Liu Xia

Producing art at great personal cost in order to send a message that is important and must be heard: Urgent expression.

Liu Xia is a Chinese woman who is married to the 2010 Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. Previously she always said that she was not involved in politics like her husband. And yet, her work, now, seems as though it couldn't be more steeped in it. Her husband has been imprisoned with an 11 year sentence since 2009. She finds herself on house arrest although she has been charged with nothing. Her art has been banned from the public of China since 80s.

So many obstacles to keep her voice from getting heard, and yet she still does it. The link that I'm going to post on here shows a group of art that she created which quite nearly never made it to America. It was whisked away only a short time before the Chinese government invaded her home.

The visions in her photographs show children's toys but they are placed in black and white atmospheres that show dark meaning illustrating how she feels about China. I won't pretend to say I understand every image; I don't. Perhaps to understand entirely one needs to be a native Chinese. But I still get the point. I still understand the severity of it.

My husband said with how unfair and inhumane as the Chinese government has proven itself to be, why do you like China?

Because I do like China, it's history, it's culture, it's people. But notice, I did not say it's government or it's Communism. There is a certain attraction I find in the people of the country that has billions of exotic inhabitants. The strength of the people, and their willingness to persevere, there is something about that which entices me. Like any other people they are not perfect. They have their shortcomings. I accept them as they are. It's just like Americans not being perfect either.

I can't explain my Chinese attraction well, I don't have the words. I just know the people are worth it. Worth looking at, worth admiring, worth studying, and the art that they've created in recent years is intriguing. To create under such intricately strict circumstances and yet still finding ways to excel in expression. To have meaning behind that expression. And to be brave enough to step out and produce it, and display it, even when the consequences for doing so could be grave.

How could I not love them?

Here is the link, with a slideshow of the items that just barely made it to the exhibition: Liu Xia Images ... To see them, click on the picture in the article, and a slideshow window will pop up.

Always~Allyson

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