Sanzu Ding and its Patterns: Hypotheses on the Origin of the ‘Hammer-Sickle’ Sign

Solo Project by Yao Qingmei

Exhibition Dates: 2016.03.19 – 05.29

Exhibition Venue: OCAT Xi’an

Continuing the theme of education as a process of learning, OCAT Xi’an invites the young Paris-based artist Yao Qingmei to return to China for a period of residence and study in the deeply historic environs of Xi’an and its great museums. For the project “Sanzu Ding and its Patterns: Several Hypotheses on the Origin of the ‘Hammer-Sickle’ Sign”, she deploys her singular approach to unearthing new and distinctive interpretations of history through an exploration of the wealth of cultural relics that can be found in Xi’an.

Yao Qingmei presents her findings in the form of a multi-textural installation, which includes a thoroughly researched archive of the materials she procured in the course of carrying out her methodical groundwork. The form and nature of the installation reflects the paradoxical blend of sobriety and humour she brings to her practice. Yao Qingmei is also known for a diverse range of performance and pseudo-performance works which see her play the role of familiar cultural icons and social stereotypes, in sequences bent to her own distinctive view of the world. The “Sanzu Ding and its Patterns: Several Hypotheses on the Origin of the ‘Hammer-Sickle’ Sign” is a fine example of the lengths to which she goes to illustrate that worldview.