Please join us as China Residencies and W.O.W. Project present a guzheng artist talk with talented artists and musicians, Clara Lu and Kayla Briet. Kayla and Clara will each start off with a song, then weave together stories of how they came to learn and teach themselves the guzheng with the meaning, shape, and history of the instrument (as well as all the sister instruments), especially in the diasporas.

ABOUT KAYLA & CLARA

Kayla Briet is an artist exploring themes of identity in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, music, and virtual reality. As a multi-instrumentalist and self-taught composer, Kayla Briët scores her own films and creates music in styles ranging from cinematic to alternative pop to electronic. She performs live as a one-woman band, with her keyboard, guitar, loop pedal and guzheng zither, a traditional Chinese instrument. Recently, Briët was named a 2017 TED Fellow, 2016 Sundance Film Festival Ignite Fellow, 2016 Adobe Creativity Scholar, 2016 MIT Chamber Scholar for her interest in blockchain technology, and a 2016 Oculus Launch Pad Artist for virtual reality. Currently, she is creating and directing documentary and experimental film as well as immersive experienan artist exploring themes of identity in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, music, and virtual reality. es in the virtual reality space.

Clara Lu is a queer Chinese-American artist, born and raised in Queens, New York. She enjoyed engaging in her Shanghainese heritage and seeks out more ways to celebrate the dialect and culture. As a multidisciplinary creative, she thrives off o quirky, off-beat, concepts and creativity. Her interests primarily lie in bridging design, art, and social change through grassroots, community-based initiatives.