On November 26, 2012, about ten college students “flash mobbed” the front of the human resources and social welfare department of Hubei Province in central China. "Refuse to take off pants for inspection," "Ask about menstrual history, what does it have to do with being a civil servant." According to the current admission regulations, female candidates for civil service positions must go through a detailed gynecological examination.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s latest attempt to cultivate his image as a man of the people is creating some unintended consequences. Qingfeng Restaurant, an unassuming local eatery where Xi ate a meal of pork buns, fried pig liver and vegetables last month, has since become a staging ground for residents to protest against their local governments.
Zheng Xi 郑熹, a Ph.D. candidate with a focus on gender studies at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. Zheng has launched a campaign asking city governments around China to display anti-sexual-harassment logos, complete with a groper’s “salty-pig hand” visual (etymological context here), alongside other commonly displayed public safety logos on places like subway trains and buses.
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).
The Xuzhou chained woman incident, also known as the Xuzhou eight-child mother incident, is a case of human trafficking, false imprisonment, sexual assault, severe mistreatment, and subsequent events that came to light in late January 2022 in Xuzhou's Feng County, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Chuu Wai Nyein felt an overwhelming sense of guilt when she first arrived in Paris from Myanmar at the end of April. “I was pushed to leave the country, but it was not how I wanted to leave,” says the 28-year old. As an artist working for the last ten years, mostly in the central city of Mandalay, Chuu built up an international reputation for her expressive paintings of women.
South Korean artist Do Ho Suh is internationally known for his ghostly, diaphanous architecture and fabric-made objects, which create imaginary spaces that are physically present yet impossible to inhabit. His large-scale, immersive, but impermanent installations serve as “acts of memorialization,” exploring themes of identity, home, and the tension between personal and public space.
The outbreak of the coronavirus has brought international scrutiny down on China’s political system. Again. A few commentators have applauded the efficiency of the Chinese Communist Party’s response, but most have zoomed in on its weaknesses. Some have even blamed the party itself for the outbreak, calling the disease a “Communist coronavirus” or “the Belt and Road Pandemic.”
The following description is taken from the website of Aljazeera America (find link below):
In early December, Ju Hyun-u, a student at South Korea’s elite Korea University, taped up two white sheets filled with his handwriting on a campus bulletin board. His message began with a question, “Are you doing all right?”.
Yumi Ishikawa, a Japanese actress, freelance writer, and part-time funeral parlor worker, started the #KuToo Movement because she feels it’s unfair she has to wear heels at work. She also feels that being required to wear heels is rooted in a cultural problem, one much deeper than physical discomfort.
On the small island of Teshima in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, Multibasket – No One Wins invites visitors to reconsider competition, collaboration, and the intersection of art and play.
"Myanmar has been engulfed in protest since February 1, when Burmese army general Min Aung Hlaing seized control of the government in a military coup, refusing to accept to the landslide election victory of the National League for Democracy and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Whose Utopia? was made by the Chinese artist Cao Fei and filmed at the OSRAM lighting factory in Foshan in the Pearl River Delta in southern China during 2005 and 2006. It was commissioned as part of a project entitled ‘What Are They Doing Here?’ that was run by the Siemens Art Program from 2000 to 2006 and involved Chinese artists undertaking six-month-long residencies at industrial facilities across the country.
Nanfu Wang feels safe in New York. Surveillance, that essential preoccupation of the documentarian in America, is a chokehold from which she has been temporarily released. From her Brooklyn apartment, the Chinese filmmaker prepares for the release of her debut feature documentary, Hooligan Sparrow.
Song Dong's Waste Not consisted of a single installation comprising over 10,000 commonplace, domestic items of daily life that had been used and amassed by the artist’s mother (Zhao Xiangyuan) over fifty years.
In a private Tokyo dinner party artist Mao Sugiyama served his genitals to five of the events guests. Several months prior to the event he chose to have his genitals surgically removed. He released invitations to the event on social media, 70 paid attendees were present for the event.
Self-identifed as asexual, Sugiyama stated that he intended to raise awareness for "sexual minorities, x-gender, asexual people."
In March 2016, Chinese feminist activists had planned to launch a crowdfunding campaign against sexual harassment advertisements, and they worked hard to raise 40,000 yuan in a month and a half. However, after perfunctory, evasive, and rejection by the relevant departments, anti-sexual harassment advertisements finally failed to go online.
Sebastián Mahaluf stands out as an artist deeply engaged in weaving the complex threads of human connection, community, and the interplay of personal and collective experiences. His notable work, "CONTRADICTION AND TENSION," showcases his approach to art as a participatory experience that bridges individual perceptions with communal narratives.
North Korea Releases Country’s First-Ever Video Game
North Korea has just released the country’s first-ever video game titled 'Pyongyang Racer'.
The racing game was created by a developer known only as Nosotek, and was commissioned by Koryo, a British tour company that takes travelers to North Korea.
From Public Delivery:
Kacey Wong has a knack for creating art that investigates the space between people and their surrounding environment. Paddling Home, which was performed on the Hong Kong Victoria Harbor, was a star feature in the Hong Kong contemporary art scene.
A large chair installation work featuring the Chinese name of detained artist and activist Ai Weiwei was set up in Taipei Saturday --the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen SquareMassacre -- to call for Ai's release.
Bei Ling, an artist from China who has been barred from enteringhis home country since 2000, used 1,001 empty chairs to piece together the three characters of Ai's name in Liberty Square at 6: 04p.m.
March 20, World Sleep Day is approaching, Chongqing Fuling wine town square placed 2 transparent sleep house, staff in the form of performance art to call on people to "put down the phone, sleep at ease". It is reported that the purpose of World Sleep Day is to make people pay attention to the importance of sleep and sleep quality, to remind people to pay attention to sleep health and quality.
The “Occupy Men’s Toilets” movement, initiated by Chinese feminist activists including Li Tingting (Li Maizi) and Wu Rongrong, emerged in 2012 as a creative, non-violent protest against gender inequality in access to public facilities.
A unique piece captured significant attention at the Central Academy of Fine Arts undergraduate graduation exhibition in June. The work featured an "anime-style" girl's skull linked to a human skeleton and internal organs, all encased within a thin film. As visitors entered the exhibit area, her breathing and gaze would alter accordingly.