My Tiananmen: The Polyphonic History

"My Tiananmen: The Polyphonic History" is a multimedia exhibition which embodies the musical and literary concepts of polyphony in its structure. It has three parts: a film program “Memories in a Cross-generational Dialogue”, a video installation “My Tiananmen”, and a special screening event – “Unique and Like Yours”.

As indicated by the title, Tiananmen Square Massacre is an underlying theme of the exhibition. Tiananmen Square, the symbol of both imperial authority and liberation, was the centre of a series of nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in the spring of 1989. On June 4th, Hundreds of thousands of students and citizens on the square were brutally suppressed by military forces. After the bloodshed, those who survived either were arrested, fled overseas, or adapted to the aftermath of terror, silence, and societal depression. It is still forbidden to speak of this historic event in the place it unfolded.

The exhibition is about the notion of history – Tiananmen as a drastic exemplification – which is experienced by individuals and resides in people’s memories. History, on the emotional levels, affects not only those directly involved but also those distantly connected through space and time. The emotions evolve over time and across generations, some in resonance and some in dissonance. To shed light on the dialogue and dialectic of the cross-generational memories and its representation in films and videos, the exhibition is conceived in a polyphonic manner. Each of the three parts is a distinct passage that explores how we perceive or comprehend history, from Tiananmen, to the general and universal. Together, they reflect the complex relationship between history and the persons who made, and who are made, by it.