This project is organized by the Long March Foundation, New York, with the cooperation of local cultural institutions along the route of China's historical Long March. Its aim is to take both contemporary Chinese and international art to a substantial sector of the Chinese public that is rarely, perhaps never, exposed to such work. In this respect, this is the first such project in China's history. Specifically, we will bring art to those people who live in communities along the route of Mao Zedong's historic Long March. That 'March' symbolized the deliverance of the Communist ideal to the Chinese proletariat, and it is with this symbolism in mind that we now choose to march contemporary art out to China's peripheral population.

The project is composed of two parts:
First, we hope to expose China as a space for public art and a dynamic forum for cultural exchange. The curatorial team and two camera crews will travel for a four-month period along the route of the Long March, documenting the journey and compiling an archive of the experience. Along the way, local and international artists will join in at different venues to participate in the project by creating and/or showing their art works. There will be many events taking place in 20 specific locations, each chosen to represent a certain historical, political, geographical and/or artistic context. Every event will include an exhibition and a forum for debate. In these exhibition venues, original artwork will be shown, but secondary sources such as slides, videos and exhibition catalogues will also be displayed. Following the exhibition we will hold discussions with invited artists, curators, critics and the local public.
After having completed 12 out of the 20 planned sites on the road since hitting the road on July 1, the Long March curatorial team has recently returned to Beijing --- owing to a dramatic turning point. We have decided to declare our current "uncompleted" Long March as "completed." By choosing to stop the march, we believe it will instigate more dialogue, discourse, and sincere engagement the Long March. Meanwhile, we are also planning to re-depart for the next Long March to finish the remaining eight sites on April of 2003.

Once the Long March on the road has been completed, the second leg of our journey will begin. The works that were created, including painting, sculpture, installation, video, photographic and written documents, will be packed-up and sent on a touring exhibition throughout international museums and other art institutions. This touring show will be accompanied by a web-site and a documentary film, detailing the most intriguing developments of the four-month journey. The collection of objects and texts created during the march will include the re-creation and re-enactment of some site-specific works realized on the road.

Chief Curator Lu Jie
Co-Curator Qiu Zhijie

The following is an outline of the sites, dates and themes of each program. Please contact us if you need further information.

Site 1 - Ruijin, Jiangxi Province
- Re-reading of post-Marxism, and the theory of the Chinese revolution
- Visual imagination of China by Westerners in the 60s, i.e. Godard
- Utopia, Internationalism and Socialist Market economy
Location: Country plaza in front of the former Red Army Headquarters
Time: July 1st - 7th, 2002

List of Works and Exhibitions:

• Wang Jinsong, The Long March Manifesto, sound work, 2002
• Exhibition of Fu Xinming's Sculpture Works at Yeping Revolutionary Memorial site
• Exhibition of Zhan Wang's Sculpture Works, The Fake Ornamental Rock Series, at Yeping Revolutionary Memorial site
• Exhibition of photography works by Li Tianbin and Li Jincheng at Yeping Revolutionary Memorial site
• Exhibition of Ingo Gunther's World Processor Series at former Provisional Sino-Soviet Central Government
• Exhibition of Works by Ruijin Calligraphers Association
• Exhibition of Works by Ruijin Photographers Association
• Exhibition of Paintings on Revolutionary Subject Matters (co-organized with Ruijin Artists Association)
• Screening of Jean-Luc Godard's La Chinoise and video/CD-Rom works in Mixi village
  -Lao Jiang, Rock'n Roll on the New Long March, Flash Animation work, 2001
  -Liang Juhui, Inflation, video, 2001
  -Hong Hao, The New World Map Series, 1997

Site 2 - Jinggangshan Mountain, Jiangxi Province
- Revision of revolutionary practice and theory
- Visual imagination of China by the West in the 70s, i.e. Antonioni
- Transcendence and the dilemma of Chinese contemporary art - ideology and social reality
Location: Country plaza in front of Mao's former residence
Time: July 8th -12th, 2002

List of Works:

