July 16, 2023
7:00pm doors / 7:30pm show
Tickets $15 (discounted or free for members)
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Wu 吴 is the name of the region and the people expressed by the Chinese character that positions “mouth” 口 on top of “the sky” 天. Sourcing from the local dialect of Wu Yu 吴语—a sound that has a history of a thousand years—the storytelling practice of Pingtan 评弹 (“crit and flick”)—a language art form that has become emblematic of the region’s cultural identity—and the repertoire of Guan Wang 关亡 (“greeting the dead”), Some Historical Whisper is a unique experience that incorporates multiple forms of performance, sound, and movement. Through this set, mainland China–born and Oakland-based artist Jasmine Zhang explores the idea of meaning and interpretation and the concept of language evolving through time to the break of postmodern civilized sophistication. A pamphlet will be available at the door that provides access to the formulas and secrecies behind the Wu dialect and Chinese language.

Jasmine Zhang 张梦娇, born in 1996 in Suzhou, China, is a multidisciplinary artist who resides in Oakland, Ohlone Land, California. Encouraged to experiment outside a formal visual access, she is experienced with reframing the dimensions of art forms and media, discovering myriad possible executions of language, performance, sound, and installation—in short, her work is mostly time based, and certainly “language” based. Zhang received an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 2020 and is an adjunct teacher at California College of the Arts. Her works have been exhibited in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Milan, Ningbo, Chengdu, Suzhou, and elsewhere.

Lead Artist: Jasmine Zhang
Performers: Jane Contis, Liz Boubion, Inin 
Costume Design: Mariana “M”at North Beach
Instruments: Mauricio Aguilar
Audio Design: Connor Tomaka