Projects tagged "East Asia"

Interwoven Threads: The Art of Community and Sensory Expansion
Practitioner:
Sebastián Mahaluf
Date:
Sep 1 2023
Sebastián Mahaluf stands out as an artist deeply engaged in weaving the complex threads of human connection, community, and the interplay of personal and collective experiences. His notable work, "CONTRADICTION AND TENSION," showcases his approach to art as a participatory experience that bridges individual perceptions with communal narratives.
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.
Dying to Breathe: The Unseen Cost of Gold Mining
Practitioner:
Sim Chi Yin
Date:
May 15 2015
Photographer Sim Chi Yin spent more than three years documenting a Chinese gold miner who is suffering from the deadly lung disease silicosis. Despite the odds, his loving relationship with his wife has kept him alive much longer than anyone expected.
The Rage Over Ramen: A Tale of Classism
Practitioner:
Cami Gomez, Medium
Date:
Sep 28 2020
As the cold air bit our faces, and we hid deeper into our layer of sweaters, my family and I continued to wander around Manhattan, seeking a place which would provide warmth and food. And there it was, dimly lit: the Michelin-starred ramen restaurant, Tonchin. We ordered the highly-sought after ramen bowl, Tonkotsu, and awaited our meal. Out of the kitchen, the steam arose from a bowl of a warm, salty pork broth.
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.
TikTok's teen communists are reclaiming the hammer and sickle
Practitioner:
TikTok's Gen Z Users
Date:
Feb 11 2021
20-year-old Ilyssa, from New York, sees communism as the only viable alternative, one that will improve the societal issues we currently face. “From a young age, I was very aware of the stark class differences that existed,” she says. “I grew up with a single mother in a very poor family.
Umbrella Man - Occupy Central Hong Kong
Practitioner:
Milk
Date:
Oct 7 2014
The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong have a new mascot: a roughly 12-foot-high figure of wood blocks holding a bright yellow umbrella in its outstretched right hand. The students call it Umbrella Man. Umbrellas emerged as a symbol of the demonstrations after dozens of students wielded them on the night of Sept. 28 to fend off pepper spray as they jostled with the police.
Multibasket – No One Wins
Practitioner:
Jasmina Llobet & Luis Pons
Date:
Jan 1 2013
On the small island of Teshima in Japan’s Seto Inland Sea, Multibasket – No One Wins invites visitors to reconsider competition, collaboration, and the intersection of art and play.
Rap Challenge to the Thai Military Junta
Practitioner:
Rap Against Dictatorship
Date:
Feb 15 2019
BANGKOK — The rhymes came to Nutthapong Srimuong before dawn, when Bangkok is as still as it can be and the night jasmine overpowers the Thai capital with its perfume. The country whose capital is turned into a killing field Whose charter is written and erased by the army’s boots The country that points a gun at your throat Where you must choose to eat the truth or bullets
Take a Photo, Save a Child
Practitioner:
Jianrong Yu
Date:
Jan 25 2012
On January 17, 2011, Hong Yuping (洪玉萍), from Fujian Province, contacted Yu Jianrong (于建嵘), at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), about her family’s plight and requested assistance: In June 2009, their son, Yang Weixin (杨伟鑫), then age six, was abducted from their hometown, Quanzhou, and they had been searching for him ever since.1 In early 2010, Hong had recognized Yang Weixin in a photo of three children begging outside a Xiamen train statio
"Who is afraid of Aiweiwei?" stencil graffiti spread in Hong Kong
Practitioner:
activists
Date:
Apr 3 2011
Free Ai Weiwei street art campaign is a "guerilla methods" of political street art protest against the PRC government's secret detention of world famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei since April 3, 2011, organized by Hong Kong artists and art supporters, calling for the immediate release of the artist.
Marry the Blue Sky - Chinese Performance Artist on Air Pollution
Practitioner:
Kong Ning
Date:
Dec 2 2015
In December 2015, she stepped out in a wedding dress adorned with hundreds of air pollution masks and walked the streets appealing to Beijingers to take public transport rather than contribute to the choking smog by driving. The year before, she was photographed outside the Beijing Exhibition center in another, wedding dress complete with a 10-metre-long train in a piece entitled “Marry the Sky”.
menstrual pad mutual aid boxes
Practitioner:
Chinese University Students
Date:
Oct 30 2020
Since 2020, university students across China have launched a grassroots initiative to combat menstrual stigma by placing “menstrual pad mutual aid boxes” in campus restrooms. These boxes, often accompanied by signs reading “Take one if you need it, donate if you can,” provide free sanitary pads to anyone caught off guard by their period—offering both practical relief and a symbolic challenge to the cultural silence surrounding menstruation.
