Talk by Yiju Huang, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This talk reflects on how the catastrophe of the Chinese Cultural Revolution is commemorated in contemporary Chinese art. It juxtaposes the artist Zhang Xiaogang's 'Bloodline: Big Family' series with the paintings in the 'political pop' genre in order to draw out an implicit dialogue between the two. While the political pop genre is drawn time and again to the old Mao icons, Zhang's art invokes a different face of the Cultural Revolution - black and white family photos. The question that frames my talk is: what is the aesthetic, political and historical significance of the invocation of family photos as a different face, an alternative icon - as opposed to the icons of revolutionary soldiers, workers and peasants - in commemorating a violent past?