Female Expat Papercut Workshop

December 11, 2004

Joelle Dietrick intends to draw the female expat world into collaboration so that they might document their activities and make the most of the opportunities afforded them. On December 11th in Beijing's 25000 Cultural Transmission Center, the collaboration is in the form of a papercut workshop where 60-70 women are expected to participate. There are two sessions, one starting at 10 am and another at 1 pm. During each session, the participants will learn about papercuts and recent trends in contemporary art related to the day's activities. After a brief lecture, they will jointly work on the creation of two large papercuts (on patterned paper, about 3 x 9 ft each in size) using their own imagery or imagery provided. Similar to the format of a quilting bee, the workshop gathers women to share their stories while creating an object that reflects their lives. Rather than a quilt, making papercuts results in a product that connects to local traditions and reflects the sense of dislocation that female expats experience. The focus on female expats, rather than expats in general, explores how contemporary women, now more use to having control over the direction of their lives, must find ways to be more flexible, often reinventing themselves to make successful transitions overseas. Their conversations about these and other topics will be recorded and later used in a documentary video about female expats in Beijing.

The workshop is free. To participate, please contact Joelle Dietrick at jdietrick73@hotmail.com, 8046-1416 or 1355-277-1039 to sign up for the event.

Visitors are welcome to observe participants, listen to the conversations, and look at the artwork on display.

Opening at 10 am for December 11 only.

Address: 25000 Cultural Transmission Center, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 120, Beijing , P.R. China 100015
Phone/Fax: 010-64387107
Website: www.longmarchfoundation.org
E-mail: lm@longmarchspace.com