The Loud Red Book explores voids and absences in print media and their political implications regarding censorship, surveillance, autonomy, and memory. The Suppressed Edition of Quotations from Mao Tse-Tung stems from a personal anecdote involving a family friend in 1980s Beijing. When the infamous Tiananmen Square Massacre unfolded in 1989, they were there, an unblinking witness to history. They photographed the monstrous violence from their home window but chose not to develop the film. For 35 years, the roll of film has lain untouched and hidden in its canister, a silent relic of concealed experience. This story underscores my focus on suppressed experiential testimonials from this pivotal event and the urgent need for accountability against authoritarianism amid global political uncertainty.
The project is a compilation of witnesses’ accounts found in archives and independent media publications, concealed within a replica of Mao’s Little Red Book. Transforming this medium into a palimpsest, the Loud Red Book attempts to shed light on the ‘negative space’ occupied by lived experiences from the harrowing massacre. By giving voice to those erased from the public memory by mainstream Chinese media, it serves as a commentary on the iconification of propaganda works, political silencing as well as the glorification of cult personality.
How has print media historically been utilised as a tool for disseminating propaganda, and how can it be repurposed as a medium of resistance against oppressive regimes? How can personal narratives and collective memory, when juxtaposed with state propaganda, challenge the legitimacy of official histories? Whilst the degree of my Western detachment enables critical analysis, I cannot risk overlooking the lived realities of those directly affected. How can I balance the objectivity afforded by my privilege of distance with respect for those marginalised in the context of their own socio-political landscape?
The project critiques the complex structures and modalities of government control following China’s Cultural Revolution and the suppression of the peaceful, freedom-seeking student movement in mid-late 1980s Beijing. The Loud Read Book intends to serve as a reminder of the courage and resilience of the human spirit in the face of oppression.
