Re/constructing Memories: A Contemporary Chinese Experimental Animation Series

This series presents a selection of recent experimental animation films by artists from mainland China and the Chinese diaspora. Centered on the theme of memory, these works showcase how artists use animation as a medium to explore memory’s dynamic nature—whether historical, collective, intermedial, or mechanical.   

The feature screening highlights four works by Sun Xun, a renowned contemporary Chinese artist known for blending traditional techniques such as woodblock printing, ink painting, pigment powder, and oil painting with digital animation. His artistic practice blurs the boundaries between drawing, painting, and animation, crafting narratives that traverse time and culture. Influenced by his upbringing in northeast China after the Cultural Revolution, Sun’s labor-intensive moving-image creations form a “theatre of memory,” weaving together realism and fantasy to challenge conventional narratives of history, memory, and politics.   

The program also includes a selection of animated shorts by the emerging Chinese diaspora artist Lilan Yang. Working with machine-generated imagery, she pushes experimental animation's boundaries, critically engaging with memory-making in the contemporary era.  

Please see below for registration details.

Program details: https://mulanfestival.com/year-round/ 

Featured Screening of Sun Xun’s Works: 

Saturday, March 8, 2025, 7-9 PM 

Innis Town Hall, Innis College, 2 Sussex Ave 

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/1257357242359?aff=oddtdtcreator 

Shorts by Lilan Yang: 

Friday, March 14, 2025, 1-3 PM 

RL3-025 Robarts Library, 3rd Floor, 130 St. George Street 

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/1257376399659?aff=oddtdtcreator