Projects tagged "East Asia"

WHAT THE SUICIDE OF AUTHOR LIN YI HAN CAN TEACH US ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
Practitioner:
Jessie Yang, University of Hong Kong, Break Study Magazine
Date:
May 19 2017
The author behind ‘The First Paradise of Fang Siqi,’ a novel that Han described as ‘a young girl falling in love with her rapist,’ has sent shockwaves through Taiwanese society. On April 27, aspiring Taiwanese author Lin Yi Han committed suicide, leaving behind only her first, and sadly last, novel. The story, entitled “The First Love Paradise of Fang Siqi,” concerns the mental struggles of a young girl who is raped by her teacher.
"Graffittied Graffiti"
Practitioner:
Professional Muralist and observers turned participants
Date:
Feb 1 2021
At a gallery within a shopping complex in the South Korean capital, a couple saw paint cans and brushes at their reach and use next to what was actually a finished portrait worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thinking the available paint and brushes was a signal to be a part of the art, they ended up technically vandalizing the artists' work.
Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei
Practitioner:
Ai Weiwei
Date:
Mar 12 2025
“Everything is art. Everything is politics.” Globally renowned artist Ai Weiwei (Chinese, b. 1957) is celebrated as a disruptor of artistic canons and a champion of free expression. In his work—ranging across performance, photography, sculpture, video, and installation—he deploys humor and provocation, calling upon his viewers to examine history, society, and culture.
Embracing the Elements: Tong Wenmin's 'FLYING THE WIND' and the Art of Human-Nature Interaction
Practitioner:
Tong Wenmin
Date:
Jan 1 2016
Tong Wenmin is a Chinese performance artist affiliated with works exploring movement, interaction, and humanity. Her art is a relationship between human behavior and the natural world, a round dynamic between physicality and environmental elements. One of her most compelling works, "FLYING THE WIND," is outstanding in merging performance art with a deeper exploration of the interaction between humans and nature.
Dystopian Noah's ark reflects China's environmental woes
Practitioner:
Cai Guo-Qiang
Date:
Aug 9 2014
A dilapidated wooden fishing boat laden down with animals who are just skin and bone, a sort of dystopian Noah’s ark trying to escape the end of the earth and an empty city devoid of human life that has been overtaken by nature.
"Stand Up, Sisters (《姐姐妹妹站起来》)": The Miserable Past of Chinese Prostitutes
Practitioner:
Xihe Chen (陈西禾)
Date:
Jan 1 1951
"Stand Up, Sisters" tells the story of a rural girl who journeys to Beijing for a family visit, only to be deceived and forced into prostitution, suffering unthinkable hardships. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, these women are rehabilitated. The narrative reaches its peak with her and her younger sisters' victorious achievement of self-reliance.
OurGoods Trade School
Practitioner:
Rich Watts, Louise Ma, OurGoods
Date:
Jan 1 2010
Trade School is a self-organised, alternative learning space that runs on barter. It was started in 2010 in New York’s Lower East Side by Rich Watts, Louise Ma, and Caroline Woolard of OurGoods.org, a creative barter network. Over 800 students participated in 76 single-session classes during 35 days. Anyone can teach a class, and students sign up by agreeing to meet the barter requests of teachers.
"Are You Doing All Right?"
Practitioner:
Ju Hyun-u
Date:
Dec 1 2013
The following description is taken from the website of Aljazeera America (find link below): In early December, Ju Hyun-u, a student at South Korea’s elite Korea University, taped up two white sheets filled with his handwriting on a campus bulletin board. His message began with a question, “Are you doing all right?”.
Human Genitals Dinner
Practitioner:
Mao Sugiyama
Date:
Apr 13 2012
In a private Tokyo dinner party artist Mao Sugiyama served his genitals to five of the events guests. Several months prior to the event he chose to have his genitals surgically removed. He released invitations to the event on social media, 70 paid attendees were present for the event. Self-identifed as asexual, Sugiyama stated that he intended to raise awareness for "sexual minorities, x-gender, asexual people."
Chinese See Themselves in a Chained Woman
Practitioner:
netizens, journalists, lawyers, academics...
Date:
Jan 25 2022
The Xuzhou chained woman incident, also known as the Xuzhou eight-child mother incident, is a case of human trafficking, false imprisonment, sexual assault, severe mistreatment, and subsequent events that came to light in late January 2022 in Xuzhou's Feng County, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
"WE STAND AS ONE"
Practitioner:
Vanilla Chi
Date:
Apr 14 2021
The New York-based artist has created a free-to-download poster in support of the ESEA community. Produced in response to the Covid-related surge in anti-Asian hate crimes, it can be used in a variety of ways to raise awareness and support the cause.
MeToo movement takes hold in South Korea
Practitioner:
Korean Feminists
Date:
Mar 8 2018
Young women in South Korea are fighting for a new future. The #MeToo movement which has highlighted sexual harassment and abuse around the world has taken a surprising hold in this socially conservative country.
A Later Banned Set of Photos Sent Shockwaves Through Chinese Netizens
Practitioner:
Independent Photographer Xiyouxiu, Chinese Netizens
Date:
May 7 2023
A Chinese Independent Photographer, Xiyouxiu (Twitter ID@xiuxiukong) published a set of photos called "Father" on both Chinese social platforms like Weibo and Little Red Book, and international platforms like twitter.
