A piece of barbed wire is like a line, dotted with stars.
In 1979, The fence that surrounded the China Art Gallery was a barrier keeping out new ideas, anything other than Socialist Realism. So 23 artists hung their art on the fence, in all mediums, of all designs as a protest. 2 days later the artworks were confiscated by police. This was the birth of the Stars.
A few days later the Stars organized a protest march under this slogan “We want political democracy! We want artistic freedom!” Over the next few years members of the Stars start to get gallery shows, because their open-air art shows have given them notoriety.
In 1983 the Campaign against Spiritual Pollution led to most of the artists emigrating abroad. The campaign against Spiritual Pollution only lasted a few months but the effects were long lasting. According to Deng Liqun the Parties Propaganda Chief it was to stamp out ‘obscene, barbarous or reactionary materials, indulgence in individualism and statements that run counter to the country’s social system
In 1985 The Chinese New Wave Art movement begins, New Wave cinema hides anti government propaganda inside Daoist symbolism, it is the first time Chinese films are seen outside China.
The Avant guard art movement birthed from the stars inspired the younger generation, particularly that of the Xiamen Dada movement and the post-modernist collective who held an art exhibition under the banner of U-Turns prohibited.
In 1986, members of the Xiamen Dada art movement burn their own paintings as an act of liberation, writing ‘until art is destroyed, life can never be peaceful.
In 1989 the officials shuttered the China/Avant Garde exhibition. Held under the banner of U-Turns prohibited. The following are statements by the artists
“Selling prawns in the China Art Gallery was a protest against the gallery itself, that law court at which works of art are put on trial. Art, like an innocent sacrificial lamb, is subjected to a quasi-legal process by the authority of the gallery. Artists, as eye witnesses, are forced to give evidence. It is a waste of a good space.
Selling prawns in the China Art Gallery was a protest against art theorists. Works of art that start out as signifying nothing suffer the tragedy of being made to signify everything by the power of the theorists. The artist as producer of ‘goods’ is forced to go around hawking their wares. It is a waste of good money.’ Wu Shanzhuan
On February 5th, 1989 Tang Song and Xiao Lu shot two rounds at their own sculpture titled “Dialogue’ The artists were both detained and the gallery was shut down. They were released unharmed 3 days later, marking the completion of their creation.
The editors of Fine Arts in China described the exhibition’s violations as such
Framed plaques in the form of an award were hung on the toilets claiming’ No water this afternoon’ On the first floor there were people selling fish and prawns and washing their feet, and scattering condoms and coins on the floor. On the second floor there was a person who exclaimed that he was trying to hatch eggs by sitting on them. At 11 am there was shooting incident. The organisers were fined 2,000 yen and banned from the gallery for two years.
In May 1989 the artists take part in a protest for democracy at Tiananmen Square, raising once again the trade mark banner for the exhibition U-turns prohibited.
During the protest Chairman Mao’s poster is defaced by an artist who splatters red and black paint. For this the artist is sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Nobody knows how many protesters were violently killed at Tiananmen Square on June the 4th, 1989. People who lost love ones still cry for justice. Those who remember the victims are under surveillance or have been temporarily moved from their homes. Famous photographs such as that of tank man are banned, along with images or mentions of Yellow rubber ducks, after the toy became a popular replacement image. China banned a popular shopping influencer’s show after displaying a cake made in the shape of a tank.
China will never erase the memory of what occurred on the 4th of June, 1989. It is written on the People’s Monument. It is written into the stone. We can hear the sound of sweeping and scrubbing and it is not as loud as the silence of those who drowned in the sea of blood. Their untold stories will always be shared by the people in China, and the artists will be there to help lead society to freedom and liberation. It is written in the Stars
