Mail to Ejva Nsva - Shanghai - China

A first experiment with an envelope to Shanhai in China.

Contribution from Portugal

Mail Art from China arrived

The first Mail-Art from China since the start of this blog arrived. Above the Air-Mail stamp they use in China. Below the envelope in which the card was sent. The original postcard was refused by the Chinese Postal Office because it was NO POSTCARD. The size was not confirm the regulation. Putting it in an envelope helped, and it made it safe to Breda, Netherlands. Notice the new China postage stamps. They have nice theme's too. Glad the contact is established. More mail-art from and to China will be no problem now.

Ejva Nsva - Shanghai China

Received mail from Ejva in China, and will scan it soon. Now I have an addres to test: sending out mail-art to Shanghai in China.

Blogger is banned in China

In the e-mail from Amo Mao I read that Blogger is banned in china. So Chinese Mail-Artists can't make a blog, but also can't read a blog from Blogger. The banning of certain Internet areas is common use in China. That is also why Google has problems there (see previous e-mails.

I am glad though that the IUOMA platform is accesible in China, and we have nog some members from China already. The first mail-art from me arrived in China. Mail-Art from Hong-Kong already arrived here, and maybe a surprise from Shanghai will arrive before the year ends.

So, the project is already quite a succes. Connections are made, and a mail-artists in Shanghai would like to do a mail-art project which I will support and follow though this blog too.

E-mail from Amo Mao - Shanghai - China

i have got ur mailart today (2010.12.16)and that proves mailart can be sent to China, i did a small test here and made a mini group to know if people interested, and find that there are a lot. so my idea of hold a mailart show in Shanghai China can be started. and then i applyed a website for mailart in China, i am very interested in mailart, hope that more and more mailartist will participate in.

best

Amo

After sending comes receiving.

The first letters to China are sent out. The waiting starts. A postcard from Hong Kong already arrived, but I am especially curious on mail from mainland China. I know I received some mail-art back in the 80-ies from China. It was an American who taught english languale in China and was also a mail-artists. He sent out some wonderful things back then. Have to go through my Archive to find that specific envelope.

Also I know Peter Kuestermann and Angela went to China on the Worldtour and sent me something then. Again, will have to go through the TAM-Archive to find such historic samples.

In this blog the main issue remains. China, being the largest country and therefor with so many artists, has almost no mail-artists active in their main cities. With this project I am trying to change that and make a connection from the mail-art network with China.

So, when someone is reading this, and can help me reach this goal, I am very glad with your suggestions and help.

Mail to Amo Mao - Shanghai - China

On the IUOMA platform (see: http://iuoma-network.ning.com/) there are 44 visitors from China. One of them is a member of the IUOMA and lives in Shanghai. So I am please to have her mailing address and am sending this into the mail today. Because of the Social Network I can keep trach directly to if the mail arrives or not, and even get comments on the process. So a first connection to the mainland China.

Amo Mao wrote that mail-art to Hong Kong is different to the mainland. Because of the British history of Hing Kong the regulation in that part are different. So that is why this first test is an important one. Shanghai is a large city in China. There are so many artists in that city. Would be interesting to have a first communication by traditional mail.

