II-B) Today's Heritage of Revolutionary Art on Contemporary Art

Concerning fine arts it seems that some contemporary work has been influenced by the revolutionary art. The style is kept but the meaning is distorted. This is often creating a comic effect.

(Some contemporary Chinese artists have been asked to express was does Dior stand for them. Here some Chinese officials in front of the catwalk.)

The XXth century have been a turning point in China history. Millenaries of imperial rule came to the end. The higly hierachized ancient society was replaced by the most strict egalitarian society even experienced in the word – with Russia.

But today, Chinese witness the failure of an ideology which do not even confess it has failed. Communism is still the official speech while the rules of the market & wild consumerism swept away all the ideologies.

How can’t the Chineses be cynical about this ? I think Chinese contemporary art today is a satyr of a Parti which sold its ideology on the market economy.

One of the trend of Chinese contemporary art have been nicknammed Cynical Realism. This name is very explicit. The artist use some recognizable features of revolutionary art. But they mix it with some bothering elements of the today’s China’s paradoxical situation. The result is very cynical.

Drawing, for instance, a bottle of Coca Cola, symbol of the american economic liberalism, in the hands of a Chinese worker is highly ironical.

Chinese contemporary art is desentchanting.

But the largest part of contemporary Chinese artists are focusing on the present : developing China. Thus most of the contemporary work is showing Chinese cities’ quick growth. Urbanism is the most common theme today.

(Chen Shaoxiang : scale model of the street in the street.)

( Wang Niandong : one could easily observe the obsession of Modernity in this painting.)

It seems that there is a sort of gap. Chinese artists do not claim the heritage of the revolutionary art. They are mostly focusing on the present & the future of China.

As for architecture, contemporary building projects are mainly non Chinese. It is mainly europeans - such as the french Paul Andreu who made the Grand National Theatre of Beijing or the Dutch Rem Koolhaas, building the headquaters of the national TV – or americans who are the architects of the new China. Chinese architects are excluded from the reshape of Chinese magalopolis. Indeed, China lacked a complete generation of architects. During the cultural revolution Mao closed the universities of architectures. Any Chinese could have been train to do this job. Whatever can be the explanation of this situation, the result is the same. Contemporary architecture in China is mainly westernized. There are any references to the cultural background of China in general & no remains of the revolutionary period in particular.

(Rem Koolhaas, future headquaters of National TV, Beijing)

(paul Andreu, National Grand Theatre, Beijing)

However, a fringe of contemporary Chinese architects are currently more & more recognised for their work.

But in the following exemple of contemporary buildings there are no references to the revolutionary architecture once promoted by the Parti. Those creations are a mix between modernism & traditional China. It is as if the revolutionary period have been forgotten.

Suzhou : the Venise of China, known for its beautiful traditional Chinese gardens.

Highly modern building. However the architect paid attention to the environmental surrondings : the water, the trees. It is a reference to the gardening tradition of Suzhou.

Near Shanghai, a library.

Here the shape of the building remins the shape of a dragon, a famous animal in the ancient Chinese mythology.

Museum of History, Suzhou

Here the white walls circled with black remind us of the ancient Chinese gardens’ wall, traditionally painted with white in order to contrast with the rocks and the bamboo trees.

Today, architecture in China is whether westernized, whether refering to traditional China.Thus there is no remains of revolutionary architecure in the today’s Chinese architecture.

Propaganda songs and music have a long and storied history in the PRC, featuring prominently in the popular culture of the 1950s to the 1970s. Many of these songs were collected and performed as modern rock adaptations for several albums that were released during the 1990s, including "Red Rock" and "Red Sun: Mao Zedong Praise Songs New Revolutionary Medley". The latter sold 6-10 million copies in China. Most of the older songs praise Mao, the CCP, the 1949 revolution, the Chinese Red Army and the People’s Liberation Army, the unity of the ethnic groups of China, and the various ethnic groups' devotion to Mao and the CCP.

Even in westren countries Mao inspired songs. “Revolution” written & sang by the Beatles is a famous example of this.

"You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know you can count me out.

You say you'll change the constitution
Well you know
We all want to change your head
You tell me it's the institution
Well you know
You better free your mind instead
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow."

(John Lennon/Paul McCartney, 1968)