WITNESS: THE ARCHIVE OF CULTURAL REVOLUTION

Witness: The Archive of Cultural Revolution is a photographic chronicle of significant events during the Cultural Revolution in China. From 1966 to 1976, Li Zhengsheng, then a young photojournalist of the Heilongjiang Daily, bore witness to the sociopolitical upheaval that was spreading across his country. By risking his life to document the happenings behind the movement in over a hundred thousand negatives, he offered an unabashed account of China’s political situation under the rule of Mao Zedong.

In this exhibition, the collection of black and white prints are presented against red planar frameworks, inspired from the billboard structures that proliferated the mass speaking congregations during the Cultural Revolution. Varying in heights and arranged in rows, with selections of images put together with an invisible narrative, the exhibition creates an immersive quality for people to weave through at their own pace, making each canvas an encounter, a moment of reflection, and a point of enlightenment.

Year of completion: 2016
Location: Arts House, Singapore
Client: DECK
Photography: Studio Periphery