Visitors from China on IUOMA

1. Dongguan 181 4,32 00:02:09 95,58% 96,13%
2. Guangzhou 60 1,07 00:00:03 100,00% 96,67%
3. Shanghai 52 6,63 00:07:12 30,77% 42,31%
4. Beijing 15 1,33 00:00:51 93,33% 80,00%
5. Shenzhen 5 1,20 > 00:00:00 80,00% 80,00%
6. Putian 3 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
7. Kunming 3 1,67 00:00:07 100,00% 66,67%
8. Shanghai 3 27,00 00:09:46 100,00% 0,00%
9. Zhengzhou 3 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
10. Changsha 3 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
11. Beijing 3 2,67 00:00:23 100,00% 66,67%
12. Xian 3 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
13. Nanjing 2 1,50 00:00:16 100,00% 50,00%
14. Chongqing 2 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
15. Foshan 2 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
16. Shijiazhuang 2 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
17. Tianjin 2 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
18. Hangzhou 2 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
19. (not set) 2 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
20. Xiamen 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
21. Changchun 1 1,00 00:00:00 0,00% 100,00%
22. Wenzhou 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
23. Hangzhou 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
24. Ningbo 1 2,00 00:00:04 100,00% 0,00%
25. Zhuhai 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
26. Suqian 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
27. Qujing 1 2,00 00:00:06 100,00% 0,00%
28. Chengdu 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
29. Huaian 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
30. Wuhan 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
31. Fuzhou 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
32. Hohhot 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
33. Haikou 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
34. Changzhi 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
35. Linchuan 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
36. Leshan 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
37. Handan 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
38. Shenyang 1 2,00 00:00:15 100,00% 0,00%
39. Zhangqiu 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
40. Deyang 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
41. Shenzhen 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
42. Shijiazhuang 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
43. Jinan 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
44. Changchun 1 2,00 00:00:47 100,00% 0,00%

Visitors from 44 cities in CHINA visited our IUOMA-platform. Just discovered that through Google Analytics. Qute a public from China already!

Chinese Addresses of Mail-Artists

There is now a new support in the search for mail-artists in China and to establish a contact. On the IUOMA network there is now a group where several mail-artists will attempt to join forces to find addresses, test if we can get our mail-art there, and see if we get responses. An interactive platform that will work more effective.

Join in at: http://iuoma-network.ning.com/group/chinamailart

Mail to Suet - Hong Kong

Answering a first card from Hong Kong (Suet, also member of the IUOMA) and sending her this painted envelope. I hope it reaches her.

Mail to China - Horst Baur

Horst Baur moves to China

A first pioneer goes to China and leaves his address here for us. Send him mail Art and we will see if it reaches China. Horst Baur is a german mail-Artist that moved to China in October 2010.

FIRST CONTACT

Today a new member entered the IUOMA platform on http://iuoma-network.ning.com/ who lives in China

A Mail-Artists from china, with her own blog on http://lazybunny128.blogbus.com/ lazybunny

心里住着小怪物/夜深人静的时候/它就会出来溜达/
所以当你遇到些恶作剧/生活上的小困难/千万不要悲伤哦/
这只是小怪物们/耐不住寂寞/开的小小玩笑

(lazybunny)：喜欢所有美好事物/爱好图形设计/喜欢各类玩偶/爱看动画/喜欢出去晃达/相信生活总有美好存在
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cooldesign_lazybunny/

So a first digital contact with a mail-artist in China. I'll let you know when a first piece of Chinese Mail-Art actually is spotted.

Jennifer Kosharek - USA

On Facebook I found another of the invitations that was altered by at least Two artists. Torma Cauli from Hungary must have passed it on to jennifer Kosharek in USA. On facebook she writes she still has to pass this on to TAM. But I copied the image already for blogreaders to see. When the original gets in, it will join the permanent collection of the TAM-Archive

China Post Forms

Oh forgot. When needed, fill in one of those lovely chines declarations that it is just Mail-Art and can be sent into the world without any special costs.

Chinese Mail-box

This is the box where any chinese artists can put a letter into addressed to a mail-artists outside china. When someones does that and it reaches one of us. The first mail-art contact would be established through this project. Chinese Artists, just send your mail-art to TAM, P.O. Box 1055, 4801 BB Breda, Netherlands, and it will be documented on this blog.

China Post

The proof that there is a mailing system in China is there. Ther have the normal China Post. It seems closed on the day the photo was taken, but this shows that there are organisation concerned with Post.

New Google Licence for China

Article in Dutch Language. Google has a new licence to operate in China. So they might find this article too? We will see in the statistics if someone from china has arrived....