At Frieze, Do Ho Suh and Brother Eul Ho Suh Explore Intergenerational Legacies in Korean Art
Practitioner:
Suh Se Ok
Date:
Sep 6 2024
South Korean artist Do Ho Suh is internationally known for his ghostly, diaphanous architecture and fabric-made objects, which create imaginary spaces that are physically present yet impossible to inhabit. His large-scale, immersive, but impermanent installations serve as “acts of memorialization,” exploring themes of identity, home, and the tension between personal and public space.
Occupy the Men Bathroom
Practitioner:
Maizi Li, Churan Zheng
Date:
Feb 19 2012
On February 19, 2012, the Chinese young feminism leaders, included Maizi Li and Churan Zheng, initiated an activity, "Occupy the Men Bathroom." The protesters occupied the male public restroom and invited the women waiting for the women restroom to use the male one.
ISIS-chan : Anime nerds' efforts to influence online search results for ISIS-related messages
Practitioner:
Anime fans from Japan and around the world
Date:
Jan 24 2015
Her name is ISIS-chan. And she's how nerds around the world are trying to silence violent ISIS terrorist propaganda. It starts with the vibrant worldwide community that loves Japanese anime. Some of them have created a cute animated character as a sort of ISIS mascot. The goal? Hijack the terrorist group's message and replace it with a girl that's oh-so-adorable.
Beautiful Women's Rights Walk
Practitioner:
Meili Xiao
Date:
Sep 15 2012
In 2012, the 24-year-old feminist activist Xiao Meili launched the "Beautiful Women's Rights Walk" anti-sexual assault activity. She set off from Beijing in mid-September and passed through Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha and other cities along the way to reach the destination Guangzhou. She took 114 days and reaches more than 2500 kilometers in this tour.
Left Litter in the Park? Thailand Officials Will Mail It to Your Home
Practitioner:
Varawut Silpa-archa, Environment Minister of Thailand
Date:
Sep 15 2020
Officials in Thailand had an unorthodox approach to deal with visitors who left a tent filled with litter in a national park: mail the trash to the offenders.
1,001 chairs for Aiweiwei in Taipei
Practitioner:
Taiwanese artists and activists
Date:
Jun 4 2011
A large chair installation work featuring the Chinese name of detained artist and activist Ai Weiwei was set up in Taipei Saturday --the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen SquareMassacre -- to call for Ai's release. Bei Ling, an artist from China who has been barred from enteringhis home country since 2000, used 1,001 empty chairs to piece together the three characters of Ai's name in Liberty Square at 6: 04p.m.
Street gas chamber
Practitioner:
Brother Nuts
Date:
Sep 27 2016
A minibus is parked on the side of the road with a series of pipelines wrapped around it. One end of the pipeline is connected to the exhaust port of the minibus, and the other end is put into the car, so that the exhaust gas can be directly introduced into the car, forming a " Street gas chamber".
Instantaneous ownership
Practitioner:
Zou Yaqi, China News
Date:
May 21 2021
"Why should I play a celebrity and live in Beijing for 21 days without spending money?" From May 1st to May 21st, 2021, I spent 21 days in Beijing without spending money, and I was as elegant as a celebrity. I recorded this behavior through video. Video "Instant Ownership" 28-minute graduation exhibition version of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (click to watch)
Embarking on a journey through a sea of theater
Practitioner:
CGTN
Date:
Jul 6 2023
China's only seaside theater festival has been held in the resort town of Aranya in north China's Hebei Province. Artists from around the world traveled there to take deep dive into the world of dramatic performance. For theatergoers, there were interactive activities including cross-border installations such as seaside talks, environmental drama readings, screenings, theater houses, parades and bonfires by the sea.
Rose Boy
Practitioner:
Singer Jolin Tsai
Date:
Dec 26 2018
“Rose Boy” (玫瑰少年) refers to Yeh Yung-chih, a 15-year-old junior high school student in Taiwan who died on April 20, 2000, after years of bullying due to his non-conforming gender expression. Though the official cause of death was ruled accidental—he allegedly slipped in a school bathroom—the circumstances surrounding his death, including prior complaints from his mother about repeated verbal and physical harassment, drew widespread public attention.
GreatFire
Practitioner:
Several anonymous individuals
Date:
Jan 1 2015
GreatFire was set up in 2011 by three anonymous individuals to counter the “Great Firewall of China”, the systematic blocking by the Chinese government of any website deemed controversial, including any that touch on news, human rights, democracy or religion.
"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?”.

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