If you wander through Shenzhen with a camera and a notebook, you are sure to find some incredible human stories. Doing just this has inspired the unique career of American anthropologist Mary Ann O’Donnell.
Walking the line between art and academia, O’Donnell has spent most of her working life here and her writing on the city has appeared in a large number of prestigious publications.
She kindly took the time to talk to The Nanfang about life in the city.
Mary Ann O’Donnell giving a talk at Shenzhen University’s School of Architecture, image via Sina.
Fascination with urban environments
O’Donnell first came to Shenzhen in 1995 to do research for her PhD in Cultural Anthropology at Rice University in Houston, a sister city. The dissertation, titled “Strategic Recognition: Watching the State in Shenzhen” covered post-Mao urbanisation.
Topics she was interested in included boom economies, the creation of wasteland through dumping, and how electronics was transforming landscapes.
Shenzhen, particularly its chengzhongcun (urban villages), was highly conducive to pursuing her interests. However, as a 2010 article in CNN Travel put it, “(this) amorphous, ephemeral kind of city, was far too complex to be packaged into a theory-bound academic paper.” Now more interested in the arty than the academic, O’Donnell devotes most of her time to a non-profit organisation called the CZC Special Forces (城中村特工队).
The team has had six months of gatherings at a “handshake building,” that is a complex so cramped that neighbours can reach across the alleys between buildings and shake hands. “The team uses art and research that engages urban villages in new ways,” she said.
Its goal is to give young artists a chance to show their work, and to engage a new audience.
O’Donnell hopes this will circulate in Shenzhen: “Someone who lives in Baishizhou is not going to leave Baishizhou to attend an art exhibit in another urban village,” she explained.
The team is applying for Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status.
Art & theatre
Married to a Chinese writer, O’Donnell is highly involved with the local arts scene. Her theatre troupe Fat Bird was legally registered in 2005 and is one of the few independent ones in the country.
Aided by cultural grants from the Nanshan District government, Fat Bird stages 2-3 original works a year. The latest, “Urban Fetish Baishizhou,” will be shown at The Value Factory (Venue A) at the ongoing Biennale during the first weekend of January.
The previous production,The Jasmine War was premiered in June.
Moreover, thanks to the CZC Special Forces, Baishizhou has become a collateral exhibition site at the Biennale. It is the first urban village to do so. Expats can enjoy the Biennale as everything is in English.
Committed to Shenzhen
O’Donnell is almost certain to stay in Shenzhen until she retires. “What I do and how I do it is basically all tied into the city,” she said.
With this deep attachment to Shenzhen comes considerable knowledge of some great locations. She is a fan of Xiasha in Futian District where there is a recently-completed temple which has been gilded, and the Suzhou-style garden in Huanggang.
For dining, one of her favourite places is Chegongmiao in Futian District. A vegetarian, O’Donnell likes the chain Awakening which has a branch there.
Once a location with many factories, she describes Chegongmiao as a “much grittier” environment than, say, OCT in Nanshan District. She puts this down to the fact that the “yuppification” in Chegongmiao was more organic.
If you want to regularly read such thoughts from one of Shenzhen’s most insightful observers, check out her blog Shenzhen Noted.
