Soeng Joeng Toi: Opening Fissures Towards a Platform and a Bridge
Guo Yun and Li Xiaotian
ABSTRACT In May of 2017, a space called Soeng Joeng Toi was established, gathering a variety of people to share and co-organise a space together. While it may be considered a relative newcomer, Soeng Joeng Toi’s appearance can be seen as an inevitable breakaway from the mainstream political, economic and cultural climate of a city like Guangzhou. From its initial planning stages to its official operation, much of Soeng Joeng Toi’s inspiration and methods have come from extensive exchange with independent spaces both in China and abroad, where mutual recognition of similar conditions and thinking of the commons have led these different spaces to continue developing in a sustained dialogue. This text, written from the perspective of two of Soeng Joeng Toi’s “co-proprietors,” introduces the beginnings of Soeng Joeng Toi, its current operations and experiences of connecting with others as well as explores the possibilities of a shared activism involving people from different fields and geographic regions.
KEYWORDS: Commons; connection; platform; Guangzhou; arts
Notes on contributors
Li Xiaotian graduated from South China Normal University in Guangzhou in 2012, major in Chinese linguistics. Currently, she works as a coordinator of Huangbian Station Contemporary Art Research Center (HBS) in Guangzhou. She is also one of the members of the Soeng Joeng Toi space. She is a writer and curator, her writings had been included in Artforum.com.cn, LEAP and Southern Metropolis Daily, etc.
Guo Yun was born in Shantou, Guangdong Province in 1994. She graduated from Guangzhou University of Foreign Studies in 2016. Now she is a postgraduate student majoring in art theory at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. She is one of the members of the Soeng Joeng Toi space and a researcher of Huangbian Station Contemporary Art Research Center (HBS).
Notes on translator
Elaine W. Ho works between the realms of time-based art, language, urban practice and design, and what this really means is that there are many forms of study, and many kinds of people involved. These are questions about the architectures and social spaces under late capitalism, questions about a latent commons and questions about the sociopolitics of syntax. She is the founder of artist-run project space HomeShop (2008-2013), co-conspirator at Display Distribute (2015-ongoing) and since 2005 has been a frequent contributor to a disjunctured stream of thought known as www.iwishicoulddescribeittoyoubetter.net.