival trailer below:

The line up is an impressive list of mostly UK or European premiere titles so catch them when you can! Our picks: the opening film The Lost Bladesman (Donnie Yen), Choy Lee Fut (Sammo Hung) and Gallants.

More on www.TerracottaFestival.com

The 3rd ANNUAL TERRACOTTA FESTIVAL
14 films selected to represent the best in current Asian Cinema
5th – 8th May 2011
Prince Charles Cinema, London
Tickets on sale now via Prince Charles Cinema website (or by phone or in person at Prince Charles Cinema).

Ticket prices are as follows:
Ticket prices £8.50 or (£7.50 for PCC Members)
Festival Pass: £70 (£58 for PCC Members) access all films with reserved seating

Technorati Tags: film, Film Festival, martial arts, Terracotta Festival

Someone cut scenes from Bruce Lee films to create the visual accompaniment to the track ‘Low On The Treble‘ by the UK London based producer Eric Lau. If you haven’t heard of him, check out his site – he’s worked with a wide range of international artists…

Eric Lau Music
Eric Lau on Visible Chinese

Watch the fantastic video below…

Technorati Tags: Bruce Lee, Eric Lau, music video, Low On The Treble

For any aspiring writers or directors from the UK’s East and Southeast Asian disaspora, this is for you…

CINEAST is a digital short film programme produced by BBC Writersroom and B3 Media, which aims to support, develop and produce short films from the next wave of emerging writing, directing and acting talent from the UK’s East and Southeast Asian* diaspora. CINEAST will produce up to 4 digital shorts which will also form part of an industry showcase in October 2011.

Technorati Tags: Cineast, film, opportunity, United Kingdom

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The FCO recently launched a short video with UK television chef and entrepreneur Ching He Huang talking about Chinese cookery, business and her views of the UK.

The video is part of the See Britain campaign which is designed to showcase the best of modern Britain in the run up to the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Individuals featured are seen as ‘ credible witnesses,’ people from overseas with strong links to the UK talking about their experiences of modern Britain.

Technorati Tags: Ching He Huang, cuisine, FCO, United Kingdom

We’re happy to announce that OneInchPunch friends Liz Liew and Andy Leung have been commissioned by Chinatown Arts Space as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the London 2012 Olympics.

Andy Leung and Liz Liew will compose and perform XXXY, a musical tug-of-war reflecting contrasting themes of multicultural London: male vs female, traditional vs experimental, young vs young-at-heart, British culture vs world culture, lo-fi vs hi-fi: XX vs XY.

Read more here

www.newmusic20x12.org

Technorati Tags: Andy Leung, Chinatown Arts Space, Cultural Olympiad, Liz Liew, London Olympics, London 2012 Olympics