Dinu Li: A Phantom’s Vibe @ esea contemporary, Manchester
A Phantom’s Vibe, currently on view at esea contemporary (Manchester, UK), is a solo exhibition by Hong Kong-born, UK-based artist Dinu Li, displaying works from the artist’s oeuvre from newly commissioned works right to his earliest examples that incorporate sculptural assemblages, a video installation, and music. Taking the mysterious journey of sound as a starting point, the exhibition investigates the duality between the local and the global, the personal and the political, while shedding light on complex colonial narratives and telling the story of how diverse cultures can meet and merge in unexpected and moving ways, leading to the formation of hybrid identities.
Dinu Li, A Phantom’s Vibe, installation view, 2023. Photo by Jules Lister. Courtesy of esea contemporary.
This solo exhibition marks the second occasion of the institution displaying major projects since its restructuring and rebranding with a new name in early 2023. Previously known as the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA), it initially started as a community-oriented arts festival in Manchester – home to one of the largest East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) populations in the UK – more than 30 years ago. From 2003 onwards, the organisation has been situated in the city’s Northern Quarter, occupying part of the former Victorian Market Buildings on Thomas Street.
With this long history and new vision for the future, esea contemporary holds a unique place in the UK’s arts and cultural sector. It is the only non-profit art centre operating within the country that focuses specifically on promoting and presenting contemporary art from the ESEA communities and their diasporas.
Dinu Li (b. 1965) currently lives and works in Cornwall, UK, where he is a senior lecturer in Photography at Falmouth University. Throughout his artistic practice, Li examines the complexities of cross-cultural interactions, shaping contemporary identities, and challenges mainstream socio-historical narratives to forge new points of discussion, making him the ideal artist to bring esea contemporary’s mission to life. Furthermore, there is often an autobiographical element in Li’s work, and the artist places great emphasis on research as part of his creative process, drawing inspiration from world histories and archives.
Dinu Li, Back-a-Yard Brew, sculptural assemblage, on view at A Phantom’s Vibe, 2023. Photo by Jules Lister. Courtesy of esea contemporary.
A Phantom’s Vibe takes up the entire room of the main gallery, which is connected to esea contemporary’s Communal Project Space via a narrow hallway. Upon entering the exhibition room, one is immersed in the vibrant atmosphere of Hong Kong’s working-class market district. Known for its lively and busy environment, particularly at night, it is both sensationally arresting and, simultaneously, a means to connect to the artist’s past as it was the place where Li was brought up and lived as a child before he moved to the UK with his family. These memories were recreated by the artist through sculptural assemblages, arranged as stalls or street vendor’s carts across the gallery’s space. The combination of black walls and dimmed lights further enhance the ambience of Hong Kong’s night markets.
From the first moments of experiencing A Phantom’s Vibe, it becomes evident that music represents a fundamental component, infusing the whole gallery and developing into Li’s medium for communicating his ideas to the viewers. Playing from the deconstructed sound system, the reggae song ‘Always Together’ runs through the entire exhibition. When listening to it, the viewer would first probably recognise the familiar 1960s Jamaican rhythms. However, the sound becomes more foreign and intriguing as the singing begins. This is because reggae composition is being sung in Chinese and in a style somewhat reminiscent of traditional Chinese opera. By conflating two entirely different styles of music together in one, ‘Always Together’ blends cultures that one might traditionally not associate with one another, connecting two worlds into one.
Dinu Li, Natty Hustler (detail), sculptural assemblage, on view at A Phantom’s Vibe, 2023. Photo by Jules Lister. Courtesy of esea contemporary.
But, many questions remain... How was this unusual single recorded? Who was the singer? What exactly are the connections between the Jamaican and Chinese, partially revealed in ‘Always Together’? The answers to these questions are found in Li’s exhibition and its underlying story.
The idea of bringing A Phantom’s Vibe to esea contemporary’s space goes back to the artist’s experience of repeatedly hearing the original version of ‘Always Together’ at various stages of his life, each under different circumstances. Li first overheard this song as a child, walking around the market district of Hong Kong. At that time, Li had no point of reference and did not know that it was a reggae song, mistaking it for a Chinese folk classic. Later, when the artist and his family immigrated to the UK and moved to Manchester, ‘Always Together’ reappeared at a ‘blues’ party, which were the events organised by the Jamaican community in the inner-city that Li frequently attended during his youth. It was then that the artist realised that the song was not a Chinese folk song but an early-day reggae song in Chinese.
Li forgot about this realisation until he randomly heard the song on YouTube that would prompt an intense research period. In his findings, the artist then learned that ‘Always Together’ was actually recorded in Jamaica in the 60s by a man named Stephen Cheng, a Taiwanese who emigrated to the US, in one of the recording studios in Kingston owned by descendants of Chinese coolies. This is where the political context of the exhibition begins to manifest itself.
Dinu Li, Natty Hustler, sculptural assemblage, on view at A Phantom’s Vibe, 2023. Photo by Jules Lister. Courtesy of esea contemporary.
