Chinese artist etches October Revolution with fireworks

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After fire and smoke bursts out of a 20-meter-long piece of white silk spread out on the ground, the ashes read in Russian: “There are no supreme saviors. Neither God, nor Caesar, nor tribune," lyrics from left-wing anthem The Internationale.

This is an artwork from Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guoqiang, who will have his first solo exhibition in Russia at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, from September 13 to November 12.

Promotional material for Cai Guoqiang's solo exhibition in Russia./Photo via arts-museum.ru.com

Titled “October,” the exhibition aims to commemorate the 100th anniversary of October Revolution, which broke out in Russia in 1917, led Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks.

The revolution was one of the most high-profile political events in history and ended the centuries-long imperial ruling in Russia, paving the way for the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.

“Those words were taken from the Internationale and during that time many people wanted independence but that system proved to have flaws," Cai told AFP.

"Today, these words have an important meaning for us," he said.

Cai Guoqiang./Photo via arts-museum.ru.com

Using gunpowder is the 60-year-old artist’s signature when creating art works.

Cai was born in Quanzhou, Fujian Province in southeast China and then went to study in Shanghai Theater Academy during the early 80s.

The use of gunpowder in his artworks started in 1986 and continued to 1995 when he was living in Japan. He then relocated to New York.

At this solo exhibition, Cai will display his creations through multiple media, including installation art, sculptures, sketches and a gunpowder painting that stretches from the yard to the hall of the museum.

Cai Guoqiang creates his first gunpowder painting in Moscow for October at The Pushkin State Museum Of Fine Arts./Photo via arts-museum.ru.com

“The exhibition, dedicated to the Centenary of the Revolution, will be created in the form of a dialogue between contemporary art and the architecture of a classical museum, a finished work and the history of its creation, past events and the hopes of today,” said Marina Loshak, director of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, according to the introduction published on the museum’s official website.

The introduction wrote that Cai aims to explore the topics of history, revolution and utopian dreams.

“These topics should not stay as grand narratives of ideologies or social systems. Instead, we need to discuss more specifically how ‘the people’ is composed of many individuals. Whether prosperous or unfortunate, history is created by individuals, who must take responsibility and assume consequences,” says Cai.

The reasons behind people's ideals, and their struggle to realize them, are something that exist universally in the past and present, he believes.

(Video clips via AFP)