In this session, theatremaker and artist CHEN Ran shares her ongoing research on the cultural, emotional, and political dimensions of panda imagery in contemporary media. Tracing the panda’s journey from colonial spectacle to livestreamed icon, she reflects on how image regimes shape experiences of belonging and resistance, and how these forces remain in tension. Drawing on her theatre and journalism background, Chen connects this research with her experiments in media technologies—from WeChat-based participatory performances to AI-rendered stage spectacle—considering how artistic practice responds to the rapid technological transformations of contemporary China.

CHEN Ran (she/they) is a theatremaker and artist based in Beijing and Utrecht. Trained at the Central Academy of Drama (Beijing) and HKU University of the Arts Utrecht (the Netherlands), her practice moves between bodies and screens, reality and simulation—drawn to the soft tensions of mediated life. She also works collectively across disciplines and communities, and is the founder of StageNoMore, a loose theatre collective based in Beijing and online, since 2014 (stagenomore.com). In recent years, she has been an active practitioner of inclusive theatre in China.

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• DATE: Thursday, November 13, 2025
• TIME: 17:00 – 18:30
• LOCATION: SIN 1, at the Department for East Asian Studies/Chinese Studies, Altes AKH, Campus, Spitalgasse 2, Yard 2, Entrance 2.3