The article (Dutch Language):

China bevestigt nieuwe licentie voor Google
Uitgegeven: 11 juli 2010 12:12
Laatst gewijzigd: 11 juli 2010 12:59

PEKING - De Chinese overheid heeft zondag bevestigd dat het internetbedrijf Google actief kan blijven in China. Het Amerikaanse bedrijf, dat de nieuwe licentie vrijdag al aankondigde, zou weer aan alle eisen voldoen die de Chinese overheid stelt aan internetbedrijven.

© AFPDe internetgigant lag de afgelopen maanden zwaar in de clinch met de Chinese autoriteiten. Het bedrijf dreigde China de rug toe te keren na herhaalde aanvallen van Chinese hackers op de emailadressen van mensenrechtenactivisten.

Uiteindelijk besloot Google te stoppen met de zelfcensuur op zijn sites, door zoekopdrachten uit China door te linken naar websites in Hongkong.

Daardoor konden Chinese internetgebruikers meer te weten komen over onderwerpen die door de Chinese overheid streng worden gecensureerd.

Eind juni besloot Google echter weer te stoppen met dit doorlinken, om te voorkomen dat het de Chinese internetlicentie zou verliezen.

Wetten

Volgens het Chinese staatspersbureau Xinhua heeft het Chinese bedrijf dat de websites van Google in het communistische land beheert, Guxiang, in de aanvraag van de licentie aangegeven zich te onderwerpen aan de Chinese wetten.

Die verbieden internetbedrijven onder meer om informatie te verspreiden die de ,,macht van de staat ondermijnt, de nationale veiligheid bedreigt of etnische spanningen aanwakkert'', aldus Xinhua. Ook is het verboden om pornografisch of gewelddadig materiaal te verspreiden

source: www.nu.nl

Papers are circulating

No papers with "Chinese Mail-Art" have been returned in the last weeks, so they must be circulating in the network. The vacation time has started so not a lot will happen in the comming months. We will see how this research will develope. Maybe anyone went for vacation to China and comes back with some interesting contacts?

R.F. Côté - Canada

R.F. Côté from Canada received one of the posters of Chinese Mail-Art as well. He cut out the chinese word for Mail-Art and collaged it onto some typical Chinese images. Sure looks cool. Maybe the search engines will pick this up with the words Chinese or China used often enough.

Remember that the goal of this mail-art research project is eventually to have some rel Chinese Mail-Artists sending and receiving mail-art as well. Not sure how long that will take. The chinese economy is booming. So the luxury called 'mail-art' isn't that far away.....

Latest results Google in China

This page offers a summary of accessibility to Google services from within mainland China. The status is assessed by geographically diverse servers that are used to monitor connection capability. Note that service status in China has a fluctuating nature. This assessment may not reflect small-scale blocking that frequently occurs or individual experiences with issues such as keyword blocking that may affect access to services temporarily.

This dashboard receives updates at least once a day, generally in the evening Pacific Time. Unless otherwise noted, this status information applies both to consumer services and to services for organizations using Google without advanced network configurations.

http://www.google.com/prc/report.html

So it seems certain functions of Google still are operational inside China.

China and Google

Not sure what the status is of Google in China.In the news the story moths ago was that Google withdraw its search engine from China, but I still have to research how the situation is in 'real digital life' inside China. Maybe someone out there has more details on this. Will try to find some good articles on the subject (maybe try the original Google search-engine to find this information...)

Singapore - getting closer

Hi Ruud, I googled the words "Singapore" "mail art" and found this...

http://www.instinc.com/instinc_/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=46

Singapore right next to China... Mail from Adamandia Kapsalis.

Nico van Hoorn - Netherlands

Nico van Hoorn (Netherlands) sent me this postcard. He is supporting the search for Chinese mail-Artists by placing the Chinese Word for "Mail-Art on his outgoing post. It is a start to make this accessible for China as well. Where are all those Chinese Mail-Artists? It is the largest country and we don't have any connecyions yet. hat should change. They learn english there too, so that isn't the problem. This project lasts as long as the moment Chinese Mail-Atists are visible in out network.

