LONG POEM / SOUNDWORK
Becontree Centenary Programme
2022
LISTEN
Centenary (2022) is a long poem and sound work in multiple forms, evoking entangled narratives of Chinese migration within wider colonial histories. The work touches on the artist’s experience growing up in a post-war council house on the Essex/London border and is the second in a cycle of three works: Altar Notes (2012), Centenary (2022) and Ghosts (forthcoming). Altar Notes was a micro-play commissioned and staged in Hong Kong as part of programme of writing and performance from Hong Kong, Beijing and London, marking the 15th anniversary of the handover. Ghosts will return to the idea of ‘return’ explored in Altar Notes. The artist’s long-term ambition is to stage all three works together as a multichannel sound, film and performance installation.
Commissioned by Create London for the Becontree Centenary programme, Centenary was recorded in London in with the actors David KS Tse and Crystal LK Yu and premiered as a Resonance radio broadcast and live stream on 1st July 2022, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong handover.
Centenary (2022) long poem and spoken word recording, 34 mins
Written, directed and produced by susan pui san lok / susan lok pui san
Read by David KS Tse and Crystal LK Yu
Sound recording, editing and production by Cam Griff
Commissioned by Create London, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund
SPSL 