The shock of Miss Mao

Walk through a park or to work in the lower mainland and you will most certainly be engaged in a dialogue with public art.

The Vancouver Biennale pursuing the theme of “in-TRANSIT-ion” started in 2009 and on until 2011 is an exhibition with an emphasis on physical movement of people and changing our societies view towards public art.

Photo by Danielle Dewonck

I remember the moment I first came across one of the sculptural pieces of the biennale, while working in Richmond before the Olympics. The buzz was that just outside the hotel was a giant reproduction of Lenin’s head with a tiny figure balanced with a high-wire walkers pole on top entitled “Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head” by Beijing artist brothers Zhen and Qiang Gao.

My initial reaction was one of astonishment that an art piece such as this would be placed in the epicenter of Asian culture in Richmond just before the Olympics; and that city officials would embrace starting such a conversation when under the spotlight on the world stage.

After visiting Beijing and the center of their art district called 789 just before the 2009 Summer Olympics, I was pleasantly surprised that many artists from China were producing politically charged and controversial art such as this and increasingly being recognized internationally for their artistic contributions.

If public art starts the conversation, I enlist you to seek out, enjoy and perhaps stop to questioning what story might it tell rather than simply whether you love it or hate it.