Related Reading Taking it up a notch

Nordic countries are no longer out of reach for Chinese people as NOTCH 09, otherwise known as the Nordic-China Arts Festival, was launched simultaneously on October 24th in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The fourth year of NOTCH 09 has expanded greatly from its initial experimental audio-visual performances to include more extensive areas such as architecture, fashion and design. Invited artists from both the Scandinavian region and China are set to wow visitors with bizarre innovations and brave attempts to express oneself to the outside world.

Visitors watch the artworks displayed at the NOTCH 09 at Beijing Sanlitun Village, on October 24, 2009.

Choosing ID-entity as its subject, this year's NOTCH 09 aims at showcasing individuals with multiple identities, referring to those innovative people who can't be pinned down to any one community. They acquire inspiration and power from interacting with a multitude of identities, thus forming an even stronger innovative social class. Therefore, ID-entity is a home for such people.

In Beijing the whole Sanlitun village is being used as the base for this art festival, where various art exhibitions, open work shops, second-hand exchange markets, silent discos, a sleeping concert and meetings will be held over the following two weeks.

As the only art festival to be held simultaneously in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the NOTCH was founded in 2006. It seeks to promote cultural exchanges between Nordic countries and China.

Editor: Feng H ui