HKU Bulletin January 2011 (Vol. 12 No. 1)

43 In the twisted logic of the Cultural Revolution, being apolitical was a political statement. So when Dr Wang Aihe and her fellow artists decided to paint still-lifes and landscapes that reflected the perspective of the individual rather than the state, they had to do so under a cloak of secrecy. Dr Wang, who is now Associate Professor in the School of Chinese, was one of the ’No Name’ painters who formed their group in 1973 and painted together until the end of the decade. She has recently compiled their work into a 13-volume publication and online database, offering a rare insight into the fragile and dispersed underground culture that existed during the Cultural Revolution. “There were probably many groups like us operating in these heavily controlled areas, but there is not a single database I know of for that period. Primarily what exists are poetry and literature and most of it was published after Mao’s death [in 1976],” she said. Dr Wang wanted to show how it was possible for people from the grassroots to meet up and paint against the orthodoxy of the day. Freedom of association was not allowed during the Cultural Revolution and those accused of forming counter-revolutionary cliques faced severe punishment. “Our group formed spontaneously in Beijing at a time when other forms of community – of family and neighbourhood – were being dismantled and individuals were becoming isolated.” “We were in our teens and 20s, alone in the city. We would pick up and go painting, meet someone else who was doing the same, and the next time we’d go out together and meet another painter and it snowballed.” Many of them shunned the social realist style of the day in favour of Western styles of painting. “The dominant ideology at that time was that art served politics. We clearly saw art as something for its own sake and we went underground because this statement could not be made publicly.” This was a radical view and the group had to make sure it did not draw too much attention to itself. Their materials, for instance, were kept to a size that could fit easily into their bags and so were not conspicuous to others. They met in isolated places away from other people and sometimes in each other’s homes, where they would talk about literature and listen quietly to music. “Basically we were a cultural group,” Dr Wang said. These seemingly innocent gatherings still attracted suspicion. Twice during a beach trip the police called on them, once sending two of their members home and another time demanding a letter of introduction that would explain why they were gathering together. Older members of the group, who were in their 30s and had already lived through the excesses of 1960s China, managed to placate the officers. Dr Wang’s project is as much about the circumstances under which they painted as the paintings. The 13 bilingual volumes include more than 1,000 paintings and writings by the artists, including Dr Wang, on the historical and social contexts in which they were produced. An online database with thousands more paintings and documents is also being compiled. “This project provides historians with material to evaluate the history of art in the 20 th century. There was not only social realism in China, there was also a counter culture.” “We were trying to project life, art, aesthetics, poetry, a way of living that was different from what was prescribed for us, in which we love nature, have a community and search for individual harmony with what we think is spiritual. We tried to remove art from politics.” Wuming (No Name) Painting Catalogue is published by Hong Kong University Press. Art and Culture Art in the Cultural Revolution was supposed to represent and serve the state. One underground group of painters, including HKU academic Wang Aihe, worked in the shadows to challenge that perspective. Painting in the Dark G 3 ! @ - ? $ ’ 3 @ I M F “ ” N / * ( 0 ! ' ' > 3 & . > ! ! 0 ! - A 3 @ A # ' # M F “ ” • / ? $ ’ 3 @ I B + $ 3 M $ & + $ > ! + C 3 & > 8 3 $ ' 0 & 3 F “ ” – / January 2011