Kaishandao playing at Chengdu club TAG Photo: supplied
Kristen Ng aka electronic artist Kaishandao has been touring Aotearoa this summer in support of her beat-filled album Homeland. She describes it as an “atemporal exploration through the places, spaces and people we call home.”
Ng is Pōneke born-and-raised, but home for the past 10 years has been Chengdu, the captial of China’s Southwestern Sichuan province.
Chengdu is known for its lively club and contemporary music scene, with this artist, producer and writer near its centre. A keen cultural observer and promoter, Ng worked as a booker for a venue NU Space for many years and is co-facilitator of Chengdu Community Radio CDCR.
Kaishandao and whanau at the club Snails in Palmerston North 2024 Photo: supplied
Kristen Ng has also provided a rare bridge between the music scenes in Aotearoa and China. She runs the blog Kiwese documenting Chengdu culture, and has taken numerous Aotearoa musicians and artists on adventurous tours throughout China.
Kristen Ng's grandparents on the cover of Kaishandao's album Homeland. Photo: supplied
Kristen Ng’s work breaks down stereotypical perceptions of New Zealand by the Chinese - and of the Chinese by New Zealanders. Both are cooler scenes, she maintains, than our mainstream cultural diplomats make out.
In 2015 Kristen produced a documentary of a tour of China by NZ experimental band Orchestra of Spheres and DJ Lady Lazerlight, featuring interviews with numerous Chinese bands. It screens as part of an evening looking at DIY music making and touring in China at Wellington’s Pyramid Club on 28 February.
Kaishandao plays Meow in Pōneke 19 February, Camp a Low Hum in Wainuiomata 23 February and the Newtown Festival 3 March. Chengdu ambient musician Wu Zhouling will be touring alongside Ng
Kristen Ng caught up with Culture 101’s Mark Amery.
