Event Details
East London has long been a hub for immigrants. In the 1970s, it welcomed a surge of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian immigrants. In recent years, with a wave of revitalization, East London has also seen the rise of new Chinese businesses. How are these ancient customs integrated into the new narratives of East London's spaces? We'll begin our exploration in Spitalfield Market, visiting venues run by Chinese and ESEA businesses: a rice noodle shop, a 1950s Hong Kong-style coffee bar, a toy and collectibles store, a contemporary art gallery, and a hidden teahouse. Along the way, shop owners and practitioners will share how immigrants have become part of London's street culture, crafts, and commerce. We'll then visit a park to experience nature and the ancient Chinese wellness practice of Qigong through a Qigong practice led by international artists from Intercultural Roots. Embracing the tension between the ancient and the modern in East and Southeast Asian cultures, we'll visit the soon-to-open Jiaonest, a new medical and wellness restaurant, for our after-party. There, we'll chat with the young owner about her insights into the fusion of Traditional Chinese Medicine, wellness, and fine dining.
This event welcomes everyone interested in urban, physical and living heritage, and invites you to start from scratch and imagine the future narrative of the East.
Programme
Movement/Qigong Lead: Dr Alex Boyd (with other movement artists from Intercultural Roots)
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Dr Alex Boyd has over 25 years professional experience as a plural community entrepreneur specialising in applied eco-embodied culture. Alex is the conceiver and co-founder of the Embodied Research Working Group at IFTR (International Federation for Theatre Research) through which he is Founding Executive Director with Intercultural Roots for Public Health. He has been a practitioner and teacher of Qigong for over 30 years. He is honorary Research Associate at the University of California Davis, Department of Theatre and Dance, and is a core member of the Cross Pollination Research Platform.
Walking Tour Guide: Dr Lois Liao
Lois is the Co-Founder and Festival Director for EAST2046, the first large scale East and Southeast Asian Tech x Art x Community festival and platform in the UK. She is a cross-disciplinary researcher bridging tech and humanities, with a current research post at Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre at the Cardiff University, a postdoc in Urban Economics from LSE, a PhD in Housing Studies from UCL, and research experiences from the University of São Paulo. She is also a qualified Yoga teacher, having been teaching at Age UK since 2022. Her work explores cities, communities, and cultural innovation. She regularly runs regeneration/gentrification-themed walking tours in London, which were also featured at London Data Week.
Walking Tour Guide: Eulan To
Eulan was born in London but Hong Kong/Chinese descent and the manager of ToandPartners a creative production agency promoting cultural collaborations, bridging art and business through digital projects in Luxury, Finance, Tech, and Property. www.Foldthe.World map philosophy – bring 2 points together to shorten distance and time. Though this we identified a new London landmark and coined “Eastend Chinatown” 8 Chinese owned business was selected to be featured on the map.
Afterparty Host: Jiaonest
Conceived by Chef Hua Yang, Jiaonest is a personal culinary project born from memory — a tribute to her hometown Chongqing, and to her parents, who raised her in the quiet rituals of a traditional Chinese herbal medicine shop.At Jiaonest, food is more than nourishment. It is narrative, medicine, and emotion — a sensory archive of the land she comes from and the life she has lived. Medicinal herbs, seasonal rhythms, and the intricate techniques of Sichuan cooking are reimagined into modern expressions of healing and connection.