Qin Ga: The Miniature Long March

Location: Long March Space, Beijing (formerly known as 25000 Cultural Transmission Center)

Duration: Jul. 23 – Aug. 17, 2005

Qin Ga: The Miniature Long March

On June 28, 2002, the Long March team departed from Beijing, and, starting from Ruijin, Jiangxi Province, began the “Long March – A Walking Visual Display.” Artist Qin Ga participated in the project from Beijing, remotely following the Long March team’s movements by first tattooing a map of China onto his back, and then tattooing each new site that the Long March team would arrive at, permanently leaving behind each route and site. When the Long March team declared a temporary stop to the project on September 2002, at Site 12 (Luding Bridge, Sichuan Province), Qin Ga’s tattoo work also stopped. Through a small needle, the 25000 li (6,000 mile) Long March was miniaturized onto Qin Ga’s back. His body is both an artwork and a Long March object, combining together elements of history, and collective and individual memory.

May 1, 2005, led by Long March Chief Curator Lu Jie, the Long March team arrived at the Beijing’s West Train Station to send off artist Qin Ga. Three years prior, Qin Ga followed the Long March team’s every step from Beijing. Today, it is the Long March team’s turn to imagine Qin Ga on the Long March route, traveling from Luding Bridge, Sichuan Province, crossing over the Snowy Mountains and swampy grasslands, and heading in the direction of Yan’an, remotely connecting with the collective memory and our experiences these years on the road. Accompanying him are Gao Feng, Gao Xiang, Li Ding, Mei Er (a tattoo artist and three cameraman). They will help record and tattoo onto Qin Ga’s back the remaining sites left unvisited by the Long March team.

Qin Ga: The Miniature Long March

On June 28, 2002, the Long March team departed from Beijing, and, starting from Ruijin, Jiangxi Province, began the “Long March – A Walking Visual Display.” Artist Qin Ga participated in the project from Beijing, remotely following the Long March team’s movements by first tattooing a map of China onto his back, and then tattooing each new site that the Long March team would arrive at, permanently leaving behind each route and site. When the Long March team declared a temporary stop to the project on September 2002, at Site 12 (Luding Bridge, Sichuan Province), Qin Ga’s tattoo work also stopped. Through a small needle, the 25000 li (6,000 mile) Long March was miniaturized onto Qin Ga’s back. His body is both an artwork and a Long March object, combining together elements of history, and collective and individual memory.

May 1, 2005, led by Long March Chief Curator Lu Jie, the Long March team arrived at the Beijing’s West Train Station to send off artist Qin Ga. Three years prior, Qin Ga followed the Long March team’s every step from Beijing. Today, it is the Long March team’s turn to imagine Qin Ga on the Long March route, traveling from Luding Bridge, Sichuan Province, crossing over the Snowy Mountains and swampy grasslands, and heading in the direction of Yan’an, remotely connecting with the collective memory and our experiences these years on the road. Accompanying him are Gao Feng, Gao Xiang, Li Ding, Mei Er (a tattoo artist and three cameraman). They will help record and tattoo onto Qin Ga’s back the remaining sites left unvisited by the Long March team.