History

The Museum of Zunyi Meeting, Zunyi

In January 1935, the Red Army crossed the Wu River and took Zunyi City, the second largest city in the region. Before going into the town, they made Eight Rules: 1. tidy up uniforms and organize armory; 2. do not leave the team; 3. do not act alone; 4. ask permission before leaving the camp; 5. do not borrow from the public; 6. do not buy food and eat at your own will; 7. do not enter a civilian's home unless necessary; 8. be careful with personal hygiene and do not shit everywhere.

Participants of the Zunyi Meeting

Before the Red Army reached Zunyi City, its leader was Po Ku, a 27 years old who represented the Comintern. Following the victory over the warlord Hou, the Red Army took over the city and a meeting was held in memory of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg. A very mysterious meeting was held in Hou's British style villa. It became a milestone in communist history as the meeting that secured Mao's leading place in the party. But how did Mao succeed in taking over power? History has many answers.

New History Group, "Sun 100 Project," Performance, 1993

Exhibition - Curating

Anselm Keifer, "Let a Thousand Flower Bloom," 2000

Our team will visit with the Party Secretary of the Zunyi Meeting Museum and deliver a gift to the museum of publications about local and international contemporary art.　

We will interview the Secretary with the question: what is creative curating? The curatorial practice of this particular museum, especially the narration and interpretation through visual materials to depict 'True History,' has been challenged since the day the museum was built. Due to the frequent changes of party leadership in the last fifty years, the writing of history and hence the presentation of history has been open to interpretation.

Anselm Kiefer, "Untitled," 2000

Site Specific Works

Using the former Soviet Central Bank and the Catholic Church as exhibition spaces for site-specific works, we will attempt to decipher the reciprocal relationship of space and object. Apart from our interpretation of time and space, how are we, as objects, subject to interpretation by time and space?　　

Zhao Liang, "National Hygiene Campaign," Video, 1996

We will have a group show in the barbershop nearby the Catholic Church and the former Red Army Bank. The works of the international artists Andy Warhol, and Anselm Kiefer (including slide projections, flyer distributions and posters of Mao portraits by these artists), are tentatively scheduled to be exhibited. Warhol's use of celebrity had meaning beyond the icon itself and Kiefer's approach to transcending the medium of painting has much to do with Mao's 'Art for the People.' The Chinese art circle's understanding of these two artists is limited and the Warhol is regarded as a 'pop' artist, while Kiefer is only appreciated for his formal employment of brush and cool color. The Chinese public has never been exposed to their work.

Anselm Kiefer

Jorg Immendorff,
"Worshipping Content (Anbetung des Inhalts.) ,"
Oil on Canvas, 1985

Sigmar Polke, "Mao,"
Synthetic polymer paint on cloth on cotton fabric, suspended from wood pole, 1972

Shi Xingning, "Mao Series," Oil on Canvas, 2001