© Rain Wu. This is an AI-assisted image created with the support of Midjourney.
Step outside your comfort zone and into a night market of the future - a ticketed promenade performance for LIFT 2024
In the face of global food shortages, humans need to re-examine our food sources. One presenting itself as a sustainable and nutritious option is the unassuming bat. These flying mammals have been a delicacy in some cultures for centuries, but this ancient dish is often viewed with disgust in the Western world.
Yet with some bat populations declining, is it problematic to consume them? Should they instead be revered for their vital impact on our ecosystem? How do we navigate notions of delicacy, disgust and interspecies empathy as we radically rethink the norms of global consumption?
Set in an imagined night market where bat species are extinct, BAT NIGHT MARKET intersects performance, speculative design and science. Audiences are invited to celebrate these enigmatic animals in an evening of discussions, games, tastings and sensory experiences.
Creative R&D for BAT NIGHT MARKET took place in Taiwan at Taipei Performing Arts Center and here in the UK at Science Gallery London, where artists Kuang-Yi Ku and Robert Johnson collaborated with a number of King’s researchers. These included Lucy Di Silvio, a Professor of Tissue Engineering; PhD researcher Martha Gallardo Galaviz; anthropologist Ann Kelly; and Gemma Bowsher, who works at the interface of health security and biological threats. Together, their combined expertise and scientific knowledge have helped design this imagined future.
LIMITED £5 TICKETS AVAILABLE
To book a £5 ticket, select a Full Price (£22) ticket and on the next page enter the promotion code MARKETPLACE to reduce the price to £5. Subject to availability, so be quick!
GALLERY 1 | VARIOUS ENTRY TIMES
CREDITS
Co-commissioned by LIFT and Taipei Performing Arts Center
Lead Artist: Kuang-Yi Ku
Lead Artist: Robert Johnson
Dramaturg: Ding-Yun Huang
Culinary Designer: Rain Wu
Taiwan Producer: Hui-Chun Chan
UK Producer: Hao-Wen Lin
UK Production Manager: Charlotte Ranson
Special thanks to Chia-Hua Lee, Cheng-Han Chou, Chun-Ting Chen, Gemma Bowsher, Martha Gallardo Galaviz, Luke Keyte, Lucy Di-Silvio, Po-Chun Chou, Wei-Lun Sun
BAT NIGHT MARKET is funded by ARTWAVE and the British Council as part of the International Collaboration Grants, and the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF). Supported by Cockayne Grants for the Arts, a donor advised fund at the London Community Foundation. Research and development supported by Science Gallery London, part of King’s College London, and the Embassy of the Netherlands in the UK. Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Bao, Goldsmiths University of London, and Taipei Performing Arts Centre (TPAC).