Kering announces the 3rd edition of Women In Motion at West Bund initiative, in partnership with the West Bund Museum, celebrating women’s creativity in choreography

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, Kering officially launched the 3rd Women In Motion at West Bund initiative, held in partnership with the West Bund Museum. The focus of this year’s festival will return to “body” itself.  Under the theme “Body Matters”, Kering invites three Chinese and French choreographers with original vocabulary in body exploration to bring out the creative potential of women choreographers while also promoting artistic exchanges between the two countries.

The festival will take place from September 21 to 22, 2024, and is curated by Dew Ge, veteran curator and producer in performing arts. Through diverse activities covering performances, film, Talk, workshops and improvisational dance party, the festival will present an artistic journey across time, culture, and generations.

Julie Nioche, French mid-career choreographer and Hou Ying, Chinese first-generation chorographer, collaborated for the first time to create the dance duet Differences, inspired by the differences of their body texture and cultural memories. Julie Nioche will also co-create with Chinese dancers to present her interactive performance, L’impassé-e, exploring how dance connects people. Known for her sharp movement texture, Gu Jiani, Chinese new generation choreographer, will showcase a special presentation of her latest piece, Morphing, which re-examines the impact of time on modern life.

During the program, the choreographers will explore the body, improvisation and sense of time, and invite the audience to join in the events.

In 2015, Kering launched Women In Motion at the Festival de Cannes with the ambition of highlighting female filmmakers, both in front of and behind the camera. In recent years, the program has expanded in a major way to photography, art, design, and music. In 2021, the launch of Women In Motion at West Bund further expanded the influence of this program to choreography and dance.

Women In Motion at West Bund has continued to strengthen mutual enrichment and resonance between Chinese and French choreography. The first edition of the festival featured the joint performance of Mathilde Monnier, top French choreographer, and Duan Ni, renowned Chinese choreographer, as well as the new work of Shi Jingxin, eminent Chinese choreographer. 2023 saw the second edition of the initiative. Régine Chopinot, prominent French choreographer and Wen Hui, acclaimed Chinese choreographer, collaborated for the first time to create the dance film Outredanse. Wen Hui also worked with the young dancers of the Jin Xing Dance Theater to breathe new life into her 1996’s piece, Skirt. Wang Mengfan, emerging talented choreographer and independent theater maker, performed her original work Narrative Fountain.

“As a public institution, the West Bund Museum continuously explores immersive and theatrical content creation, combining the flexibility of museum spaces with artistic expression. We strive to strengthen the connection between art and the public, deeply activating the museum’s public role. Our partnership with Kering on the Women In Motion at West Bund has become a key project for experiencing new forms of performing and stage arts. Moving forward, the museum will continue to promote the professional presentation of various cultural themes, transforming the museum into a collaborative space where diverse audiences, art forms, and disciplines can intersect and connect.” remarked Anda Chen, the Executive Director of the West Bund Museum.

Jinqing Cai, President of Kering Greater China, stated, “Women In Motion has always been committed to highlighting the creativity of female artists, creating a pioneer platform for mindset change through diverse art forms. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, we are pleased to see a new edition of Women In Motion at West Bund. The event not only continues to empower Chinese and French choreographers, but also expand space for ideas and inspirations. Going forward, the Women In Motion program will continue to be a key platform for Kering to collaborate with renowned institutions of art and culture in China and abroad, providing support to celebrate female creativity.”

The 3rd edition of Women In Motion at West Bund
Date：2024.09.21 – 2024.09.22
Location：West Bund Museum, No.2600 Longteng Ave. Xuhui District, Shanghai

The Curator

Dew GE: Founder of Body On&On, curator and producer in performing arts. Dedicated to inclusive arts, contemporary dance, and body research. IVLP International Visitor Leadership Program alumni and 2023 alumni award winner, PFP alumni, 2023 Ginkgo Fellow. She has extensive experience in production and international collaboration, including dances Tu Tu, Moment, Track, GALA Xiamen/Beijing, etc. Her productions have been invited to participate in international festivals in the US, the UK, Germany, Italy, South Korea, etc. She has established cooperation with art groups and choreographers in more than ten countries and has also curated and initiated several art festival projects, including the Touch Contact Improvisation Festival (2017-), the Luminous Festival (China’s first inclusive arts festival) (2019-), and the China-UK Disability Arts Forum (2019-2023), etc., aiming to promote diversity and inclusivity in culture and art, and to establish rich embodied fields and extensive social participation.