The coolie trade, another dark page of colonial history, emerged when the Western powers gradually began to be more conscious of the cruelties inflicted by the African slave trade in the first half of the nineteenth century. To fill the gap of workers, they had to seek cheap labour elsewhere, and in the mid-1800s, their choice fell on China, which at the time was weakened by the Opium Wars (1839–42; 1856–60). What differentiated coolies from enslaved people on paper is that their labour was bound by a contract and supposedly paid and mutually agreed upon, yet the reality was often far from that.
Those Chinese workers who were brought to Jamaica at the height of the coolie trade were eventually mixed with the local population, generation after generation, conflating their heritage and culture. Their descendants then launched record labels and recording studios, where Stephen Cheng travelled to in the 1960s to make his reggae song, which Li first heard as a child in Hong Kong.
Dinu Li, Herb Vendor (detail), sculptural assemblage, on view at A Phantom’s Vibe, 2023. Photo by Jules Lister. Courtesy of esea contemporary.
Thus, what seems distant and disparate becomes visible and finds new connections in Li’s sculptural assemblages. Some elements featured in his three-dimensional collages – as the artist himself refers to his works – combine references to complex colonial narratives, like twisted rattan, with the objects informed by East Asian heritage, such as pom poms and hair extensions, derived from the traditional Chinese opera. As the visitors walk around the sculptural assemblages, they are also encouraged to analyse them from different perspectives. The metal frames, which mimic market stalls, were sometimes arranged by Li so that one could look through them. The artist’s intention here is to challenge the views that give us a better perspective. According to Li, when we shift a little, our perspective alters, and we no longer get a ‘good’ view.
Dinu Li, Tinker’s Spell, sculptural assemblage with photographic prints, on view at A Phantom’s Vibe, 2023. Photo by Jules Lister. Courtesy of esea contemporary.
In addition to the newly commissioned sculptural assemblages, visitors to A Phantom’s Vibe can also explore Li’s two earlier works, Folk Songs (2013) and Nation Family (2017).
Situated in the right corner of the exhibition space, Folk Songs is a photographic slide projection that portrays the elderly Chinese people singing karaoke in public parks across China’s big cities. Visit such parks in China for the first time, one might be surprised to learn how they can bring the older generation together, transforming into major places of leisure and entertainment for those who have reached retirement. Singing folk songs on outdoor karaoke machines is one of the popular activities available in these parks, and by taking pictures of the singers, Li aims to capture the spirit of the epoch following the creation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Dinu Li, Folk Songs (2013), on view at A Phantom’s Vibe, 2023. Photo by Jules Lister. Courtesy of esea contemporary.
A piece central to the exhibition and to the enhancement of its theme is a video installation titled ‘Nation Family’. This is the work that the viewers might want to allocate fifteen to twenty minutes to grasp the idea and enjoy the video screening within a site-specific environment purpose-built by the artist. The video is the result of Li’s multi-year collaboration with his cousin, which was prompted by the story of one photograph taken at a labour camp in China in the early 1970s. This story was then given a new interpretation and overgrown with other characters within Nation Family, highlighting the conflicts of facts and fiction. Doctor Zhivago’s (1965) theme runs through the entire piece and is repeated three times throughout it in various renditions. This could send visitors back to the beginnings of A Phantom’s Vibe.
Dinu Li, Nation Family (2017), video installation, on view at A Phantom’s Vibe, 2023. Photo by Jules Lister. Courtesy of esea contemporary.
The exhibition ends in the Communal Project Space with a final gesture from Li to the public – a booth with his own music, including some of his favourite reggae records. As viewers move towards the exit, they can stop by the booth and play a vinyl they are drawn towards. Allowing the visitor to engage in the newfound musical knowledge provided by the exhibition and their own tastes is exactly the crux of Li’s own work as it mixes things that he has learnt with his prior knowledge. In doing so, visitors can personalise the experience and cater the ending to fit themselves, making the visit even more memorable.
Fundamentally, A Phantom’s Vibe is an invitation to trace a fascinating journey of sound that results in unexpected revelations and meaningful connections. By challenging familiar boundaries, the exhibition encourages us to notice what is seemingly invisible in our everyday lives and sparks new conversations on cultures and identities.
Dinu Li, Nation Family (2017), video still, 2017. Courtesy of the artist and esea contemporary.
A Phantom’s Vibe is on display at esea contemporary, Manchester until November 19th, 2023.
To learn more about Dinu Li’s work, please visit his personal website. And for more information about the exhibition as well as upcoming events at esea contemporary, please visit the organisation's website or follow them on Instagram.
MADE IN BED would like to thank Dinu Li for the informative tour he led on August 19th, 2023, which made it possible to gain insights into his works and inspirations, as well as the esea contemporary team for sharing the pictures of the exhibition and their support with this publication.
Daria Ozertskaya
Contributing Writer, MADE IN BED