Faces of JUE: Zhang Qiushuang Talks Community

In our March issue, we talked to seven personalities of the JUE Festival to tell us more about each of the seven elements of JUE. Musician Zhang Qiushuang reveals what's behind JUE Community.

When I was much younger, I had a negative view of community. And then as I grew up, I realized that as an individual you can only do so much. It’s not until you have community backing that you can go further and have an impact.

A lot of people who are really invested in the arts or music don’t really want to share their passion with other people. So usually you need a promoter to create a situation in which you can get everyone together. Then you need a way of sharing this with the public – a way for it to continue on and actually be sustained.

A community is a circle of artists getting together, different people promoting each other. What Split Works does is allow everyone to get involved. Parts of the community that are not normally involved in the circle are able to jump in and get involved.

I think JUE Community will be deemed a success if people start talking about it. It doesn’t even matter if people like it or don’t like it or are part of it or not. As long as people are talking about it, then it has succeeded.

Check out Zhang Qiushuang performing with his band Mr. Graceless on Mar 17 at Yugong Yishan as part of the “Emerging Young Artists: Music & Art Showcase.”