Expat creates arts collective in Beijing
Print Edition
“The first step is for them to take their knees off us. Because we are kneeling to stand” — as Alexandra Smith finished reciting the concluding lines of her poem, the silence in the room erupted into a thunderous applause from a packed audience.
A tribute to the late George Floyd, the African-American who fell victim to police brutality in Minneapolis, Smith’s poem was read on the second floor of a filmhouse-cum-bar in downtown Beijing.
Smith, 33, an expat from the United States, is one of the regular participants in Spittoon, the organizer of the “Poetry Night” event. It is a Beijing-based arts collective giving space to expats and locals alike to unleash their creative talent.
“Before coming to China, I had no idea what to expect, but I have been pleasantly surprised. And I become more impressed every day,” said Smith, referring to Beijing’s vivid literary space and artistic aura.
Started by a British expat in Beijing in 2015 as a monthly poetry night, Spittoon has burgeoned into a regular affair in the Chinese capital before sprawling to other cities, including Chengdu and Shanghai.
It has also taken off in countries like Ethiopia, Sweden, Portugal and Latvia, hosting various events across genres.
In China, the initiative has five core sections — poetry reading, non-fiction storytelling, fiction storytelling, book club and poetry workshops. It aims to bring together Chinese and foreign writers, artists, and literary enthusiasts. “The name Spittoon has a punk-rock and unpretentious element to it, which is how we conceived the name initially,” said Matthew Byrne, the brain behind the arts collective.
The British poet added that Beijing is a very multicultural city housing numerous stories for unraveling, and Spittoon is helping “publicize Chinese voices to the rest of the world.”
Earlier this year, Spittoon teamed up with a United Kingdom-based publisher and an English-language magazine on Chinese language and culture to host a conversation between Chinese author Li Juan and many expat readers.
The writer from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region spoke about her latest book, Distant Sunflower Fields, a non-fiction narrative that chronicles her family’s life on a sunflower farm.
“Domestic readers may be more interested in the text itself, such as expression skills and aesthetics. And foreign readers want to explore the issues of writing motivation and attitude,” Li said, calling this interaction with an international audience a “different” experience.
Spittoon recently celebrated its sixth anniversary. The arts collective is now attempting to bring the city’s student population on board through SpittoonU, a university outreach idea.
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