PROGRAM CHINA HEART (Chinese New Year 30 Jan to 13 Feb 2011)
Play, learn & discover
Sydney’s China Heart
Download the app
& take the tour. Its FREE
www.chinaheart.org.au
China Heart is an interactive love story and mystery that uses your iPhone, art installation and performance to explore Sydney's Chinatown.
A love story, a puzzle and a challenge
Lian is a young woman whose plans to marry are stalled when she receives a mysterious engagement present with a strange message. Will she ever be able to marry her beloved David?
Help Lian solve the puzzle of her family’s past and her cultural history — guided by dramatic clues, oral histories and historic re-enactments downloaded on your own mobile phone or viewed via mobile web — so her wedding can take place as planned.
Experience a side of Sydney you’ve never seen before.
With a story by Annette Shun Wah, China Heart is an innovative game for iphones, mobile web and web. Meshing video, real-world art installations and performance with content in your phone, China Heart will take you on a walking tour of significant locations in Sydney’s Chinatown.
Start solving the clues at the Powerhouse Museum, learning about the history of Chinese Australians from the 19th century to now as you unravel the mystery. The story culminates at the Chinese Garden of Friendship* in Darling Harbour with a stunning performance of a romantic scene featuring Chinese opera singers.
Presented by d/Lux/MediaArts in association with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Powerhouse Museum and The Project Factory. China Heart is supported by Screen NSW, Screen Australia, the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and City of Sydney.
Story written by Annette Shun Wah. Game coding and production by The Project Factory. Digital images and photography by Tatiana Pentes & Geoffrey Weary.
Visit the China Heart website for more images, video and information
Chinese Opera at the Chinese Garden of Friendship
The China Heart story culminated at the beautiful Chinese Garden of Friendship in Darling Harbour, with a live performance of a romantic scene featuring Chinese opera singers.
Chinese Debutante Balls: Albion Place Installation
When war broke out between Japan and China in 1937, the Sydney Chinese community looked for ways to raise fund in support of their homeland. The Dragon Ball Festival, culminating with a Ball at the Trocadero, was conceived as one of a number of fundraisers.
At these balls, Chinese girls would be introduced to society as "debutantes" and were presented to the Chinese Consul-General. For Chinese-Australian girls these Debutante Balls became a major social event long after the end of hostilities, right on through the 1950s, 60s and into the 70s, continuing even after the closure of the Trocadero. By this time, the funds raised were given to charitable causes closer to home.
Nomchong family photograph collection. 1945 - 1946 Dragon Ball, Sydney, ca. 1945. Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia.
PIC/7659/33 LOC Negative cabinet PIC/7659 nla.pic-an24095789
Lewis collection of photographs. The Romaine of the Trocadero, 1941. Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia.
PIC/7630/12 LOC Negative cabinet PIC/7630 nla.pic-an24056973
Radio station 2CH's Children's Christmas party, Trocadero. Call number: Home and Away – 30090. Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
Trocadero Band 1938. Photo courtesy B. Turner
Debutante photographs courtesy of and with special thanks to Jeanette Cumines, Cheryl Cumines, Olive Chinn (nee Chong) and Doreen Cheong