Performing Disaster and Trauma: A Cross-cultural Dialogue between Post-Socialist China and Munich in the Age of Globalization

Abstract

<p>This chapter looks at the role art plays in commemorating traumatic events and inspiring discourse that departs from the mainstream or official discourse. Using Ai Weiwei’s <em>Remembering</em> (2009)—an installation that commemorates the Sichuan earthquake in 2008—as an example, the discussion focuses on the artwork’s power to communicate the fear and anger of the repressed to the world outside mainland China. The exhibition site, Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany, contributes to the multi-layered meaning of the artwork by reviving collective memories of human suffering and the repetition of historical events. In such a setting, the massive destruction of the earthquake is interpreted as largely a consequence of human negligence and bureaucratic corruption, which also serves as a reminder of exploitation and sacrifice of human beings in the name of national glory or ethnic superiority. A cross-cultural dialogue is encouraged by this shared experience of art.<br></p>