Please, teach me Chinese, Bazaar Compatible Program, Shanghai
youtube: the first 30 min of this video with Engilsh subtitle
BASIC CHINESE
HOW IS BUSINESS TODAY ?
XINHUA MARKET, 96 ANSHUN ROAD, SHANGHAI
December 2013
approx. 45 min, video, Camera: Xu Meng, Starring Xin Hua Market sales personal and Rainer Ganahl. Subtitles Liu Ya-Nan and Rainer Ganahl
This video was specifically made for this occasion, i.e. at Xin Hua Market where the gallery is located as if it were a regular market booth. The film consists of a series of short interviews with vendors from Xin Hua market. This market is a classical quasi-traditional Shanghai Market where things are cheap, hygienic standards low and many clients poor. It is not a market place which is frequented by the new German car driving well off Shanghai middle class. This not so busy market place looks doomed to disappear sooner than later for some new sky high developments like anything else in Shanghai with clean, proper sanitized market halls, not necessarily catering to the remaining poor people of the neighborhood..
The interviews are short and are all based around the question “How is business today?“ as if a lesson taken from Ganahl’s study material. Like a reporter, the artist asks people about their business, their business history and their opinion about the market. In certain instances depending on the situation personal questions about kids and so on were asked spontaneously. Surprisingly enough, one lady selling raw meet has her daughters study in US colleges something one wouldn’t expect given the economics involved in such an operation that seemed not to be supported by her business model and the general impression of that low income market.
Ganahl, who is an autodidact and has been mostly learning Chinese on his own as part of his fine art practice conducted all interviews in his limited Chinese and was aided by his camera man Xu Meng who helped out when necessary.
SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THE INTERVIEW PARTNERS. Good luck in your business.
ideo was made for an exhibtiion at BAZAAR COMPATIBLE PROJECT, SHANGHAI - on show 2014
youtube: video
youtube: the first 10 min of this video with Engilsh subtitle
HERE
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