A Wall

A Wall is a selection of artworks that tackle social issues, made by some of China’s best living artists and brought together by artist Zheng Bo.

The project collects text, photos, videos and archive material from each piece on a digital wall that tells the story of socially active art in China over the past 20 years.

A Wall uses today’s technology to re-invent China’s Democracy Wall – a brick wall built in Beijing in 1978, where artists and activists displayed ideas, news and comments after the Maoist Cultural Revolution collapsed. In the same spirit, viewers can contribute their thoughts on the work posted on Zheng’s wall.

The artworks in A Wall explore a wide range of issues. Each project investigates an aspect of Chinese society, from the rise of individualism to the impact of globalisation, over-development and urbanisation.

Featured artworks include:

Keepers of the Waters, organised by Betsy Damon. Yin Xiuzhen, Dai Guangyu and others took part. Sichuan and Tibet, 1995-96.

Moving Rainbow, Xiong Wenyun, Sichuan-Tibet and Qinghai-Tibet Highways, 1998-2001.

Everyone’s East Lake, Li Juchuan, Li Yu and others, Wuhan, 2010.

Breakfast at the Plum Tree Creek, Wu Mali, Taiwan, 2010-11.

Style of the Northeastern New Territories, Tai Ngai Lung and others, Hong Kong, since 2009.

Two Square Metres, Xu Tan, Guangzhou, 2014.

About this artist

A Wall was commissioned by The Space in collaboration with British Council China and Cass Sculpture Foundation.

Zheng Bo is a socially-engaged artist from China. He has been making and writing about socially engaged art for over ten years, working with communities including the Queer Cultural Centre in Beijing and Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong. He won a Prize of Excellence from Hong Kong Art Museum in 2005 for Family History Textbook, and a Juror’s Prize from the Singapore Art Museum in 2008 for Karibu Islands.