Between 8 and 9 (Chengdu Teahouse Project) 八和九之間 (成都茶館項目) was a 60-minute sound installation by Australian and Chinese artists featuring traditional instrumentation, new composition, electronics, sculptural design and vocal performance.

The work evolved from exploring teahouse culture into a reflexive meditation on the meeting of cultures, generations, languages and artistic practices. Intertwining ancient Chinese musical theory with ancient European spatial thinking, the work existed between Chengdu and Melbourne, audience and artists, meeting room and restaurant, music and live art.

Audiences sat at one of eight round tables with 'Lazy Susans' (餐桌轉盤 – cānzhuō zhuànpán) as a sculptural musical score formed and re-formed around them—voices calling, tables humming, sounds flickering across the space. Audiences were invited into a situation of choice, oscillation, and rotation, exploring what exists in the state between 8 and 9.

2018 Green Room Awards, Winner Best Sound Performance in the Contemporary and Experimental Category.

2018 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards, Winner Excellence in Experimental Music, Nominee Choral Work of the Year.

2017 Chengdu showcase (September)
2017 Castlemaine State Festival (21-25 March)
2017 Melbourne Recital Centre (29 March - 1 April)

(Chengdu Teahouse Project)
(成都茶館項目)

A Chamber Made work in partnership with artists from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music

Co-presented by Castlemaine State Festival and Melbourne Recital Centre for Asia TOPA

This work was created by all artists involved in a collaborative process led by Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey.

This project has been made possible with support from the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body, the Ministry for the Arts’ Catalyst—Australian Arts and Culture Fund, the Australia China-Council of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Cultural Diplomacy Grants Program. The project is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria. The creative development of this project was supported by a Playking Foundation Travel Grant and Darebin Arts, City of Darebin. Significant development support has been provided by Sichuan Conservatory of Music.

This project is supported by the Sidney Myer Fund and by Arts Centre Melbourne through Creative Victoria for Asia TOPA (Asia Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts).
Between 8 and 9 is the recipient of the Castlemaine State Festival George Fairfax New Theatre Award, supported by the Besen Family Foundation.

Asia TOPA is a joint initiative of the Sidney Myer Fund and Arts Centre Melbourne and is supported by the Australian and Victorian Governments

Between 8 and 9 has also been supported by the Australian Research Council and SIAL Sound Studios through the Agile Opera Project.