Magical Manuscripts - Luo Qi (published in China)

The renown, astute and eternally stimulating avant-garde artist Luo Qi (who resides both in China and Portugal) continues to push artistic and textual boundaries in his latest work ‘Medieval Notes’. Having travelled and read widely Luo Qi has been able to push his calligraphic quest beyond the structures and strictures of traditional Chinese and Western calligraphies, into fresh areas of academic and artistic interest.

Having an eclectic, questing, turn of mind Luo Qi has continued to stride forward with his love for literature, poetry, music and visual art. Incidentally, all of which had coalesced in the European Middle Ages. Luo Qi’s latest presentation brings some of these interests together in this modern evocation and remarkable volume ‘Medieval Notes’. This is at once a homage to the past while, simultaneously, being a contemporary and original ‘Lucky Handwritten’ artwork incorporating images created on hemp paper and rice paper with grey and a hemp silk texture (2019). 

Instead of Medieval text, Luo Qi has synthesised asemic writing through the use of Chinese pictograms (FU) and faux (or false) Western script beside illustrated first letters, as was common in Medieval manuscripts. Similar to other asemic writing, the viewer is hoodwinked into believing that the text has meaning outside of itself, whereas it has none. Luo Qi mentions that… “It is just a hypothesis, a mixture of unrelated relationships, and the text does not belong to the story, it belongs to pretend description, or narrative symbol, which is a misreading of the image. This is the idea contained in all my own artistic creation.”

In these ‘Medieval Notes’ there are evocations of venerated illuminated texts such as ‘The Book of Kells’ (an illuminated manuscript Gospel book, in Latin, currently to be found in Dublin’s Trinity College Library), and intimations of China’s 4th century compendium ‘The Guideways through Mountains and Seas’ (also known as Shanhaijing). Both were ‘epics’ in their time and while ‘The Book of Kells’ remains a prime example of a handmade and illustrated volume, China’s ‘Shanhijing' has been illustrated many times over the centuries, by hand and later printed.

Luo Qi’s weaving together of Chinese pictograms and Medieval Western manuscript imagery delivers what could be imagined to be an imaginary scribe’s ‘lost’ masterpiece, (one never actually written) binding East and West together in 90 manuscripts of "Medieval Notes” and referencing medieval cities, buildings, details, fragments and eras including ancient Greece, Rome and leading to the Renaissance (15th and 16th centuries in Europe) whose tales lived on through the  "dark times" of Medieval times (Middle Ages - 5th to the late 15th centuries).

Once again Luo Qi has triumphed in his creation. Melding his imagination with the reimagining of antiquarian art and imagery, Luo Qi presents something new out of something old, as if a magician pulling rabbits from a hat. The fecundity of Luo Qi’s imagination apparently knows no bounds as he intrigues and delights us as yet another fully fledged dove takes flight from the same hat which had once hosted white rabbits.

Martin A Bradley, England, 2021

The Blue Lotus magazine issue 51

https://issuu.com/martinabradley/docs/the_blue_lotus_magazine_51

on drinking Bombay Sapphire and Indian Tonic before seeing Antigone.

On drinking Bombay Sapphire, Indian Tonic Water and Antigone at the Mercury Theatre Colchester on a cold, grey, day in October. 

A mythological elephant stood guard between the Theatre and the town on one side, a gappy Roman wall on the other. We were sheltered from the storm, or so we thought. 

Dual storms raged, both on stage (at the Mercury Theatre) and in my heart. The former was part of the tragedy which has been Antigone since Sophocles wrote it in, or about, 442 BC (or BCE if you understand what that is). The Latter was on experiencing the absolute vision who is the amazing actor who played Antigone (none other than poster girl Adeloa Yemitan). It is she who Eros dangled before me to adore, to cherish and ultimately to part from in those seemingly short minutes of the play's performance. 

Antigone is billed as a tragedy, although it has all the ingredients of a family drama. Wicked aunty, rebellious niece who is partnered with wicked aunty's son, her cousin in other words, a devoted sister and dead brother. That is not to mention a family history of patricide, inscest and suicide. 

All this is somewhat hinted at in Merlynn Tong's brilliant adaptation of Sophocles' Antigone. All this drama and singing too. Although, technically, this production isn't a musical, it does have some incredible singing by Antigone's sister (Ismene, played by songstress Francesca Amewudah-Rivers). 

Like the magician his name hints at Mr Tong has woven a fresh narrative from the ancient Greek tragedy and, along with a very strong cast, brilliant direction, an imposing (virtually Art Brut) stage setting, exquisite sound and lighting we the onlookers were stunned in our seats, believing every word and action. 

To top it all, this was live Theatre not, hold on can we go again, television or film. The cast had to memorise all that action and lines. I was agog with the lengthy speeches, the passion and the production. I especially appreciated this as a man who, as a youth, couldn't remember his lines as a court usher in Toad of Toad Hall.