Tibetan Self-immolation Portraits
Practitioner:
Liu Yi
Date:
Jan 1 2013
Beijing-based artist Liu Yi is working on a series of black-and-white portraits he knows will never be shown in a Chinese gallery. His varied subjects — men and women, young and old, smiling and pensive — have one thing in common: They are Tibetans who have set themselves on fire to protest repressive Chinese rule.
Myanmar’s Artists Captured the Spirit of the Resistance. Now They’re Continuing the Fight from Abroad
Practitioner:
Chuu Wai Nyein
Date:
Jun 22 2021
Chuu Wai Nyein felt an overwhelming sense of guilt when she first arrived in Paris from Myanmar at the end of April. “I was pushed to leave the country, but it was not how I wanted to leave,” says the 28-year old. As an artist working for the last ten years, mostly in the central city of Mandalay, Chuu built up an international reputation for her expressive paintings of women.
Zou Yaqi, a Chinese woman who spent 21 days living in Beijing for free by taking advantage of inherent classism issues in China
Practitioner:
Zou Yaqi
Date:
May 1 2021
BEIJING — Like many art students, Zou Yaqi often worried she’d be unable to afford to live in Beijing after graduation. So, earlier this year, she decided to set herself a daunting challenge: Survive in the city for three weeks without spending a single yuan. It turned out to be a piece of cake. 
Female students in Guangzhou protest topless for gender equality
Practitioner:
Female students from the Guangdong University of Technology
Date:
Apr 21 2014
Female students from the Guangdong University of Technology in Guangzhou called for equal job opportunities and for people to "pay attention to the value of women" while protesting on the school's campus, shirtless and covered in body paint. The photos, taken by ogling passersby, have been circulating on Weibo and naturally netizens stand divided on whether the semi-naked protests were empowering or counterproductive...
"Goo Phone" Chinese Company Used Leaked iPhone 5 Specs to Build Knockoff, Hopes to Sue Apple for Patent Infringement
Practitioner:
Goophone Company
Date:
Sep 6 2012
Just the other day, we were hearing about Samsung getting in legal trouble over patent violations with Apple. A federal court decision ruled that Samsung owes Apple more than $1 billion in restitution.
Chinese High School Students Making Film about Trans Gender
Practitioner:
Hu Ranan
Date:
Oct 23 2017
A high school student from The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China Made a Movie about "Sexual Minorities", a Topic Avoided By Almost Every Parent. How Should We Start Talking About This?" was widely circulated among people on Wechat. The topic "High School Students Made a Trans Movie" went viral and ranked highly on Weibo’s most searched topics.
Ghost Protest in Seoul
Practitioner:
Amnesty International in Korea
Date:
Feb 24 2016
Haeryun Kang reported the following for NPR on February 24, 2016: "On the eve of South Korean President Park Geun-hye's third anniversary in office, protesters gathered in Seoul... to condemn the administration's increasing crackdown on free speech. These protesters were unlike any others Seoul has seen. They were holograms"
Art as a Mirror: Zhang Huan’s 'Family Tree' and Its Reflections on Cultural Identity
Practitioner:
Zhang Huan
Date:
Oct 11 2000
One of the most critical artists on the contemporary art scene is Zhang Huan. His works are of great social insight and unique in how he applies his artistic expression. He thus makes them an almost visual feast with a peek into the multilevel structure of modern society. One such work is the masterpiece "Family Tree," which shows how art can mould our social cognition through multilayered symbolism and profound imagery.
Whose Utopia? 谁的乌托邦
Practitioner:
Cao Fei 曹斐
Date:
Jan 1 2005
Whose Utopia? was made by the Chinese artist Cao Fei and filmed at the OSRAM lighting factory in Foshan in the Pearl River Delta in southern China during 2005 and 2006. It was commissioned as part of a project entitled ‘What Are They Doing Here?’ that was run by the Siemens Art Program from 2000 to 2006 and involved Chinese artists undertaking six-month-long residencies at industrial facilities across the country.
Hong Kong Apple Store met with protest over supply chain violations on iPhone 6 launch day
Practitioner:
SACOM
Date:
Sep 3 2015
Apple implemented improved reservation procedures and policies for employees dealing with the iPhone 6 launch at retail stores on September 19th, 2014, but the launch at the company’s Hong Kong store hadn't gone quite as smooth as elsewhere. The store was hit by protesters from the Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) and also required police to help disperse customers that had waited in line without reservations.
Study of Perspective (& Stools)
Practitioner:
Ai Weiwei
Date:
Jan 1 2014
The son of an exiled political dissident, Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei’s work is inherently political. Since 1995 Ai Weiwei has been traveling the world, photographing himself flipping off iconic monuments of power in his Study of Perspective series.
Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, 1964
Practitioner:
Yoko Ono
Date:
Jan 1 1964
In Cut Piece—one of Yoko Ono’s early performance works—the artist sat alone on a stage, dressed in her best suit, with a pair of scissors in front of her. The audience had been instructed that they could take turns approaching her and use the scissors to cut off a small piece of her clothing, which was theirs to keep. Some people approached hesitantly, cutting a small square of fabric from her sleeve or the hem of her skirt.

Pages