BBC Radio 4 Extra

China, Britain and the Nunzilla Conundrum

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

19/03/2010

BBC Radio 4 Extra - China, Britain and the Nunzilla Conundrum

Writer Anna Chen tracks a novelty toy from design in Britain to manufacture in China.

Writer and comedian Anna Chen follows a novelty toy from design in Britain, to manufacture in China. From 2010.

China - manufacturer of Nunzilla the fire-breathing nun, the Egyptian mummy-shaped elastic band holder Mummified Mike, and the Dashboard Jesus.

Britain - home of the creative types who send these ironic, sometimes blasphemous, novelty gift designs to the Chinese for manufacture.

What do these throwaway gifts tell us about our own society and our relationship with China? While our economic relationship flourishes, our respective cultures remain poles apart.

Writer and comedian Anna Chen follows a novelty toy from design through manufacture to the gift shops. Workers on the production lines in a south Chinese factory give their take on what on earth it is they're making and British designers try their best to deconstruct the joke.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

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