Bridging the Gaps: mixed reality performance of Chinese Opera in Shanghai's rural and urban heritage sites

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Bridging the Gaps will focus on new and innovative performances of Chinese Opera, a form of popular culture traditionally relating to rural communities, as a case study to establish new China-UK partnerships and projects. Xi Jinpings' Presidency has from 2014 placed increasing emphasis on balancing rural-urban social economic development and positioned traditional Chinese art forms, including Chinese Opera, as the anchor of China's creative and cultural industries. Yet disconnections between rural and urban communities and their respective creative practices and economies persist and have held these developments back. Shanghai is separated into Pudong and Puxi: the former encompassing underdeveloped rural countryside; the latter occupying affluent financial quarters built by British, French, and other foreign Concessions. Shanghai has also been the focus of investments intended to overcome these rural-urban divisions; including the launch of a £100million traditional Chinese Opera Village in rural Pudong and the £2million redevelopment of an 1860 Anglican chapel heritage site into an immersive theatre in Puxi, on the Bund. Yet these attractions have struggled to attract visitors during their test openings. This project will bring China and UK partners into collaboration to consider the potential of mixed reality performances of Chinese Opera to connect rural and urban audiences and these heritage sites with each other, while also appealing to new national and international audiences. Project investigators and participants will bring complementary expertise in UK and China creative industries, traditional and contemporary performance, and new technologies, together with a shared focus on site-specific, community-based and audience-centred innovative work.