• Li Fang, Memory of Memory, Installation/Performance at the Octagonal Pavilion
• Wang Jin, Hanging Swords on the Cliff with Swords Hung Up-Side Down, performance at Jingganshan Mountain
• Floating Exhibition of Sui Jianguo's Sculpture Works on river, Jesus in China and Marx in China, plaster, 2002
• Screening of Antonioni's Chongkuo (China) and Jiang Zhi's video work, A Few Minutes of a Person, 2002, at the Chinese Red Army Hospital
  

Site 3 - On the road in Guangxi Province
- Revision of the historical Long March
- Visual imagination of China by the West in the 80s, i.e. Hockney
- Journey, pilgrimage and the construction of icons - heroic, historical and liminal space
Location: Long-distance bus, market, bridge and city spaces
Time: July 13th -18th, 2002

List of Works:

• Jiang Jiwei, stone carvings at "Quotation Mountain" in Quanzhou
• Song Dong, Shaft-Scenery, photography, 2000, exhibited at Red Army Pavilion
• Feng Qianyu, Crossing the Chishui River Four Times, installation using used films at "fengyu (wind and rain)" bridge
• Projection of video works on Yangshuo's West Bar street
  -Wei Jun, The Fourth Law of the Long March, video, 2002
  -Yang Fudong, Stealing South (2002) and The sky is clear! (2000) video
  -Zhou Xiaobo, Vietnam, video, 1998
  -Zhou Xiaohu, Nursery Rhymes and Journey of Desire, video, 2001

Site 4 - Kunming, Yunnan Province
- Mao Zedong thought and its formation
- Textual imagination and narration of China by the West from the 60s until present
- The Yunnan artists' space, center and de-centerization of the Chinese art world
Location: Upriver Art Club, Upriver Art Factory, villages, First Chinese military school
Time: July 20th- 22nd, August 2nd -5th, 2002

List of Works and Exhibitions:

• Fu Liya, Water Asking, performance at the Upriver Loft Gallery
• Exhibition, Indoctrination, at Jianwutang Military School
  - Zhu Qingsheng et al., Prisoners' Ink Wash Works Cases, 1986
  -Xu Bing, New English Calligraphy, 1996
  - The Long March Propaganda Team (Shen Meng, Xiao Lu et al.), Long March Propaganda Slogans in New English Calligraphy, 2002
  -Wang Jinsong, History Class, video, 1997
  -Ma Han, White Shirt Drawing Seminar, installation, 2002
  -Ma Han, White Shirt Drawing Seminar - Blood Clothes, performance, 2002
  -Zhang Peili, Standard Pronunciation: Water Dictionary, video, 1989
  -Song Dong, Another Lesson, Would you like to Play with Me? video, 1994
  -He Chi, Large Character Pinyin Teaching Materials: The Poetry of Mao Zedong, installation, 2002
• Screening of Jiang Zhi's work, Shizhi, documentary video, 1999, at a local Hunanese restaurant
• Exhibition, Exhibition About Exhibition, at the Upriver Loft Gallery
  -Zhang Xiaogang, Credentials, photography, 2002
  -Ye Yongqing, From Here to There, installation, 2002
  -Yang Mian, The Kunming Model Community - Made in Chengdu, video installation, 2002
  -Zhang Zhongqi, Daily Life of a Former Red Army Soldier, photography, 2002
  -Yang Shaobin, Friends, photography, 2002
  -Yue Minjun, Village Elementary School, video installation, 2002
  -Works by artists-in-residence at the Upriver Loft, Pauline Thomas and Chris Jones
  -Lisa Brice, Necklace, object work, 2001
  -Tomoko Takahashi, Kitchen, photography collage, 2001
• Exhibition, Notica: Works by the Dali Ink Painting Studio at Nordica Art Center
  -Ink works by Fang Lijun, Liu Wei, Yang Shaobin, Yue Minjun, Zhang Xiaogang, Ye Yongqing, et al.
• Sound art and New Media Art exhibition in artist Luo Xu's private museum & studio "The Native's Home"
  -Wang Gongxin, Karaoke, sound installation, 2000
  -Wu Ershan, The Knight of Evolution, video, 1999
  -Chen Xiaoyun, Who is the Angel? video, 2001
  -Yang Zhenzhong, Easy Task, video, 2000
  -Zhou Xiaohu, Nursery Rhymes, video, 2001
  -Ren Qian, Boundary, sound installation
  -Yu Xiaofeng, Burst Out Laughing, sound installation
  -Li Yong, Entering City, sound installation
  -Li Chuan, Moving Forward on the Path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, sound installation
  -Ma Jie, Wondering, sound installation

