How do cross-border collaborations take root? Interview with four organisers

A Bunch of Noise:

A Bunch of Noise is a low-budget, DIY experimental noise festival dedicated to breaking free from the art frameworks shaped by traffic and algorithms, refusing standardized or labeled art forms.

A Bunch of Noise is not just a space for sound experiments; it is a collision of emotions, an explosion of energy. Here, we seek pure sound experiences—not catering to market packaging, not relying on internet bubbles, only sound itself.

UP-ON:

As a pioneering program of UP-ON Performance Art Archive since 2008, the festival adheres to four core principles: non-profit orientation, international perspective, academic rigor, and public engagement. Committed to advancing professional artistic practice and scholarly research, it has established itself as a premier platform for global exchange in the field of live art. Over twelve editions, the festival has hosted 268 artists.

UP-ON Performance Art Archive is a private, non-profit organisation, dedicated to collecting and preserving performance art materials with a global vision. Through curated programs including symposiums, workshops, publications, and festivals, it also builds a platform for communication and practice in the professional field.

Sound and Fury:

Founded in 2018, The Sound and Fury was initiated by a group of emerging independent playwrights in China who commit themselves to new writing, celebrating diversity and freedom of expression in writing and life. It looks forward to building a more open and energetic theater practice scene while focusing on originality, contemporaneity, innovation, and sociocultural relevance.

The Sound and Fury is demonstrated through various forms including the annual The Sound and Fury Festival, Super Lab, the International Playwrights‘ Translation Project, the New Texts Playwriting Workshop, and the Salon. So far, more than 20 active playwrights from all over the world have met Chinese audiences for the first time through this platform.

OŌELI Performing Season:

Tianmuli is a 230,000 sqm GFA complex of 17 buildings integrating workspaces, experimental theaters, curated retail, design hotels, and avant-garde commerce. As a cultural hub, it brings together art, architecture, fashion, design, and ecology professionals, functioning as both a creative incubator and a platform for urban innovation.

The OŌELI Performing Season serves as its year-round content IP centered at the OŌELI Space. It regularly introduces new plays by Chinese and foreign artists in the form of drama festivals and is committed to becoming a stage for global theatre, art exhibitions, fashion shows, weekend markets, brand launches, live houses, concerts, and other performing arts.

A Bunch of Noise:

Our last collaboration featured a distinguished cohort of Swiss practitioners such as Dave Phillips, Rudolf Eb.er, Daniel Maszkowicz, Luis, and Anton Ponomarev. Their boundary-pushing works span noise art and film, generating visceral sensory encounters while provoking critical reflections on the intersection of sound and visual arts. Beyond staged presentations, the artists engaged in discursive formats, including artist talks and seminars, fostering substantive dialogues with audiences and peers.

The 2025 edition extends this transdisciplinary dialogue through partnerships with Swiss artists like Francisco Meirino, NVR, and G*park. A highlight includes co-curating with Lausanne Underground Film & Music Festival (LUFF) to jointly present a series of experimental film workshops, designed to catalyze further collisions between Swiss and Chinese musicians.

Moreover, we are committed to establishing a transnational platform for more Swiss artists to showcase their practices in China. Through sustained exchanges, we aim to activate cross-cultural artistic discourse while expanding the epistemic boundaries of contemporary audiovisual practice, ranging from noise art and expanded cinema to other avant-garde forms.

UP-ON:

The 12th edition (2024) featured Phoebe-Lin Elnan. During the festival, she created new works at the A4 Art Museum in Chengdu (the festival’s partner organisation), gave an academic lecture at the Southwest University for Nationalities, and conducted an artist talk at Nongyuan International Art District. For the 13th edition (2025), Swiss participants are currently under final consultation with Pro Helvetia.

Sound and Fury:

Between 2021-2022, with the support of Pro Helvetia, The Sound and Fury organised a series of translation workshops for contemporary Swiss playwrights, which were presented in Beijing and Shanghai during the festival in 2022. During the workshop and the exhibition, five works by four contemporary Swiss playwrights, Sibylle Berg, Katja Brunner, Mathieu Bertholet, and Antoinette Rychner, were translated into Chinese for the first time and presented to Chinese audiences in the form of play readings. In the future, we hope to translate more works by contemporary Swiss playwrights to Chinese audiences.

In the second half of 2025, Swiss playwright Sibylle Berg will hold her first public event in China at the Sound and Fury Arts Festival. The program will feature a dialogue with Chinese theater artists regarding her creative process, script rehearsals and readings performed by local actors alongside the playwright herself, and a public Q&A session. This event will showcase Berg’s satirical oeuvre while fostering cross-cultural and innovative conversation.

