Shao Yinong and Muchen

Shao Yinong & Muchen document an alternative narrative of Chinese history that focuses on the resonating impact of the Cultural Revolution. The Assembly Hall series, started in 2001, includes images of over 220 disused halls across China where several decades of revolutionary “reform” took place. The photo- graphs are reminders and reflections of the contemporary fluctuations in the lives of the local community. The monumental architectural in the Scene “Mi” series (2003- 2005) and the images of endangered sculptures in Fuxi Fuxi (2006) will also be exhibited.

Shao Yinong & Muchen
Shao Yinong is born in à Xining, China, in 1961
Muchen is born in Liaoning, China, in 1970
Live and work in Beijing

Since the early years of this decade, the photographs of Shao Yinong and Muchen have dealt with the collective memory of the Chinese people and the deep imprint left upon it by the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, a devastating time of political and cultural unification that wiped out China’s past in order to build a modern society. As this swath of history gradually fades into oblivion, the two artists use photography as a way of recording the changes taking place in Chinese narrative traditions. They revisit their cultural history in order to preserve and reinterpret their country’s traditional aesthetics (by hand-colouring their photographs, for instance). The Family Register series (2004) reconstitutes Yinong’s genealogical tree with portraits of family members. All are shown wearing Chinese tunics over their usual clothes, the garments that have come to symbolize the unity promoted by the Cultural Revolution, as well as self-effacement, since this conceals the political quarrels that have torn families apart. Assembly Hall (2002-2005) is a series that documents what has become of former Communist assembly halls in China. These monuments of the Revolution, where the destiny of a nation was decided in Communist Party meetings, are now falling into disuse and many are being demolished as the country focuses on the economy rather than on politics. These halls are always photographed empty and from front and centre;Yinong and Muchen believe that the fixed, direct image favours the recollection of the events associated with these gathering places.

LA MAISON DE LA CULTURE CÔTE-DES-NEIGES
5290, CÔTE-DES-NEIGES
T: 514.872.6889
[SEPT. 06, 2007 – OCT. 07, 2007]
OPENING SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 09, 2007 AT 5:30 PM |
TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY FROM 1 PM TO 7 PM, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY FROM 1 PM TO 6 PM,
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY FROM 1 PM TO 5 PM