Site 5 - Lijiang, Yunnan Province
- China's ethnic minorities, colonization vs. preservation of culture
- Identification with China by Western travel writers
- Field study of local cultural entities - locality
Location: Mao Plaza, WWII American military airport, Stone Drum Town, Gender Studies Institute
Time: July 23rd- 27th, July 31st- August 1st, 2002

List of Works and Exhibitions:

• Exhibition, The Imagined Other at Muwangfu
  -Chen Shaoxiong, Scenery 3, CD-Rom, 2001
  -Qiu Zhijie, The West, CD-Rom, 1999-present
  -Shi Qing, An Apocalypse to Save the World, CD-Rom, 2001
  -Sasha Su-ling Welland, The Map of Lijiang, collaborative art project, 2002
  -Lu Jie, Made in Lijiang, installation, 2002
  -Qiu Zhijie, Windows - Dongba Version, CD-Rom, 2002
• Exhibition of Guo Fengyi's works, color ink paintings on What if Women Ruled the World" at Muwangfu

Site 6 - Lugu Lake, Yunnan-Sichuan Province border
- Communism as utopian or spectral - failed or unrealized
- Gender discourse, both Chinese and Western, and its relationship to art practice
- The Utopian elements of a Matriarchal society viewed through two generations of personal experiences
Location: Matriarchal village on the Tibetan and Han border
Time: July 27th- 30th, 2002

List of Works:

• Ding Jie, Non-Art Activity, collaborative project with the Lugu Lake community, 2002
• Li Shurui, Seeing Mountains, Seeing Water, installation at Lugu Lake, 2002
• "What if Women Ruled the World?"-a project initiated by Judy Chicago
  List of Realized Works:
  -Lei Yan and Sun Guojun, Planting Marijuana, performance, 2002
  -Lei Yan, What if They were Women? and What if the Long March was a Women's Rights Movement" photography, 2002
  -Sun Guojun, Following You, installation, 2002
  -Huang Ru, Me, Us, film screening project, 2002
  -Pan Xuan, Panweinizhi, installation/performance, 2002
  -Wu Weihe, Going Home, performance, 2002
  -Fu Liya, Water Asking, performance, 2002
  -Guo Fengyi, What if Women Ruled the World? color ink on paper, 2002
  -Huang Ying, Gender - Sex/Difference, photography installation, 2002
  -Su Ruya, Goddess Mountain - Eternal Woman, performance, 2002
  -Song Yanping, Fire Extinguisher, performance/installation, 2002
  -Su Yabi, The World will be More Beautiful, performance, 2002
  -Zhang Lun, Tea with Judy Chicago and Mosuo People, performance, 2002
  -Sasha Su-Ling Welland, Dialogue with Ding Ling, documentary film, 2002
  -Xu Sa, Women in the Era of Economy Series, oil painting, 2002
  Proposals were also submitted for this project by Cai Jin, Chen Mingming, Chen Yu, Fang He, Feng Jiali, Li Hong, Li Rui, Li Yuying, Ma Yanling, Mu Zi, Qiu Yanli, Tao Xiaoyi, Xiao Xiaolan, Zeng Hui, Zhang Qiongfei, Zhang Xin, Zhang Yingzi, Zhao Biqin, Qing Qing and Zhang Wan.