Mail from Nico van Hoorn to Samuel Montalvetti

On mail from Nico van Hoorn to Samuel Montalvetti I noticed that Nico still is printing the Chinese word for Mail-Art. Thanks for this advertising!

Okadascat - UK

Contribution from Okadascat (UK). "They're behind you (oh no they're not)" suggest that there are already Chinese Mail-Artists among us, but we are not aware of them. We will find out during this project.

First visits from China!

Detailniveau: Land/gebied Plaats
Land/gebied
Subcontinentregio
Continent Bezoeken Pagina's/bezoek Gem. tijd op site % nieuwe bezoeken Bouncepercentage
1. Netherlands 19 2,32 00:06:10 26,32% 63,16%
2. United States 11 1,55 00:00:45 100,00% 81,82%
3. Brazil 4 1,75 00:00:51 75,00% 75,00%
4. Portugal 3 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
5. Canada 3 3,67 00:00:23 100,00% 66,67%
6. Hong Kong 2 3,50 00:04:53 100,00% 0,00%
7. Germany 2 2,00 00:01:02 100,00% 50,00%
8. Serbia 2 4,50 00:03:30 50,00% 0,00%
9. Belgium 2 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
10. Mexico 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
11. Colombia 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
12. Latvia 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
13. Switzerland 1 2,00 00:00:34 100,00% 0,00%
14. Taiwan 1 2,00 00:01:14 100,00% 0,00%
15. Italy 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
16. United Kingdom 1 1,00 00:00:00 100,00% 100,00%
17. Japan 1 1,00

From Google Analytics I discovered that among the first visits from abroad there are also two visits from Hong Kong. That is today's China! They stayed 4 minutes on the blog, so they did investigate what was going on.

Google China Live - report

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/mar/22/google-china-live

Google stops censoring Chinese search engine: How it happened. Two months after threatening to quit China in a security row, Google has closed down its Chinese search engine and sent users to its Hong Kong equivalent. We followed all the reaction and ripples from the announcement here.

Google

This blog has been reported to Google. It is also analysed by Google Analytics. So when the first digital contacts with China are made I can report that to you. On the other blogs I have I have seen some sporadic visits from China. But no real reactions yet.

I hope that with the Chinese Word Mail-Art in traditional Chinese (郵件藝術) or even the other varioation (邮件艺术) the search engines pick up on this and we will see if Google helps us with finding mail-artists.

A translation made with BabelFish of this text:

這個博克向Google报告。 Google也分析它Analytics。 因此，當與中國的第一數字式聯絡被联系时我可以那向您报告。 在我有我的其他博克看了從中國的一些分散參觀。 但是沒有真正的反應。 我希望與用繁体中文(郵件藝術)甚至另一varioation (郵件藝術)的中國詞郵件藝術查尋引擎在此整理，並且我們將看見Google是否幫助我們有找到的郵件藝術家。 用這文本BabelFish做的翻譯

这个博克向Google报告。 Google也分析它Analytics。 因此，当与中国的第一数字式联络被联系时我可以那向您报告。 在我有我的其他博克看了从中国的一些分散参观。 但是没有真正的反应。 我希望与用繁体中文(郵件藝術)甚至另一varioation (邮件艺术)的中国词邮件艺术查寻引擎在此整理，并且我们将看见Google是否帮助我们有找到的邮件艺术家。 用这文本BabelFish做的翻译

http://nl.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_txt

Nico van Hoorn - Netherlands

Contribution from Nico van Hoorn (Netherlands). Not an indication of where to find Chinese Mail-Artists yet. But a nice ides is the Chinese Word "Mail-Art" almost like a sticker or rubber stamp. Maybe I need to make something like that to try to make contact with Chinese mail-artists. Actually the final goal of this Mail-Art research project.