The Artists:

Julie Nioche：A choreographer, dancer and osteopath. She graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris (CNSMDP) in 1995; She founded A.I.M.E., a company defined from the outset as both the bearer of her own artistic projects, and an incubator for collective research and creative projects focused on social issues; she completed orthopedic training in 2009 and participated in several medical ethics conferences. In addition, she holds a degree in psychology. In 2022, Julie Nioche was named“Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et Lettres”by the Ministry of Culture. She has always combined theoretical knowledge with practical experience around the body to develop her creative process and research. She combines physical practice with improvisational dance creation, developing a dance where everyone can be a creator. The core of her work is to seek and create an extraordinary, powerful body that, even when constrained or fragile, becomes a treasury of fantastical images and imaginative creations.

Hou Ying：A dancer and pioneering choreographer previously based in the United States, founder, and artistic director of Hou Ying Dance Theater. In 1996 she made her debut with the work Spirit of the Night at the Russian International Dance Competition. In 2001, she was awarded the Asian Cultural Council Scholarship to research and create in New York. In 2002 she joined Shen Wei Dance Arts in New York, becoming both an essential dancer and eventually the rehearsal director of the company. She was featured three times in the New York Times and was acclaimed as the most outstanding dancer of the year in 2004. In 2008, she returned to China to participate in the creation of The Scroll, for the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremony. In 2009, she shifted her focus of work to Beijing, founding in 2011 the Hou Ying Dance Theater, dedicated to promoting contemporary dance.

Gu Jiani: An independent choreographer and involved in body movement research, objects and space. Gu embarked on a journey as an independent choreographer in 2012 and conducted the “GO&N SPACE” body project with Li Nan. In 2016, Gu founded the Untitled Group in China together with Xuanqi Wang. During this period, she has explored the complex connection between the body and the environment through her work, and has devoted herself to the dynamic study of contemporary body language, creating connections and spatial imagery through the subtle observation of force. In 2019, she was also awarded Asian Arts and Culture fund (ACC), New York scholarship and traveled to New York for an exchange program. Gu excels at constructing “bar-thrust duo connecting movement” practice as a gateway to mind-body introspection, and has developed a range of approaches to bodywork over the course of a decade.

About Women In Motion

Kering’s commitment to women is at the heart of the Group’s priorities and extends, through Women In Motion, to the field of arts and culture, where gender inequalities are still glaring, even though creation is one of the most powerful vectors for change.

In 2015, Kering launched Women In Motion at the Festival de Cannes with the ambition of highlighting women in cinema, both in front of and behind the camera. The program has since expanded in a major way to photography, but also to art, design, choreography, and music. Through its Awards, the program recognizes inspirational figures and emerging female talent, while its Talks and Podcasts provide an opportunity for leading personalities to share their views on the representation of women in their profession. 
 

Since it was created, Women In Motion has become a platform of choice that contributes to changing mind sets and thinking on the place of women - and the recognition they receive - in the arts and culture.

About West Bund Museum

Located in the Shanghai Corniche in Xuhui District, West Bund Museum is one of the core public cultural institutions that make up the famed West Bund Cultural Corridor along the Huangpu River Waterfront.

Designed by renowned British architect Sir David Chipperfield, West Bund Museum first broke ground in 2017 and has been officially open to the public since 2019. In the inaugural year, the Museum joined hands with the Centre Pompidou for an unprecedented cultural partnership.

With cultural exchange between China and the world as its mission and visual art, performance art, New Media art, and contemporary design as cultural throughlines, the collaboration between West Bund Museum and Centre Pompidou，with its disciplines of architecture, audiovisual experimentation, music, film, visual art，is forming an ongoing dialogue productively and vibrantly.

From here and on, West Bund Museum will continue to be on the conceptual and structural frontiers of art museums, pushing the boundaries of traditional institutions, and is dedicated to being an open, inclusive, and public multi-disciplinary cultural center.

About Kering

A global Luxury group, Kering manages the development of a series of renowned Houses in Fashion, Leather Goods and Jewelry: Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Brioni, Boucheron, Pomellato, DoDo, Qeelin and Ginori 1735, as well as Kering Eyewear and Kering Beauté. By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its Houses to set new limits in terms of their creative expression while crafting tomorrow’s Luxury in a sustainable and responsible way. We capture these beliefs in our signature: “Empowering Imagination”.

Contacts： 

Roger HE    + 86 (21) 6185 3528    roger.he@kering.com
Yun JIANG      + 86 (21) 6185 3683   yun.jiang@kering.com
Kecan LI     + 86 (21) 6466 6161       kecan.li@karlaotto.com