Beijing East Village Intimate Collaborations

Ma Liuming, Fen Ma Liuming’s Lunch I  1994

This is one of a group of gelatin silver prints in the Tate collection documenting performances by the Chinese artist Ma Liuming. Many of the performances took place in the Dongcun artists’ colony of Beijing East Village in the early 1990s. Ma joined the colony in 1993, having been active as one of the originators of modern performance art in China since the late 1980s. In his performances Ma adopted an androgynous alter-ego whom he called Fen-Ma Liuming, dressing up in women’s clothes and wearing make-up. He described this alternative artistic persona as ‘the character that I have been constantly enacting in my performances for the past few years and whose characteristics are an effeminate face and a body of a man’ (quoted in Marella Gallery 2007, p.9).

RongRong, 1994 No. 46 (Ma Liuming, ‘Fen-Ma Liuming’s Lunch’)  1994

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

Beijing East Village c.1993-5, To Add One Metre to an Anonymous Mountain  c.1993–5

To Add One Metre to an Anonymous Mountain 1995 is a video documenting a performance that was staged on the Miaofengshan, a mountain to the west of Beijing whose name translates directly from Mandarin Chinese into English as ‘Marvellous Peak Mountain’. The video footage shows members of the Chinese artist collective Beijing East Village and was made by a cameraman who was paid by the group for his services. Beijing East Village was an unofficial commune of artists that was based in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing, for a short period between 1993 and 1995. The staging of this particular performance on 11 May 1995 was significant, following repeated intrusions by the Chinese state police into the activity and living quarters of the group and the temporary incarceration of its members Zhang Huan, Ma Liuming and Zhu Ming, events which made life for artists in Dashan Zhuang increasingly untenable. To Add One Metre to an Anonymous Mountain was the penultimate performance of the Beijing East Village artists, and was immediately followed by Nine Holes 1995, which was performed on the same day.

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Jin Xing I  1996

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Beijing I  undated

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Beijing II  1995

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Beijing V  1994

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Cobra II  1996

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Mou Sen  1996

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Chen Kaige & Gong Li  1995

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Zu Zhou  c.1994

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Cui Jian  1996

Ma Liuming, Fen Ma Liuming  1993

This is one of a group of gelatin silver prints in the Tate collection documenting performances by the Chinese artist Ma Liuming. Many of the performances took place in the Dongcun artists’ colony of Beijing East Village in the early 1990s. Ma joined the colony in 1993 having been active as one of the originators of modern performance art in China since the late 1980s. This photograph, taken in 1993 by the artist Xu Zhiwei, shows Ma Liuming turning into Fen-Ma Liuming, his feminine alter-ego and a character he would adopt in a number of subsequent performances. Here he is shown wearing a flowery dress, chiffon scarf and large earrings, while a pair of hands to the right of the image appear to help with the transformation. Other images (see Tate P81262 and P81264) also show Ma being assisted with his hair and make-up as he becomes Fen-Ma. In 1999 Ma described his alternative artistic persona: ‘Fen-Ma Liuming is the character that I have been constantly enacting in my performances for the past few years and whose characteristics are an effeminate face and a body of a man’ (quoted in Marella Gallery 2007, p.9).

RongRong, 1995 No. 42 (Zhang Huan, Ma Liuming, ‘Third Contact’)  1995

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1995 No. 9 (Zhang Huan, ‘Primordial Sounds’)  1995

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1993 No. 25 (Ma Liuming)  1993

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1994 No. 1  1994

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1994 No. 11 (Zhang Huan)  1994

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1994 No. 15 (Zhang Huan, ‘12 Square Metres’)  1994

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1994 No. 18 (Zhang Huan, ‘12 Square Metres’)  1994

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1994 No. 20 (Zhang Huan, ‘12 Square Metres’)  1994

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1994 No. 35 (Zhang Huan, ‘65 Kilograms’)  1994

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1994 No. 85 (Zhu Ming)  1994

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1994 No. 90  1994

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1995 No. 5 (Zhang Huan, Ma Liuming, ‘Third Contact’)  1995

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1995 No. 6 (Zhang Huan, ‘Primordial Sounds’)  1995

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

RongRong, 1996 No. 50 (Xu San)  1996

This photograph is from a portfolio of forty-four individual original black and white photographs, taken, printed and sequenced by the Chinese photographer RongRong (see Tate P82585–P82628). RongRong was an integral member of the group of artists who lived and worked in the Beijing East Village – an artist’s commune that was informally established between 1993 and 1994 in Dashan Zhuang, an area near the Third Ring Road of Beijing. The images record performances carried out by members of Beijing East Village and are characterised by a snapshot aesthetic which alludes to the intimacy and spontaneity with which the photographs were made on an analogue 35mm film SLR camera. The title of each of the prints refers to the year in which the performance was staged. The collective’s most concentrated period of activity lasted for just over two years, from early 1993 until May 1995. Its membership comprised around fifteen individual artists who went on to receive international attention and acclaim – some of the most notable amongst them being Zhang Huan (born 1965), Ma Liuming (born 1969), Zhu Ming (born 1972), Duan Yingmei (born 1969), Cang Xin (born 1967) and RongRong.

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Liu Anping  1995

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Zhang Huan  1995

Xing Danwen, A Personal Diary: Cobra I  1996