HARBIN
I was born in Harbin, in the northeast of China.
At the turn of the 20th century, Harbin was the only place a Chinese could buy a direct train ticket to European cities. The city had one of the first cinemas in China, a symphony orchestra and a ski resort. There were churches of all obedience, department stores, and the sidewalks were covered with women, Chinese women in cheongsams, Russians in dresses and Japanese women in kimonos.
BREAKS
This culture suffered greatly from the political upheavals of the 20th century.
Despite the destruction, traces persist, in the walls and in the minds.
A CHILDHOOD AT THE CROSSROADS OF CIVILIZATIONS
By the end of the 1970s, China is suffering economically, but that was unimportant for a child.
We live in the footsteps of the different cultures which crossed here, and which mixed.
ART IS LOOKING AROUND
Sitting in the back of my father’s bike, I watch and think.
ART IS BORN FROM DIFFERENCES
Talking about art in this era is likely to trigger mockery at best, anger at worst. It is such a bourgeois decadence!
I WANT TO BE AN ARTIST
At the time, color is in revolutionary paintings.
The only accepted art forms have to have a political message.
These frescoes to the glory of the people are seen everywhere.
