Nanjing 1937 is a project initiated in 2007 under The Substation's Associate Artist Scheme. In the first two phases of the project, Nelson Chia created two solo performances, Nanjing: 1937 and Nanjing: 1937 Phase II, based on existing historical texts and contemporary responses to the Nanking Massacre. The Ma(r)king of Nanjing: 1937 will be the third and final instalment of the entire project.
The Ma(r)king of Nanjing: 1937 acknowledges the instability and historical construct by the very act of making and marking the artist's own experience of the Nanking Massacre.
This performance takes audiences on a "walk" through the cities, people, remains, monuments, testimonies and responses surrounding the Nanking Massacre, in order to erect a subjective landscape - a log/blog/travelogue/monologue - of the artist's encounter with the subject. It is an attempt to suggest that the arti-factuality of the Nanking Massacre is the only available (and affordable) way to talk about this historical event.
(Source: The Necessary Stage Programme)