Cuentos de presagio

Querido lector. No lea is the title of a piece by Mexican artist and editor Ulises Carrión. Inspired by that provocation, an online anti-reading space will be created through a series of periodic sessions. For this edition, participants will revisit Strange Tales of a Chinese Studio (1766), a collection of fantastic short stories written by Pu Songling during the Qing dynasty, as part of the public program of Chantal Peñalosa’s exhibition Cuentos de Presagio at MAZ.

About the book

Strange Tales of a Chinese Studio (in Chinese: Liaozhai Zhiyi) is a collection of fantastic tales written by Pu Songling during the Qing dynasty. It gathers more than 400 short stories that combine the supernatural with social critique, featuring ghosts, spirit foxes, immortals, monsters, and humans who interact in worlds where dreamlike logic challenges reality. Through these stories, Pu Songling explores themes such as injustice, corruption, impossible love, and the nature of desire, with an elegant prose rich in irony and poetic sensitivity. The work is considered a classic of Chinese literature and a key reference within the zhiguai (tales of the strange) tradition.

Reading the book in advance is not required.

Free online activity — Prior registration required

Requirements: a device (phone, tablet, or computer) with camera, microphone, speakers or headphones, the Zoom app, and a stable internet connection.

— MAZ