Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling back to earth

146 147 Children’s museum My home town of Quanzhou in Fujian Province had long been the frontline in mainland China’s battles against Taiwan. The tension and violence between the two became routine, even conforming to an unofficial schedule in which attacks would occur every other day. I grew up hearing sirens warning of air raids. Off the coast of Fujian lies Kinmen, an archipelago administered by Taiwan but claimed by China as part of Quanzhou Prefecture. Due to its proximity to China, Kinmen Island was often the battleground for conflicts between the Chinese and the Taiwanese, especially during the Cold War. Both the famous Battle of Guningtou (1949) and 823 Artillery Bombardment (1958) took place here, and many soldiers and civilians lost their lives as a result. With the passing of time, the soul-stirring history of Kinmen Island seems distant; the island shed its past to pursue a new identity. In 2004, I curated an exhibition that led to the creation of the BMoCA (Bunker Museum of Contemporary Art): Everything is Museum No.3 on Kinmen. For the exhibition, I was inspired by the island’s military past and wished to transform its bunkers and other military facilities into exhibition spaces. Many world- renowned contemporary art exhibition venues are rehabilitated military bases, such as the Venice Biennale’s Arsenale, which was once used as a naval shipyard and armoury. With Kinmen’s particular geographic location and vast military facilities, BMoCA transformed Kinmen’s massive bunkers into resources for developing and promoting unique cultural tourism and boosting the island’s international reputation. The political friction between mainland China and Taiwan prompted the troops stationed in Kinmen to convert its farmland into minefields to prevent mainland diver–commandos from coming ashore and sabotaging the frontier defence. With the help of the Kinmen county government, we worked with the abandoned bunkers in the wasted farmlands that had been returned to local residents. When I requested a map of the bunkers for planning the exhibition, I was told it was a classified military record, so we made a map ourselves, marking the position of every bunker. While the bunkers, varying in form and camouflage, had their own architectural and aesthetic value and distinctive charm, I wanted the participating artists to revitalise them, expressing their creativity. To fully realise this transformation, I developed a second program for the exhibition — the BMoCA: Bunker Museum of Contemporary Art — Kinmen Children’s Art Exhibition which encouraged the involvement of the local youth. While artists used the bunkers that had belonged to artillerymen, children proposed projects to reinvent the bunkers that once housed infantrymen. Students from 19 neighbouring primary schools participated, submitting both individual and group projects. BMoCA: Bunker Museum of Contemporary Art — Kinmen Children’s Art Exhibition Kinmen, Taiwan, 2004 Above Botsun Elementary School’s Hall of Time , Kinmen, Taiwan, 2004 Below Duonian Elementary School’s Regrowth/Overgrowth (Rose and Tank) , Kinmen, Taiwan, 2004 Courtesy: Cai Studio Before I accepted proposals from the children, I invited students and local residents to lectures on the history of the bunkers. We determined the assignment of bunkers through a raffle. After the draw the teachers and their students visited them and toured the surrounding site before drafting a proposal mirroring the process of an artist. Most teachers were young and enthusiastic; some of them left Taipei to teach on this remote island. The older teachers who spoke Mandarin with a southern Fujian accent reminded me of the way my own primary school teachers spoke. Each school selected a winning proposal that was to be realised. Some bunkers were little more than a mound of earth, so I suggested that the students use the interior space. They all took my suggestions well, though that may have been because I was part of the jury and prizes were at stake. Under the guidance of their teachers, the children made professional proposals and executed the artwork accordingly. I was deeply impressed with this process, and many of their installations continue to resonate with me. Finally, a jury comprising the adult artists in the exhibition cast ballots for the projects of the BMoCA: Bunker Museum of Contemporary Art — Kinmen Children’s Art Exhibition . The award was titled the Golden Wind Lion God — referencing an auspicious local symbol and the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale. During the opening ceremony of BMoCA , we held a grand award ceremony, attended by media and tourists from around the world. The children’s edition of Taiwan-based art magazine Artouch, Artco Kids , reported in detail all the works created by the young artists. In the grown-up section of the exhibition, participating curator Fei Dawei presented Project for Children’s Bookstore , where students critiqued the exhibition in exchange for art history books, thereby connecting their own artistic activity with art history. Selected essays written by the children were published on the exhibition website and local newspapers. Kinmen’s wartime history has always been a dark memory for the island’s residents, especially for the children’s parents and grandparents who lived in anticipation of war. Although the children were born in a peaceful era with no sounds of bombs and guns, I hope the experience from the exhibition encouraged them to reflect on the past and future of their home town and learn from their elders’ experiences. Jenyi Elementary School’s Beacons of Treasure , Kinmen, Taiwan, 2004 Jinsha Elementary School’s Message in the Bottle , Kinmen, Taiwan, 2004 Courtesy: Cai Studio