24th anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre

This file photo taken 24 years ago shows some of the hundreds of thousands of Chinese gathering around a 10-meter replica of the Statue of Liberty (center), called the Goddess of Democracy, in Tiananmen Square demanding democracy despite martial law in Beijing. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of protesters were killed by China's military on June 3 and 4, 1989, as communist leaders ordered an end to six weeks of unprecedented democracy protests in the heart of the Chinese capital. (CATHERINE HENRIETTE/AFP/Getty Images)

Great photos of the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests (but also of the horrible massacre that ended it)!

Censored in China: 'Today,' 'Tonight' and 'Big Yellow Duck' By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW The words’ today,’ ‘tonight’ and ‘big yellow duck’ are all banned on China’s popular Weibo, or microblog, as the state tries to ensure political calm on June 4, the 24th anniversary of the crushing of the 1989 democracy protests. some of my earlier posts on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and democracy protests:  I write to you from a far-off country...: remembering Tiananmen... Jun 04, 2009 June 4, 1989 ...I was 21 and just coming into my own ...just moving out of my parents' home, just taking on my own ideas about politics, religion, war, life, love and everything... since I was young, every time I had uttered even ... http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/ previously unseen photos of Tiananmen Square Massacre Jun 06, 2009 Previously unseen pictures obtained by the Guardian show how the violence centred on Tiananmen Square played out in surrounding areas... Posted by William Andersen at 4:58 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to ... http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/ meeting a former soldier that fired shoots in Tiananmen... Jun 04, 2009 meeting a former soldier that fired shoots in Tiananmen... ...very strange that I met this artist, Chen Guang, in the summer of 2007 at an art exhibit of the most shocking art that I've ever seen... I had a very difficult time with his art ... http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/ I write to you from a far-off country...: China 22 years later... Jun 04, 2011 China's 22nd anniversary of Tiananmen Square | Video | Reuters.com. Twenty-two years after China's infamous Tiananmen Square crackdown, not much progress on political dissidents. http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/ remembering "Tank Man"... - I write to you from a far-off country... Jun 06, 2009 Mike Licht said... Tank Man lives. New versions of this iconic image are all over the Web. Here, for example: http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/20th-anniversary-of-tiananmen-square/. June 5, 2009 at 4:57 PM ... http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/ I write to you from a far-off country...: Ai Weiwei and the Artist's Role ... Apr 12, 2011 Ai Weiwei and the Artist's Role in China. Ai Weiwei in Tiananmen Square in 2009 (the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre). Ai Weiwei and the Artist's Role in China - Room for Debate ... 12 Apr 2011 . http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/ I write to you from a far-off country...: More Deaths and Anti-Chinese ... Feb 10, 2012 -Tibet Post International. Hong Kong Residents to Hold Vigil Marking Tiananmen...‎ - Bloomberg. Tiananmen Square Anniversary: 22 Years Later - Huffington Post. Tiananmen legacy: Crush any hint of dissent‎ - Vancouver . http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/ Any interest in a counter exhibit/lecture series to Milwaukee's May 21, 2011 Ai Weiwei in Tiananmen Square in 2009 on the 20th anniversary of the massacre. Dear friends, Have you seen Mary Louise Schumacher's article: Should the Milwaukee Art Museum protest Ai Weiwei's detention? - Art City ... http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/ Chinese Artist Who Led Protest Has Been Jailed, His Wife Says Jul 09, 2010 In February, those artists joined forces with artists from another Beijing neighborhood to march down Chang'an Jie, a wide ceremonial avenue that runs past the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. Chinese leaders are ... http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/ I write to you from a far-off country...: artist against the state... Nov 28, 2009 But after 1989, and the silencing of protesters at Tiananmen Square, he had decided that “the world became different.” And so he returned to China in 1993, reckoning that one day he might face something like his father's fate. http://williamjandersen.blogspot.com/

Nicholas Kristof and Ai Weiwei on Chen Guangcheng

Below is what another real life hero, Nicholas Kristof, says about Chen Guangcheng:

Nicholas Kristof

This man, Chen Guangcheng, is extraordinary -- a blind human rights activist in China who has been brutally mistreated and beaten while under house arrest. Now he has escaped and is said to be hiding in the US Embassy in Beijing. The problem is he's stuck there: the Chinese police can't enter to arrest him, but he can't leave the Embassy grounds for fear of renewed arrest and torture. I hope no one in the US government would ever think of ordering Chen to leave. Don't even think it!

Click on the New York Times article below for more on this story and what Ai Weiwei and others have to say about Chen Guangcheng:

Chen Guangcheng, a Blind Activist, Escapes House Arrest in China

www.nytimes.com

If Chen Guangcheng, a human rights lawyer who fled house arrest on Friday, is in the American Embassy in Beijing, the White House is likely to be cautious in handling his case.

Blind Chinese legal activist escapes!

A HERO!

