In 2019, Xu Zaozao, a single woman, began a legal battle against a Beijing hospital after they refused to freeze her eggs – a procedure that is reserved for married couples in China. The case was dismissed in 2022, echoing the ongoing debate around women’s rights. “I hope more people will recognise the fact that there is a whole diversity of single women,” remarked Zaozao in response. “They have the right to have autonomy in matters of reproduction and to make decisions concerning their bodies.”
Group show Stepping Out! Female Identities in Chinese Contemporary Art digs into what it means to be a woman in present-day China, shining a light on 26 artists who examine the joys, challenges and contradictions of daily life. The survey is rooted in an uprising that began in the late 1980s, around a decade after the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). The likes of Yu Hong (b. 1966), Xing Danwen (b. 1967) and Xiang Jing (1968) challenged the male-dominated creative scene through innovative multidisciplinary artwork on gender, politics and the body.
The legacy of these pioneers radiates throughout the work on view, from established names to emerging talent. Sun Shaokun (b. 1980), for example, pushes the boundaries of film to unpick everyday binaries. In NoLand II (2010), the artist is submerged in rice, each grain marked with the Chinese characters for “forced eviction.” The effect is claustrophobic yet calming, symbolising the oppressor and oppressed. Examples of conformity, resistance and transformation arise throughout the exhibition, highlighting how female identity in China continues to be a divisive subject.
Stepping Out! Female Identities in Chinese Contemporary Art
Museum der Moderne Salzburg | Until 25 June
Words: Saffron Ward
Image Credits:
1. Sun Shaokun, No Land II, From the series Bow and Rebuke – No Land (with Ruggero Rosfer), (2010). Inkjet print, 150 × 120 cm, Courtesy of Sun Shaokun.
2. Cao Fei, Whose Utopia, (2006). Video (colour, sound), 20:20 min. Courtesy of the artist, Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers.
3. Cui Xiuwen, Angel No. 5, (2006). Digital print on photographic paper, 100 × 150 cm, Edition 6/8. Courtesy of Tina Keng Gallery and the artist.
