WIF 2008 - webdesign international festival - France

Syan, aka MC Yan, Hong Kong designer who came to sit on the jam contest Jury. Former student of the école des beaux arts in Tours, this creative works with plastic, graphics, is a rapper… He describes his Wif 2008 experiences..

You lived in France for 9 years: had you ever been to Limoges before?

MC Yan : No, but I knew of it… and of its porcelaine. I’ve worked with ceramics myself. With Wif I discovered, with some astonishment, the involvement of this town to the internet.

How does the involvement of Limoges and the surrounding region appear to you?

MC Yan : ideal. The ambiance and environment, the involvement of local government… all seem favourable to the development of the internet here. Something important is happening in Limousin.
You are really lucky to live in a town whose size facilitates meetings and physical contacts that go above and beyond the virtual contact that the Web allows. It’s a propitious place for creativity, open to all, as the diversity of the Wif 2008 winners demonstrates. Limoges is the very picture of the nascent international Web community.

Pleased that you were on the  jam contest jury…

MC Yan : Yes, I’m really pleased I came to this happening. It was a great opportunity to meet lots of really passionate people.

Yet you are not a Web design specialist…

MC Yan : But I’ve been a Web user since I started using a computer! I spend a lot of time on the Web. It’s a tremendous way of communicating, to open one’s ideas to others, to exchange, all things that improve the creative process.

There’s a new urban culture emerging in China. Where’s the country in terms of the Web?

MC Yan : I think the Web will allow Chinese society to play catch-up. If I dared make a comparison, I’d say the country is only in the 1960s/70s in terms of its consumer culture.
But things are changing pretty quickly thanks to the Web, which is increasing our possibilities in terms of access to a mass-market culture. With the Web usage consumer culture is spreading rapidly, and then hopefully beyond the Web in its current form in time. At the moment, most Chinese use the Web like a toy, but it’s worth realising that democratic awakening has already started, thanks to the Web.
I’ve also notice a big fall-off in the amount of TV viewing the young are doing, in favour of the internet, with which they can communicate across regions more easily.

Can you give us an example of this collaborative project?

MC Yan : Our latest cultural initiative. It’s linked to the earthquake that so strongly affected the people at the centre of the country. TO help them, I recorded a tune with rappers from all over China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, It took us 4 or 5 days to complete the track, all thanks to the Web.

“Beyond the Web”, as you put it, predicts a greater contribution from China to the global village. What form will it take?

MC Yan : China culture goes back a millennium, it has a philosophy and wisdom    that could inspire others and contribute to the social experimentation at play in the world, knowing that with rapid changes come huge difficulties to overcome. We in a position to make sense of the Web, to nourish it, as the China being awoken by the Web is itself being nourished. For now, all that is a little constrained for us, but that will change.
It’s very important, as I’m convinced that we should take advantage of this tool to go beyond our differences, cultural barriers and national borders and survey the future of the world together. With reference to the Wif winners, the perfectly demonstrate the future of a world that can put its differences behind it to the betterment of all, thanks to the Web. That’s a real message of hope, and it’s why I’ll be coming back to Wif as soon as I can.

Are you therefore planning to come back to Wif 2009?

MC Yan : of course! And I’m also going to do my best to promote it and make the event known and to solicit entries of Chinese teams for future events, which we shall enrich with our culture and oriental creativity.