Echoes of Elsewhere: Film Screening and Book Talk with Luka Yuanyuan Yang

Luka Yuanyuan Yang is a prolific artist-filmaker. She’s exhibited work and shown films everywhere from New York to Uruguay, Berlin to Hong Kong. She was the 2024 recipient of the BAZAAR Art Awards: Cross Cultural Creator of the year and from July 2025 she will be undertaking a year-long residency at esea contemporary in the Northern Quarter. To kick off her time in Manchester she will be hosting a film screening of three short films as well as a talk about her latest book. Get to know the artist and her work in this special event Echoes of Elsewhere. 

On the programme you will find the films: Cantonese Tunes on Mott Street, Tales of Chinatown and The Lady from Shanghai. Each one blends documentary, archival research and cinematic reimaginings to create a world of nostalgia and movement. Yang’s work often brings to light the overlooked fragments of Chinese diasporic life and the nuanced experience of different people depending on their geographic lineage. The films range from highly personal moments to collective histories but always maintain the thread of staying away from the dominant narratives in wider culture. 

Through the films you meet performers and activists powering the course of social history. Weaving a picture through oral history and memory. In her book Dance in Herland, Yang delves into the kernel of themes raised in the films and talks in further detail about the experience of making them. It isn’t often that an audience gets to connect such an internationally recognised artist directly to the artwork they make in a setting where the boundaries between person and practice are broken down. 

Join the artist and esea contemporary for an invaluable insight into this beautifully crafted world of moving image and migrational history. You can also find out about more talks, screenings and events similar to Echoes of Elsewhere coming up over the year long residency via the esea contemporary website