The Return of the Native

Arts and Entertainment, third prize stories

November 22, 2009

Changsha, Hunan, China A 32-meter-high statue of the young Mao goes up in Changsha, a city about which he wrote a poem in his youth, in November 2009. Artworks depicting Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, are experiencing a resurgence in popularity. During Mao’s ‘Cultural Revolution’, erecting statues of him was seen as a way of showing loyalty. The slightest defect could incur strict penalties. Most statues of Mao came down when the ‘Cultural Revolution’ ended in 1977. But there are many people who still regard him as a demigod and believe that the images can bring good fortune or dispel evil. Mao’s birthday, on 26 December, is marked by public processions and festivities.

Commissioned by: Huang Jianglu newspaper

Photo Credit: Kuang Huiming

Kuang Huiming was born in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia in 1964, and took up photography in 1989. Seven years later, he was honored as one of the Top Ten Photographers in Hunan Province. In 2004, photos from a special project on miners were exhibited in Beijing, helping Kuang earn a place in the Top Ten Photographers in China. In 2006, his Portraits of Miners project was selected to be shown across 30 different media outlets, including CCTV. The following year, two projects—Fortunate Wood Can Become a Statue of Buddha, and Miners’ Lives in a Small Mine—won a silver and copper medal respectively in a Chinese national contest, and Miners after Coal Mining, together with Mao Zedong’s Hometown, were selected to participate in the Pingyao International Photography Art Festival Exhibition. Miners’ Life in a Small Mine was selected for the same exhibition in 2008. A photo of residents of Mao Zedong’s hometown won third prize in the 2009 Sony World Photography Awards, and was exhibited in galleries and museum in more than ten countries. That year, Kuang’s project Changes in Basha was selected to participate in the first Yunnan Dali International Photographic Conference, as well as at the Chinese Photography Festival, winning an Outstanding Documentary award. It went on to be shown at numerous other photo festivals and exhibitions around China.

In 2011, Kuang’s project Mao Zedong’s Hometown was selected to be shown at the Toronto Chinese Photo Festival, in Canada, and he was granted a Mid-career Photographer Award, under the National Geographic All Roads Photography program.