Chen Guangcheng, a blind Chinese legal activist who has escaped from home imprisonment, is believed to have gone into hiding in Beijing, amid unconfirmed reports he has taken refuge in the US embassy. Chen had been restricted to his village home in Linyi in the eastern Shandong province since September 2010 when he was released from jail. A self-schooled legal advocate, Chen had campaigned against forced abortions.

Chinese activist 'in hiding' in Beijing

aje.me

Supporters of blind legal advocate Chen Guangcheng believe he is in the US embassy after escape from home imprisonment.

Anonymous hacks Chinese government websites

Anonymous hacks Chinese government websites. A number of websites are replaced with messages on how to circumvent government restrictions on the internet.

Ai Weiwei vows to fight amid new challenge from authorities

Ai Weiwei vows to clear tax charges amid fresh challenge from authorities - Guardian - latestChina.com

...Hours before the deadline for paying the 15m yuan (£1.47m) fine, tax officials told the artist and human rights campaigner he could not use his mother's house as collateral and that there were problems with the funds he had raised in a public appeal.

"I only heard this morning about this money problem," Ai told the Guardian on Monday. "They put us in a very difficult situation. They are not following the law. There is nothing I can do"....

Ai Weiwei to challenge tax demand

Ai Weiwei to challenge tax demand

www.bbc.co.uk

Chinese artist and government critic Ai Weiwei says he will use money loaned from supporters to challenge his tax demand in court.

Tenth Tibetan Monk Sets Self on Fire!

Tenth Tibetan monk burns self in west China

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Tibetan Buddhist monk doused himself in fuel and set himself ablaze in far western China on Tuesday, the tenth ethnic Tibetan this ...

Tibetan Monk Said to Set Himself on Fire in Protest

By RICK GLADSTONE (NYT)

The group Free Tibet said the self-immolation happened outside a monastery in Garze, and that the monk’s identity, condition and whereabouts were not known.

For more on Tibet in this blog see:

William of Arabia: Two Tibetan Monks Set Themselves on Fire in Protest

William of Arabia: China 'disappeared' Tibet's Panchen Lama

lecture at Milwaukee Art Museum: Emperor Qianlong & Tibetan ...

William of Arabia: New siege on Tibetan Monastery by Chinese ...

William of Arabia: China Bans Reincarnation Without Government ...

William of Arabia: China 22 years later...

William of Arabia: Opening Reception this Friday, August 27, from ...

Ai Weiwei's release shows power of public pressure

Peter Foster, of the Telegraph.co.uk, makes a pretty convincing argument on how public pressure did have an impact on Ai Weiwei's release:

Ai Weiwei's release shows power of public pressure

Telegraph.co.uk (blog) - Peter Foster - 

This case is not over yet, but Ai's release is, for my money, a reminder that when intense international public pressure is brought to bear on China, it can have a positive effect. “Without the wave of international support for Ai, and the popular ...

more Mary-Louise Schumacher on Ai Weiwei and MAM's "Summer of China"

Day 70: What can they do to me? - Art City

www.jsonline.com

 

Today marks the start of the “Summer of China,” so declared by our mayor, and the opening of the unprecedented exhibit “The Emperor’s Private Paradise” at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

 

 

How the Milwaukee Art Museum snagged the big China show - Art City

www.jsonline.com

 

For the very first time, China’s Palace Museum had authorized a major exhibition of art objects from the Forbidden City to travel to the United States, but officials there would be particular about who they’d trust their treasures to.

 

Mary-Louise Schumacher on the Milwaukee Art Museum's "Summer of China"

Review: 'The Emperor's Private Paradise' at the Milwaukee Art Museum - Art City

www.jsonline.com

The Qianlong emperor, aside from being the longest ruling emperor in China’s history, was also the most painted. He was famously image conscious with fleets of artists who were his era’s equivalent of handlers and spin doctors. He commissioned paintings of himself mounted on a horse...

China 22 years later...

artwork I created in China in the summer of 2009

On the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the so-called 'communist' government of China is just as paranoid:

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

China's 22nd anniversary of Tiananmen Square | Video | Reuters.com

Twenty-two years after China's infamous Tiananmen Square crackdown, not much progress on political dissidents.

Global Call to Raise Awareness of Tienanmen... -Tibet Post International 

Hong Kong Residents to Hold Vigil Marking Tiananmen...‎ - Bloomberg 

Tiananmen Square Anniversary: 22 Years Later - Huffington Post 

Tiananmen legacy: Crush any hint of dissent‎ - Vancouver Sun

my posts on the Tiananmen Square Massacre over the last two years:

21 years ago today... June 4, 1989
almost 20 years since June 4th, 1989... 
GM bankrupt/US Treasury Secretary in China...
the Chinese Century?
Lo Ch'ing's poem for June 4...
meeting a former soldier that fired shoots in Tiananmen...
remembering Tiananmen...
installed guerrilla style on the streets of Beijing...
remembering "Tank Man"...
previously unseen photos of Tiananmen Square Massacre...

finally some interesting discussions on Ai Weiwei's detention...

