Artists hope to preserve June 4th Incident memories through artworks

Taipei, June 2 (CNA) Artists featured in an exhibition in Taipei to commemorate the June 4th Incident said on Sunday that they hoped to “carefully preserve these memories” with their creations.

The exhibition, organized by the New School for Democracy, opened on May 20 featuring artworks by 18 artists from around the world at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the violent crackdown by Chinese authorities on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing.

The organization also held three discussion sessions on Sunday, with some featured artists sharing what inspired them to create their pieces.

The history of the June 4th Incident or other human disasters is a good lesson for humankind as it seeks freedom and justice, said Loretta Lau (劉慧婷), one of the three exhibition curators.

“However, at the same time, we need to preserve these memories so they cannot be whitewashed by the regime,” the self-exiled Hong Kong artist, who is now based in the Netherlands, added.

With the recording of her performative art “Letter to My People” shown at the exhibition, Lau said that she and the other two curators also want overseas tourists who visit the memorial hall to know that people in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong “are worthy in the continuation of their pursuits of democracy and freedom.”

American artist DJ Hatfield said he wants his installation art piece “Refusal 1: Take it or Leave it” — an old printer that printed a long roll of paper filled with garbled characters — to spark questions about the reception and interpretation of messages about the June 4th Incident.

“What if the way we talk about June 4th is contained within an American national narrative, or a Taiwanese national narrative, or a Chinese on Taiwan national narrative, and not really listening to what people were doing in China?” the associate professor at the Graduate Institute of Musicology at National Taiwan University asked.

By raising these kinds of questions, Hatfield said he wants visitors to consider whether what they receive on social media is being framed or channeled in a specific way. He added that this applies even in relatively free places.

A Taiwanese artist, 24-year-old Choma (喬瑪) who was born after the June 4th Incident in 1989, said she learned about the massacre mostly from her family.

“My family told me at that time that the hearts of the Taiwanese people were connected with those of the Chinese people … They felt very sad and hoped China would also attain freedom one day,” she said.

Everyone desires freedom and hopes their country can be free, Choma added.

She said she wants to express this longing for freedom through how the character in her printmaking work “Freedom é dancer” moves their body.

Their artwork is now being displayed at the art exhibition titled “Life Death Preserve Forgotten,” which will run until June 13 on the first floor of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.

An annual candlelight vigil will also be held in the evening on June 4 at Democracy Boulevard outside the memorial hall, according to the New School for Democracy.