Projects tagged "Beijing"

Zhang Huan, To Raise the Water Level in a Fishpond
Practitioner:
Zhuang Huan, some laborers, fishermen, construction workers
Date:
Sep 1 1997
Zhuang Huan invited more than 40 men - laborers, fishermen, construction workers––who had recently migrated to Beijing from other areas of China to participate. Zhang Huan said, “In order to find these workers, I visited many of the shacks where they live.”
Taking Feminist Battle to China’s Streets, and Landing in Jail
Practitioner:
Young Chinese Feminists
Date:
Feb 2 2012
The young Chinese feminists shaved their heads to protest inequality in higher education and stormed men’s restrooms to highlight the indignities women face in their prolonged waits at public toilets.
The Most Shocking Image I Can Remember Is Seeing Myself in the Mirror
Practitioner:
Ai Weiwei
Date:
Apr 3 2011
It can be important to reflect on the artistic recounts of activists experiences under state imprisonment. In a revealing interview with Artspace, Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei reflects on his 81-day secret detention in 2011 and the psychological strategies used to dismantle identity and autonomy.
Dialogue
Practitioner:
Xiao Lu
Date:
Jun 4 1989
The China Project: - An Artist in her Gun in 1989: Xiao Lu's Accidental Revolt:
Wuming Art Collective
Practitioner:
Zhao Wenliang, Yang Yushu, Zhang Weu and fellows
Date:
Jan 1 1969
The Wuming Painting Collective, formed in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), was a clandestine group of artists who defied the authoritarian control over art and expression. In a time when all art was harnessed as propaganda to glorify the state and Chairman Mao, Wuming artists turned their gaze toward everyday life, painting still lifes, street scenes, human figures, and most iconically, serene landscapes.
The Invisible Man
Practitioner:
Liu Bolin
Date:
Jan 1 2005
“My intention was not to disappear in the environment but instead to let the environment take possession of me” Said Liu Bolin. With his strong photography, Bolin vanishes into the city, creating a powerful statement about our relationship, as humans, to our surroundings.
Free the Beijing Five
Practitioner:
Wang Man, Wei Tingting, Zheng Churan, Li Tingting, Wu Rongrong
Date:
Mar 6 2015
Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale write: Five Chinese feminists have been arrested for planning to protest against sexual harassment. They face five to ten years in jail. This post explains the background to the case, and suggests ways that other activists around the world can show solidarity.
"blood-stained wedding dress, wounded bride"
Practitioner:
Maizi Li, Jing Xiong
Date:
Feb 14 2012
On February 14, 2012, three female college student volunteers wore blood-stained wedding dresses and appeared as "wounded brides" in Beijing Qianmen Pedestrian Street.
"Do You Hear Women Sing"
Practitioner:
Qingnianhezi
Date:
Nov 24 2013
On Nov 24, 2013, more than 10 Chinese feminist activists sang the feminist song "Do You Hear Women Sing" in the cabin of Beijing Metro Line 13 (adapted from the famous song "Do You Hear the People Sing" in the musical "Les Miserables". Beijing has the most stringent control on society.
My vagina says, “I want freedom.”
Practitioner:
Beijing Foreign Studies University Students
Date:
Nov 12 2013
In November 2013, a group of 17 female students at Beijing Foreign Studies University sparked national debate when they staged a bold social media campaign in support of an upcoming performance of The Vagina Monologues, a feminist play by Eve Ensler.
Instantaneous ownership
Practitioner:
Zou Yaqi, China News
Date:
May 21 2021
"Why should I play a celebrity and live in Beijing for 21 days without spending money?" From May 1st to May 21st, 2021, I spent 21 days in Beijing without spending money, and I was as elegant as a celebrity. I recorded this behavior through video. Video "Instant Ownership" 28-minute graduation exhibition version of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (click to watch)
China's Underground Hiphop
Practitioner:
In3er
Date:
Jan 1 2008
China's underground hiphop became an art movement since early 2000s. With characteristics of self-expression, localization and social criticism, Chinese hip hop music quickly gained popularity among students and working-class Chinese. Some notable music groups from Beijing include Yin Ts'ang (隐藏) and In3er (阴三儿).
Chinese Rock Music in 1990s for Freedom
Practitioner:
Cui Jian
Date:
Jun 4 1989
The rise of rock and roll in the late 1980 was largely associated with the student movements taking place at the same time. Cui Jian, considered by many to be the godfather of Chinese rock, even performed for the students on hunger strike in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
21-Day Survival Challenge
Practitioner:
Artist Zou Yaqi
Date:
May 1 2021
In her 2021 graduation project from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Chinese performance artist Zou Yaqi staged a provocative social experiment titled “21-Day Survival Challenge.” For three weeks, Zou assumed the persona of a wealthy socialite, using counterfeit luxury items, strategic self-presentation, and social engineering to access elite spaces in Beijing—such as five-star hotel lobbies, first-class airport lounges, and high-end restaurants
Heritage loss and the Importance of the Past
Practitioner:
Ai Weiwei
Date:
Jan 1 1995
Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn (1995) by Ai Weiwei is a highly provocative work of art. This series of three black and white photographs portray the artist holding a 2,000-year-old Han dynasty urn that, frame by frame, he drops, it falls, and shatters. As much a work of photography as a work of performance art, in each still an unaffected Ai looks directly at the camera aware of his destructiveness.
Nongfu Spring Market
Practitioner:
Brother Nut
Date:
Jun 1 2018
The 9,000 bottles of water on display at an art gallery in Beijing last month appeared identical to those of Nongfu Spring, one of China’s most popular spring water brands, with one jarring difference. Inside each bottle was brown, murky groundwater collected from a Chinese village.
Tibetan Self-immolation Portraits
Practitioner:
Liu Yi
Date:
Jan 1 2013
Beijing-based artist Liu Yi is working on a series of black-and-white portraits he knows will never be shown in a Chinese gallery. His varied subjects — men and women, young and old, smiling and pensive — have one thing in common: They are Tibetans who have set themselves on fire to protest repressive Chinese rule.