21 May – 18 July 2004
People used to Dream about the Future presents two ongoing projects Objects of Demonstration by Hong Kong curatorial group Community Museum Project, and Assembly Hall by Beijing artist duo Shaoyinong and Muchen.
Whilst aesthetically very different the images of disused assembly halls from the Cultural Revolution by Shaoyinong and Muchen and the collected objects from recent demonstrations in Hong Kong by Community Museum Project are connected by the fact that they are not only remnants of political activism, but also by the process through which they were made. Both images and objects are collected in an almost anthropological way, through conducting extensive research and by following an anthropological trail.
Begun in 2001, Shaoyinong and Muchen’s Assembly Hall series is an ongoing project documenting disused assembly halls from the Cultural Revolution. To make these photographs the artists have travelled across rural China covering distances amounting to over tens of thousands of miles over the three-year period. To date they have visited over 220 sites. The photographs selected for the exhibition comes out of a body of work consisting of some 50 images.
Potential assembly halls, have been located through a long process of anthropological research, which includes looking through archives and historical documents as well as hearing about them through word of mouth. The current state of the assembly halls ranges from their use as temples, cinemas, as well as derelict sites. The photographs of the vast halls are reminders of a more political age and reflect the changes in the lives of the local community, where politics once played such as central role in community life.
In contrast to the stark photographs of empty assembly halls, void of people and social activity is Objects of Demonstration. Started in response to an imagined government museum housing objects handed in by demonstrators as a statement or objects left on the streets the project focuses on the performative element and material culture of demonstrations. Consisting of found objects, created by the general public for political protest it reflects the political activism of Hong Kong. Despite being thought of as a less political space than Mainland China, which has had a prolific political history, Hong Kong has seen up to 7,000 protests since its return to China in mid 1997.
It is from these protests that these objects have been collected. Created predominantly to attract media attention for their causes during protests they are makeshift objects with a temporary lifespan. Objects of Demonstration extends their lifespan, discussing, responding to and re-organising the objects presenting the culture of demonstration beyond the news headlines. Arranged in categories such as ‘ready-mades’, ‘DIY’, ‘body and performance’, ‘pictorial’, ‘monuments’ and ‘text’ the objects that have been collected include bittermelons, cardboard coffins, fish costumes, caricature paintings and a papier-mâché Statue of Liberty. Collectively they reflect the culture of demonstration and document social issues over the years, exploring the boundaries of freedom of expression in society.
The artists
Husband and wife team, Shaoyinong and Muchen are based in Beijing. This is their first exhibition in UK despite having shown extensively. Their work was included in a major contemporary Chinese exhibition, Alors la Chine? Centre Pompidou (2003), Taipei Biennale (2002) as well as a solo exhibition at Recontres d’Arles, France (2003).
Notable bodies of work include Family Register, which traces their family histories in the form of a visual family tree and Return to 1994, which consists of decayed photographs 30 avant-garde Chinese artists.
Hong Kong curatorial group Community Museum Project is made up of artists and cultural workers Howard Chan, Siu King-Chung, Tse Pak-Chai and Phoebe Wong. They are actively involved in the independent art scene in Hong Kong playing key roles in organisations such as 1a Space, one of the most experimental artist-run spaces. Howard Chan was organiser of HK-Berlin an extensive cultural exchange consisting of visual arts, music and architecture. Siu King Chung is an artist, Assistant Professor and Course Leader of BA Art and Design in Education at Hong Kong Polytechnic University as well being founding member of the installation group NUX. Phoebe Wong is currently researcher for Asia Art Archive, an extensive archive and research resource on contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong.
