My way of happy banding
By Oliver Gao, Sunshine FM DJ

五个阳光男孩,一个多彩的音乐梦,"苹果派"乐队就这样两年前在厦门诞生.今年12月,他们即将推出自己的首张专辑,届时热爱音乐的您不妨多给予一些关爱和支持.

I was so happy to become a music dealer 6 years after graduating from university. Now I am a full time Disc Jockey of Xiamen Music Radio, also the key vocal of a very local band-Apple Pie. I must say that I enjoy being in the band very much. Ten years ago when I was a sophomore I started to play the guitar. The first song that I could play was Scarborough Fair by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. The song is so beautiful and easy to play that I have played that song at least 1,000 times.

It had always been one of my dreams to have a band of my own. One day in May 2002, a drummer called me and said he had heard someone praise my singing and would like to start a band. Then we made the band Apple Pie. The drummer is Hai Wei. Later on we added our bassist Hai Bo, guitarist Shu Yi and keyboardist Zhang Zhuo.

We practice twice a week in a large and comfortable basement near Song Bai. It has been going quite smoothly and we have gigs very often. We play in pubs, we play for BBQ camps, we play for real estate openings and we play for weddings. Sometimes we sing in seething sunshine that nearly burns my guitar and sometimes we sing in the coastal rain, which really drowns all of our instruments but we love it because the people love us. We sing songs of the Beatles, the Eagles, the Cranberries, and some Chinese songs. We have also created 20 more songs of our own.

You may learn quite a lot in a team by getting along with people. In Apple Pie, the members have different tastes in music. We have different ideas when we create music and we have had conflicts. You may feel very upset when your team members turn down your ideas. We are still learning how to express ourselves and how to communicate with each other. It's also a kind of art. We have the same dream, and believe we will reach our goal someday.

The goal is to make Apple Pie a successful band in China. To start off we are recording our first album, which is to be released this December. So keep an eye on Apple Pie and we will bring you a gift of surprise.

But what if we don't make it? What if we can not reach our goal someday? It's OK and I have no regrets. We have struggled for it and just the experience is good enough!

 

 

Ruins tell history
By Vivian Zhang
Photos by Yao Fan


A pole decorated with out-of-use signs is erected at the enterance of the show.

The artistic Ruins Project, by Xiamen artist Zeng Huanguang(曾焕光), kicked off on Oct. 14 at the former Dalu Commercial Building, Zhongshan Road.

The project reflects the rebuilding and evolvement of the old city areas by collecting and presenting old-day articles, such as water crocks, rice crocks, letters and photos, pieces of furniture (some as old as the Qing Dynasty), building construction parts, wasted door signs, street signs, recordings and videos.


An ancient-style bed

According to Zeng, the show is intended to trigger discussions on the subject of Asian cities' development in terms of history and culture amid the economic globalization and the invasion of western culture.

During the past three months preparing for the show, Zeng got in touch with many Xiamenese and local-style articles which left him either touched, amazed, or regretful. He knew pretty well that all these would dwindle to nothing as a part of the city's history, yet he wanted to make a record of it and the show came into being.


Old water crocks

The show will last till Oct. 21, on which day all the exhibits are supposed to be claimed by visitors who are interested in them.

 

 

So far, so close
By Zhu Luming



On the night of Oct. 16th, an art project named "Trans-distance" for the Gent Art Festival (Feel Estate 2004), opened in Room 1806, an ordinary house at Yingcai Building, Xiahe Road, Xiamen.

As the Xiamen showpiece, spanning 7-hours time difference, four Chinese artists, Shen Ye, Zeng Huanguang, Wu Minghui and Zhu Luming took part in the festival with their own works through the internet synchronously. At the same time, the artists communicated and interacted with the spectators on the spot in the art festival 2004, Gent, Belgium.

Zhu Luming, the organizer of this project said that "Trans-distance" implicates multiple meanings.

Under globalization, the internet has changed people's social behavior and ways of communication to a great extent. It brings more possibilities. And even more important is that it accentuates bi-directional and instant feedback. The audience can give feedback to the distant spot in good time, spanning the space of time and distance.

Introduction to Gent Art Festival
(Feel Estate 2004)
Gent is an important cultural city of western Belgium. Feel Estate 2004 covers diversiform multi-domain and multimedia art activities, including experimental drama and dancing, experimental image and music, poetry and literature, contemporary visual art and performance, etc.

 

 

Message board
Photo by Yao Fan

The 10th national fine arts exhibition on sculpture works
第十届全国美术作品展览雕塑展
201 works selected around China are in the show.
全国各地精选201件作品参展
Time: Oct. 17-Nov. 3
时间:10月17日至11月3日
Venue: Exhibition hall at the Xiamen Culture and Art Center
地点:厦门文化艺术中心展厅

Exhibition on Overseas Chinese
"华侨华人"展
Venue: Overseas Chinese Museum, 493 Siming Nan Road
地点:厦门博物院,思明南路493号
Opening date: Oct. 21, 2004
开展时间:10月21日