Site 7 - On the train between Kunming and Zunyi
- Public engagement as means to success in Communism
- The Long March propaganda machine, "sowing the seeds for future harvest"
- Reciprocal visual imaginings between China and the West in the 90s
- Artist and audience - art works in public space
Location: 'Art Car' on 18-hour train journey
Time: August 6th - 7th, 2002

List of Works:

• Ma Han, Bookshelf in Move, performance, 2002
• Wang Chuyu, Constitution, performance, 2002
• Zhao Bandi, The Panda Bear Series, photography, 2000
• Xu Zhen, Scream, photography, 2000
• Zhu Fadong, Urgent Notice, performance, 2002

Site 8 - Zunyi, Guizhou Province
- Historical vicissitudes - Mao reclaims leadership
- Mao as Icon, i.e. works by Warhol, Kiefer, Richter and Chinese artists
- An international symposium of curating - ritualization and interpretation of visual space
Location: Barbershop between the former Red Army Bank and the Catholic church, Zunyi Hotel
Time: August 7th - 13th, 2002

List of Works and Exhibitions:

• Guang Yuda et al., The Long March Ceremony, performance, 2002
• Yao Ruizhong, Turning the Universe Upside-Down, photography, 2002
• Wang Chuyu, Democratic Long March, performance, 2002

Site 9 - Maotai, Guizhou Province
- Mao as military genius and philosopher
- Chinese imagination and narration of foreigners as outsiders
- Value system of the individual and the collective in different cultural domains, i.e. Pollock vs. Che
Location: Workers' Art Club of Maotai Winery
Time: August 13th - 15th, 2002

List of Works:

• Yao Ruizhong, Turning the Universe Upside-Down, photography, 2002
• Wang Chuyu, Warmly Celebrate! Performance, 2002
• Emily Cheng, Cultural Symbols, ink on paper, 2002

Site 10 - Xichang Long March Satellite Station, Sichuan Province
- Class struggle and ethnic conflict - the Red Army's relationship with minorities during the Long March
- Ideology and a Market economy - the origin and form of the art market in Capitalist society
- Function of art and technology - workshop between scientists and art students
Location: VIP Guest House of Long March Satellite Station
Time: August 16th - 21st, 2002

List of Works and Exhibitions:

• Yao Ruizhong, Turning the Universe Upside-Down, photography, 2002
• Zhan Wang, New Plan to Fill the Sky, sculpture/performance, 2002
• Liu Chengying, Thought Must be Liberated! Performance, 2002
• Exhibition, Material and Spirit, at Datong Pavilion
  - Yu Congrong and Ma Limei, The Long March Gene, conceptual, 2002
  -Wang Qiang, The New Currency Series, painting, 2002
  -Wang Jinsong, ink paintings, 2000
  -Sun Ping, Stock, performance, 1992

Site 11 - Moxi, Sichuan Province
- The missionary and the libertine
- Role and repercussions of Christianity in China
- Juxtaposition of object and ideology, secular and religious spaces
Location: Catholic Church, the former residence of Mao during the Long March
Time: August 23rd -27th, 2002

List of Works:

• Yao Ruizhong, Turning the Universe Upside-Down, photography, 2002
• Shi Qing, The Flood, performance/installation, 2002
• Jiang Jie, Sending off the Red Army: In Commemoration of the Mothers on the Long March, sculpture/performance, 2002
• Exhibition at Jinhua Temple
  -Wim Delvoye, The Chapel Series, photography
  -Liu Dahong, The Altar Series, painting, 2000
  -Liu Jin, My Spiritual Home, Performance/photography, 2001

Site 12 - Luding Bridge, Da Du River, Sichuan Province
- Avant-garde Red Army as savior of the Chinese revolution
- Discourse and legend of the Avant-garde
- Context of historical events - history as metaphor
Location: Performance and discussion space set up on a bridge and riverbank
Time: August 28th -September 1st, 2002

List of Works:

• Yao Ruizhong, Turning the Universe Upside-Down, photography, 2002
• Qiu Zhijie, Left/Right, performance, 2001-2002 (also realized throughout the whole course of Long March)
• Wang Jianwei, Interspace, performance/video, 2002

The Long March I was completed on September 1 after completing 12 out of the originally planned 20 sites. The Long March II will launch in the spring of 2003 to march through the remaining 8 sites. Please contact us for more details.