Robert Scala - Italy

A first reaction to the distribution of the Image and question arrived by traditional mail today. Robert Scala from Italy sent a printout of the image and altered it (above). He also included the card below. A typical Mail-Art responce. But the first clue to find chinese mail-artists is there: The Chinese restaurants, and China Town. There are chinese people there. Maybe they are in contact with China and could they direct us to Chinese Mail-Artists. I still hope this project will bring us a contact to China. Ask for an artist connection next time you eat Chinese!

Political Impact

This project I started isn't that harmless as it seems. The article published below indicates that China is being observed by many, but only few criticize the lack of human rights in China. Why aren't there Mail-Artists in China? Is there a free exchange possible for people inside this large country? Questions, and those need answers.

Bekritiseer China openlijk!

Xiaotian Wu, 29-04-2010 13:53h

In Shanghai gaat de Expo van start. China maakt daarmee goeie sier. Maar het is hoog tijd juist nu de mensenrechtensituatie aan de orde te stellen. Op 1 mei gaat de Expo 2010 Shanghai China van start, op een moment dat het mensenrechtenprobleem in China groter is dan ooit. Het evenement trekt veel aandacht overal ter wereld, maar het is belangrijk te weten dat de Chinese regering de Expo ook gebruikt om tijdens grootschalige acties beoefenaars van Falun Gong te arresteren.

Die vervolging is al tien jaar aan de gang, en was het gevolg van het feit dat deze beweging die in 1992 voor het eerst in het openbaar naar buiten trad, zo snel groeide dat het aantal aanhangers van deze beweging groter werd dan het aantal leden van de communistische partij. Er waren 70 miljoen Falun Gong-aanhangers, en 65 miljoen leden van de communistische partij.

Trefwoorden
'Waarachtigheid, mededogen en verdraagzaamheid” zijn de drie trefwoorden van Falun Gong. Wij stimuleren openheid en onafhankelijk denken. We willen geen politieke beweging zijn, we zijn een beweging waarvan de leden aan meditatie doen en zich spiritueel en lichamelijk willen ontwikkelen.

Maar toch ziet de regering ons als bedreiging voor haar machtspositie. Honderdduizenden aanhangers van deze beweging zijn gearresteerd, een kwart van de Chinese financiën gaat direct of indirect naar de bestrijding van Falun Gong. Bestrijden van deze beweging is in het algemeen in China een opdracht geworden want het is bijvoorbeeld essentieel om als ambtenaar hogerop te komen. Naast het lidmaatschap van de communistische partij natuurlijk.

Ironisch
Zelf ben ik aan vervolging ontsnapt. Ik woon nu hier. Maar tal van vrienden van me zitten in de gevangenis of in werkkampen waar ze ondermeer goederen produceren die Chinese bedrijven ironisch genoeg tegen een lage prijs in het Westen weten af te zetten. Een van de gevangenen is Xiaojun Guo die onlangs werd gearresteerd en nu in het Baoshan District Detentiecentrum in Shanghai zit. De politie gebruikt geweld om hem zijn overtuiging te doen opgeven. Het is zijn familie niet toegestaan hem te bezoeken. Hij is gearresteerd, de afgelopen jaren hebben al drie van mijn vrienden hun overtuiging met de dood moeten bekopen. Dat ben ik via internet te weten gekomen, de officiële kanalen zwijgen.

Wat aanhangers van Falun Gong zoals ik bepleitten, is dat Chinezen fundamentele rechten krijgen, dat de onderdrukking en de corruptie stoppen en dat we onze meditatie-oefeningen openlijk kunnen praktizeren.

Let wel, ik houd van China, maar ik houd niet van het communistische regimeOm dat te bereiken moet er meer openlijke druk van buiten worden uitgeoefend. Deze Expo is daarvoor een uitgelezen kans. Tot nu toe werd vooral 'achterdeurdiplomatie' bedreven, ook door Nederland. Maar veel heeft dat niet geholpen. Want dan zou immers de mensenrechten situatie de afgelopen jaren aanzienlijk zijn verbeterd.

