the chrysanthemum has opened twelve times (Audio), 2020
Follow the link below to listen to Karen Tam’s the chrysanthemum has opened twelve times (Audio), 2020, audio, 16:49, collection of the artist.
Listen to the audio on Vimeo here.
Part of the installation series the chrysanthemum has opened twelve times, 2020, this audio piece contains Cantonese opera excerpts originating from a set of 1940s ‘78 vinyl records interspersed with mookyu (also muyu, meaning “wooden fish”) songs performed by a Montreal Chinatown elder in the 2000s. Cantonese opera was historically an important source of entertainment for the Chinese communities, whether by hosting touring professional troupes or producing the operas themselves. A type of narrative song, mookyu dates from the nineteenth century and is sung in Toishanese without musical accompaniment. This dialect was spoken by most, if not all, of the Chinese immigrants to Canada before 1967.
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