Special events in Leicester, Nottingham & Derby to mark Chinese New Year and the launch of the unique  'From East to East' project

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Working closely with the Chinese communities of Leicester, Nottingham, and Derby, Cosmopolitan Arts has conducted the first ever research study into Chinese migration to the East Midlands. To celebrate and share this research, they are hosting a series of free events across the three cities.

From their research, Cosmopolitan Arts (funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund) have produced a website and a series of short documentary films. From late January to early February, with additional funding from Arts Council England, Cosmopolitan Arts are touring their findings in an immersive digital arts exhibition and Chinese arts workshop hosted in Leicester, Derby, and Nottingham. The exhibitions will feature seven documentaries, each one covering a decade from the 1950s to the 2010s, and featuring at least one representative from each community to have migrated from China during that decade. The interviewees recall their journey, arrival, and acclimatisation to English life and culture. The films explore the understanding and celebration of cultural difference, family, community, and the notion of home. At the arts workshops, attendees will be able to participate in calligraphy, paper cutting, traditional foods, and Chinese games.

Cosmopolitan Arts is also organising a series of Chinese New Year celebrations. This will include traditional Chinese processions in all three cities featuring lion dancers, martial artists, pyrotechnics and fireworks! If that wasn’t enough, there will also be a Chinese New Year show at Leicester Museum and Art Gallery. This exciting event will feature traditional and contemporary dance, as well as musical performances from Guzheng virtuoso Xiao Ying, and the nationally renowned artist Ling Peng. This series of exhibitions and shows will showcase the inspiring stories of the East Midlands’ Chinese communities and highlight their vibrancy, warmth, and tenacity.