Dr. Edward Sanderson is a researcher and curator focusing on contemporary non-mainstream sonic practices from the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong. In 2025, Sanderson curated the exhibition ‘It Always Sounds Somewhere’ at Inside-Out Art Museum in Beijing, presenting an extensive set of installations of the multiple forms of space used for sound art and experimental music, supplemented by a series of related performances and talks. Sanderson is currently developing a physical and online archive of sound-related material and co-curating the Exit-Entry performance series bringing together Chinese Mainland and local artists to play in Hong Kong’s underground venues.
Zhongwei (Mabu) Li is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Leeds working on the ERC-funded MUSICSTREAM project. Before joining MUSICSTREAM, he worked as an LSE Fellow in Media and Communications. Having previously focused on music, subcultures, and the informal ways of cultural consumption and circulation in 1990s China, Mabu’s current research explores ruptures and continuities between the contemporary moment of music streaming and music cultures of the past thirty years afforded by different media formats – from physical recording media to downloadable digital files – and their respective ecosystems. His work with MUSICSTREAM aims to contextualise this set of changes within broader social, political, and economic transformations on the Chinese path to global capitalist modernity. Outside of academia, Mabu has also been involved in music scenes both in China and in the UK, working with various projects and organizations to bring China’s emerging artists to a wider international stage.