OŌELI Performing Season:

Joshua Monten and his dance company were invited to participate in the International Stage section of the OŌELI Performing Season 2024 with two live performances Romeo, Romeo, Romeo and Game Theory, as well as a dance workshop. During their stay in Hangzhou, they had in-depth exchanges with local independent dancers and university students. 2025 is still under preparation.

A Bunch of Noise:

Our institutional partnership with Pro Helvetia dates to 2014, when we curated Dave Phillips‚ touring program in China. It was through this collaboration that we first came into contact with Pro Helvetia and gradually built a relationship. In the years that followed, we continued to curate tours in mainland China for six Swiss artists. It was not until 2024, when we organised the A Bunch of Noise Festival, that we formally collaborated with Pro Helvetia for the first time. Pro Helvetia has been instrumental in navigating the complexities of cross-border partnerships. Beyond establishing trust-based connections, they’ve mastered the contact between artists while mediating creative visions across continents and bridging cultural gaps.

UP-ON:

Our collaboration with Pro Helvetia commenced in 2008 with their support for Swiss artists‘ participation in the inaugural festival. Pro Helvetia mainly sponsored the travel, living expenses, and production costs for invited Swiss artists.

Sound and Fury:

In 2020, Pro Helvetia launched the Folding the Axis program, aiming to encourage a diverse range of cultural exchanges between Chinese and Swiss artists and groups in the face of the epidemic. Since the founding of our platform, translation of important international contemporary playwrights has been one of our main focuses, and thus, we applied for the program. Pro Helvetia has provided us with comprehensive support in various aspects: funding, media report, staff liaison, resource coordination, project consulting, etc., which has helped us to complete the project. Through our bond with Pro Helvetia, we were able to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the most active playwrights and groups in Switzerland today and to maintain contact with them. This means a lot to us.

OŌELI Performing Season:

Our friends introduced us. From art museums to theaters, the collaboration between Tianmuli and Pro Helvetia is multi-dimensional, and it extends across different domains, such as the introduction of artists, assistance in communications, and the integration of resources. Building on years of acquaintance and trust, the team of Pro Helvetia always provides us with advice and support when we communicate with them about any long-term art projects. We appreciate that.

A Bunch of Noise:

We have always prioritized the participation of international artists and cross-cultural collaborations. When selecting artists to work with, we employ a multi-dimensional approach to identify suitable partners. First, we source exceptional artistic talents through industry recommendations and expert referrals. Additionally, we conduct independent research to identify avant-garde artists with global influence. Rather than relying on a single channel, we integrate insights from diverse sources to ensure we select the most appropriate artists for our projects.

When choosing artists to work with, we place particular emphasis on social relevance and experimental approaches. We aim to leverage their creations to provoke public reflection on contemporary societal, cultural, and environmental challenges. At the same time, we prioritize artistic practices demonstrating avant-garde qualities that drive innovation and breakthroughs in creative language. The fit with the platform is also an important consideration. We seek resonant partnerships where artists‘ works can organically advance the experimental art and cultural ethos we champion.

Overall, we hope that through these collaborations, we will be able to present works with depth, experimental rigor, and social value, thus bringing audiences new artistic experiences and thoughts.

UP-ON:

UP-ON has carried out many international collaborative projects since its establishment in 2008. Global partnerships emerge from professional networks, institutional research, expert referrals, and open calls. Selection prioritizes artists with demonstrable professional achievements in their field.

Sound and Fury:

Our international collaborations extend beyond Swiss artists to include creators from the UK, Japan, the US, and Estonia. We typically connect with talents through industry research and expert referrals. We also highly focus on peer recommendations between artists to uncover emerging voices. When selecting artists, we seek sensitivity and understanding of contemporary topics, as well as the level of creativity and innovative approaches to audience engagement.

OŌELI Performing Season:

It’s not the first time we have initiated international projects. Different factors become focal points at various stages, typically involving a comprehensive evaluation of originality, technical feasibility, and sociocultural relevance.

A Bunch of Noise:

Contacting international artists usually starts with an email confirmation, based on which we communicate further through online meetings. This approach allows us to explain the Chinese scene, cultural context, and relevant laws and regulations to the artists in detail, ensuring that they fully understand and adapt to the Chinese policy environment when participating in the project. The online meetings provide a good platform for us to discuss the details of the collaboration, the needs of the artists, and the specific curatorial plan.

The primary challenge we faced during our last collaboration was the cultural differences, especially the pronounced divergence between Chinese and European approaches to artistic expression. Artists within European artistic frameworks face substantial gaps when adapting to China’s cultural milieu, divergent conventions, and methodological frameworks. We must respect the creative freedom of artists while ensuring that their work meets China’s cultural regulatory requirements.

To address this challenge, we provided the artists with more detailed cultural background briefings through online meetings to help them understand China’s art scene and policies. We also discussed with them how to adjust the presentation of their works to ensure that they still effectively conveyed the artists‘ statements while complying with Chinese laws and regulations. This active communication enabled us to overcome the obstacles posed by cultural differences.