Should the Milwaukee Art Museum protest Ai Weiwei's detention? - Art City

www.jsonline.com

The Milwaukee Art Museum is about to open a major exhibit organized in cooperation with China. Meanwhile, that country is jailing its contemporary artists, including its most famous living artist, Ai Weiwei.

Paper: Milwaukee Art Museum also punts on Ai | Tyler Green: Modern Art Notes | ARTINFO.com

blogs.artinfo.com

Tyler Green's Modern Art Notes features news, journalism and criticism about art, art museums and art exhibitions around the United States. Find breaking art news, visual art analysis, and modern art criticism.

 

With Ai detained, should VMFA deal with China? | Tyler Green: Modern Art Notes | ARTINFO.com

blogs.artinfo.com

Tyler Green's Modern Art Notes features news, journalism and criticism about art, art museums and art exhibitions around the United States. Find breaking art news, visual art analysis, and modern art criticism.

A scene from MCASD’s protest for Ai Weiwei | Tyler Green: Modern Art Notes | ARTINFO.com

blogs.artinfo.com

Tyler Green's Modern Art Notes features news, journalism and criticism about art, art museums and art exhibitions around the United States. Find breaking art news, visual art analysis, and modern art criticism.

New York Time's updates:

China: Dissident Artist Is Accused of Tax Evasion

By SHARON LaFRANIERE (NYT)

A company controlled by the dissident artist Ai Weiwei evaded a “huge amount” of taxes and intentionally destroyed financial documents, the government’s official news agency, reported Friday. 

Ai Weiwei Allowed First Visit After 43 Days of Detention

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (NYT)

The Beijing police allowed the wife of Ai Weiwei to see him at an undisclosed location, 43 days after his detention.

Who benefits from not letting people have access to info?

 

Japan’s Far Right Blocks Screenings of ‘The Cove’

 

Hong Kong publisher halts Tiananmen memoirs 

 

BP and Govt. Prevent Photos of Gulf Oil Spill // Current

 

21 years ago today... June 4, 1989

 

almost 20 years since June 4th, 1989... 

remembering "Tank Man"...

installed guerrilla style on the streets of Beijing...

remembering Tiananmen...

meeting a former soldier that fired shoots in Tiananmen...

Lo Ch'ing's poem for June 4...

 

Iran: Another Tiananmen?

"the whole thing started to feel like Tiananmen in Beijing in 1989"

quote from: The meaning of the Tehran spring

Iran's Disputed Election - The Big Picture - Boston.com

censorship: Iran & China

An image of Mir Hossein Mousavi is seen (lower left), fixed to a desk with a smashed computer monitor in a room in a Tehran University dormitory after it was attacked by militia forces during riots in Tehran, Iran in the early hours of Monday, June 15, 2009. (AP photo)

Iran: Activists Launch Hack Attacks on Tehran Regime
Iran SMS networks "mysteriously" fail right before elections ...
Iranian election uprising: Twitter tracks it real-time, Iranian ...
Iran: death penalty for "corrupt weblogs" - Boing Boing
Iran web censorship update: admins detained - Boing Boing
Iran: magazines at newsstand censored in ink, stickers - Boing Boing
Charges of new 'Net censorship in Iran - Boing Boing
Iran: new BBC TV documentary on culture, media, tech now online ...

China Orders Patches to Planned Web Filter
Experts Say Chinese Filter Would Make PCs Vulnerable
EDITORIAL; China’s Computer Folly
China Faces Criticism Over New Software Censor
China Criticized Over Computer Filtering Plan
China Requires Software on New Computers to Block 'Unhealthy Information'
To Shut Off Tiananmen Talk, China Blocks More Web Sites

previously unseen photos of Tiananmen Square Massacre

Beyond Tiananmen Square

Previously unseen pictures obtained by the Guardian show how the violence centred on Tiananmen Square played out in surrounding areas...

remembering "Tank Man"...

In the summer of 2007, I was invited to take part in an artist residency program at Platform China's Beijing International Artist Platform (BIAP). The project that I completed during my residency included wheatpasting up sections of hand printed wallpaper on the streets of Beijing, China. My prints, installed guerrilla style without permission, not only engendered much discussion with local residents but surprisingly stayed up for more than a week before all traces were removed. The prints conflated two divergent images of China. On top of highly romanticized images of China from anachronistic chinoiserie wallpaper, I silk screened photographic images of the "Tank Man ," an image banned in China, of a lone city resident standing up to a column of tanks on June 5^th, 1989 in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The image above and the images in my previous post show some of the installation of that project on the streets of Beijing. Also, the following blog mentions my work in connection with a series of paintings by Chen Guang, a former soldier that fired shoots in Tiananmen, - William Andersen

installed guerrilla style on the streets of Beijing...

Behind the Scenes: Tank Man of Tiananmen