Openlijke kritiek
En de internationale commissie van juristen heeft bijvoorbeeld verklaard dat het enige waar China op reageert openlijke kritiek is. Of zoals een voormalige Chinese diplomaat in Australië het verwoordde: de regering is er gelukkig mee dat er geen openbare druk is. Bij overleg achter gesloten deuren wisselen we meningen uit die we daarna naast ons neerleggen. En de volgende keer gaat het net zo.

De invloed van de internationale gemeenschap werkt echt wel om de vervolging te beperken. In de afgelopen 10 jaar is het gebleken dat het regime in China zich wat beter gedraagt wanneer er kritiek van buitenaf komt. Er zijn voorbeelden van mensen die vrijgelaten zijn nadat regeringen openlijk bij China klaagden. Dus openlijke kritiek werkt niet averechts. Integendeel.

Let wel, ik houd van China, maar ik houd niet van het communistische regime. Dit regime kan ons land niet vertegenwoordigen. Dit regime controleert China’s overheid, politie, leger en China’s media; het vernielt de traditionele Chinese cultuur; het onderdrukt en bedriegt de mensen. Vandaar dat er nu openlijke kritiek moet komen.

Ik hoop dan ook dat de Nederlandse regering openlijk het mensenrechtenbeleid en de vervolging van Falun Gong-aanhangers bij China aan de orde te stellen. Dat is ook in het belang van Nederland zelf. Want er zijn voorbeelden te over van Chinese werknemers, Falun Gong-aanhangers of niet, bij Nederlandse bedrijven in China die onder druk zijn gezet, zijn gearresteerd of gewoon zijn verdwenen. Of zoals Martin Luther King het zei: injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere

source: http://extra.volkskrant.nl/opinie/artikel/show/id/5719/Bekritiseer_China_openlijk%21

How to take part?

There are several ways to take part in this project. First is to interact on the paperversion of the kickoff statement as published on: http://chinesemailart.blogspot.com/2010/05/start-of-research-project.html If you don't have received a paper from me, you can print it out yourself. Also digital manipulations of the paper / file are accepted. Just send them to r.janssen@iuoma.org and mention in the subject header: Chinese Mail-Art. What would be great is to get one of the papers or file to china and to receive a reaction from them. After all, they are the largest community and they need to hook up to the Mail-Art Network.

Chinese Mail-Art - Translation

在5月4日我開始了這個小研究计划。 在哪裡中國郵件藝術家？ 首先我必須问問題。 我做增加&的Als; 通過我將送入網絡的紙。 什麼我盼望是連接到一些中國郵件藝術家和集成他們全球网络。 在80ies我有與中國藝術家的有些聯絡。 並且，因為從美國的藝術家工作了在中國裡面並且安排了有些聯絡。 現今hina增長，但是在我們的全球性郵件藝術網絡的连接未被建立。 可能這個小項目將帶來一些變動。 我在发生了什么，並且什麼將保持您被更新這研究通过blogging帶來所有關於什麼發生，在我開始了這個项目之後。 Ruud Janssen， 2010年5月3th日

Paperwork

Besides spreading the image of the project in text form, I also published a digital image on several blogs and made 50 prints of the invitation. On while, yellow and blue paper. they will be sent out with my outgoing mail-art. We will see if somehow this gets to China or not. As fas as I know there are no members from China on the IUOMA-platform as well.

Start of a research project

On May 4th I started this small research project. Where are the chinese mail-artists? First I have to ask the question. Als I made add & pass on papers which I will send into the Network. What I hope for is to connect to some Chinese Mail-Artists and integrate them into the global network.

In the 80-ies I did have some contacts with Chinese artists. Also because artists from the USA worked inside China and arranged some contacts. Nowadays hina grows, but the connections in our global Mail-Art network have not been established. Maybe this small project will bring some changes.

I will keep you updated on what happens and what this reserach brings by blogging all about what happens after I started this project.

Ruud Janssen, May 3th 2010