UP-ON:

We connect with artists abroad mainly through the internet, emails, websites, WeChat, and Instagram. Years of experience have ensured that all our current activities are carried out smoothly.

Sound and Fury:

Email remains our primary contact method, with key project stages transitioning to video calls. One part of the last collaboration that I found regrettable was that all four playwrights couldn’t make the China trip due to travel restrictions. Streaming and recorded materials can’t represent the energy of the theatre itself. We’re committed to bridging this gap. In the future, we hope to offer opportunities for face-to-face exchanges between artists from both countries.

OŌELI Performing Season:

We often respect the artist’s preference, currently email-dominant. Challenges still exit, regardless the difficulty, they often involve technical issues with getting the work off the ground, and the solution is always full respect and active negotiation.

A Bunch of Noise:

We are most satisfied with the face-to-face communication. This collaboration broke the limitations of national borders and cultural boundaries, enabling the artists not only to gain a deep understanding of each other’s creative concepts but also to create a strong resonance through on-site interactions and feedback. In particular, the artists‘ expectations were well met, and both sides inspired each other in the actual creative process, expanding each other’s thinking and expression.

However, we believe that there is still room for improvement in terms of the length of the exchange and the organisation of the event. We need more time for the artists to interact with the audience on-site so that they fully convey the emotions and thoughts of the works to the audiences.

UP-ON:

The interaction between local and foreign artists and between the volunteers, many being emerging artists, went on very well. They were engaged in substantive dialogues spanning artistic practices to daily habits. What we valued most was that they could have in-depth and professional talks during the festival.

Sound and Fury:

What stood out were the creative brainstorms. Seeing Swiss playwrights break down their scripts and communicate with key crews was an inspirational process for both sides. I believe that if we can support the artists to be directly involved in more concrete rehearsals or co-writing work for a relatively longer period, we can reach a more in-depth level of communication.

OŌELI Performing Season:

The interactions between international artists and our team proved incredibly valuable, even sparking plans for future collaborations. Equally inspiring was the open dialogue between the artists and local audiences, particularly the exchanges with university faculty and students. That said, the tight schedule limited deeper exploration of local partnership opportunities. We’d have loved more time to cultivate these connections and develop concrete projects together.

A Bunch of Noise:

The inclusion of international artists brings depth and uniqueness to China’s local art festivals. Through the deployment of technical apparatuses, artists bring their uniqueness into each work. Through intertwining technical artistic aspects, the resultant works articulate different perspectives and thoughts to the Chinese audience. This individualized and customized method expands the diversity of Chinese contemporary art, enriching its depth of critical dimension.

The local audiences demonstrated a strong interest in such works, especially when confronted with some challenging noise and experimental video works, and the audience generally appreciated the innovative depth. Such exchanges not only broadened their understanding of art but also inspired more attention and exploration of experimental art forms.

To continue the bond between Chinese and foreign artists, we have taken many practical actions, including collaborating on records, touring, and the joint development of technical devices. These efforts not only help to promote Chinese and foreign art exchanges further but also provide artists with more creative support and platforms. We look forward to further strengthening the long-term interaction and partnership between international artists and the domestic art community through such a cooperation model.

UP-ON:

The communication between artists could expand and enrich their visions and initiate global professional networks. Our core audiences are art students and young enthusiasts who have demonstrated high receptivity, with growing international attendance in recent years. UP-ON is a year-round organisation, a platform for various art activities, so after the festival, we will keep in close contact with the artists and invite them to continue participating in appropriate projects.

Sound and Fury:

As Europe’s ultimate cultural crossroads, Switzerland has a multilingual system that cultivates visionary playwrights. What emerges isn’t just distinct from German precision or French lyricism, but a bold third-culture theater language forged through linguistic border-crossing. Bringing these hybrid works to Chinese stages has enriched and revolutionized our imagination of the theater vocabulary. I look forward to strengthening and deepening these exchanges, finding ways to continue these collaborations that are more creative, more responsive to the times, and that bring more support to artists from both countries.

OŌELI Performing Season:

Regarding the key value: This means of collaboration has provided diverse content, bringing fresh perspectives and passions. Many friends from Hangzhou universities or those engaged in the art industry agreed that they had a refreshing experience. First-time theatergoers also light up in ways we never expected. Honestly, their genuine excitement just hit me hardest, and it felt like catching a glimpse of art becoming as natural as morning coffee.

Regarding acceptance: OŌELI’s audience is very receptive.

Regarding the bond: During the artists‘ stay in Hangzhou, they linked up and sparked plans for future collaborations, as well as kept in touch online, updating each other from time to time on future opportunities.