798

My last known free day, I made another check on my to-do list by visiting the 798 art district.  Located outside of downtown Beijing, Diane, Emily and I made use of the recently opened subway line.  It was like riding first class.  There was room to sit and t.v. screens on the line that played Olympic commercials or sport tutorials.  I brushed up on my field hockey knowledge.  

798 is a contemporary art mecca.  It is new and quickly emerging.   Because art was stalled during the Cultural Revolution and the 100 Flowers Period, only recently have people started to enjoy this freedom to create without the fear of being imprisoned or sent to the countryside.  I only wish I had a more extensive background of Chinese history to understand some of the critiques behind the art pieces.  Mao was certainly there in different art forms.  

A little more than a decade ago artists started moving their art galleries into old warehouses that were being evacuated.  Since then it has become the place to see art in Beijing.  You will not find ancient scroll art or calligraphy writing, but rather, all contemporary, new paintings, sculptures, and figures scattered throughout the green.  My favorite was the photography of Tibet Buddhism.  It followed Henri Cartier Bresson's Decisive Moment in true photojournalism fashion.    Women carrying boards worked together with the shadows of their bodies to create crosses on the dirt road.