Dissident artist on trial in China for satirical Mao sculptures, says rights group
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
A portrait of Chinese leader Mao Zedong in Beijing, China, on March 4. Chinese artist Gao Zhen produced provocative sculptures of him that critiqued the 1966 to 1976 Cultural Revolution.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BEIJING – Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen, famous for making provocative satirical sculptures of the People’s Republic of China’s founding leader Mao Zedong, was tried on March 30 over accusations of “defaming national heroes and martyrs”, a rights group said.
Mr Gao, 69, who was detained in 2024 during a visit from the US, faces a maximum three-year prison sentence, said Ms Shane Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Human Rights Defenders group which operates outside the country.
The closed-door, one-day trial took place at Sanhe City People’s Court in Hebei province, neighbouring the capital Beijing, and ended without a verdict, Ms Yi told Reuters, citing information from his lawyers and family.
Mr Gao’s relatives were barred from attending, Ms Yi added. Verdicts are often announced months later in such trials.
The New York-based artist was detained in August 2024 on a family visit to China even though since moving to the US in 2022, he had made multiple trips to China without issues, she added.
“This really shows the Chinese government’s logic, when they want to target someone, they can use anything in their power to do so,” she said.
“Gao Zhen is an artist. He has a right to artistic freedom, period,” she added.
With his brother Gao Qiang, Mr Gao produced several provocative sculptures of Mao that critiqued the 1966 to 1976 Cultural Revolution, a period of social turmoil and widespread political persecution in China that led to millions of deaths.
Their most famous works include Miss Mao, featuring Mao with unsettling features like Pinocchio noses and breasts, and Mao’s Guilt, a bronze statue of the leader kneeling remorsefully.
Mr Gao’s wife Zhao Yaliang and seven-year-old son are under exit bans, and cannot leave China, said Ms Yi and Mr John Kamm, chairman of the Dui Hua Foundation, a foreign group advocating human rights dialogue with Beijing.
Mr Gao’s son is an American citizen, they added.
Mr Gao is suffering from malnutrition and has lumbar spine disease, as well as chronic knee and eye conditions that need treatment, Ms Yi said.
Mr Gao was charged over works from between 2005 and 2009, Ms Yi said, while China’s Law On The Protection Of Heroes And Martyrs was established in only 2018 and strengthened in 2021.
The law has previously been used to prosecute individuals accused of insulting servicemen and military members who died in the line of duty, as well as historical figures.
A stand-up comedian was censored and his comedy company fined US$2 million (S$2.5 million) in 2021 after he made a joke that referenced a People’s Liberation Army slogan.
Mr Gao’s wife and the Sanhe Public Security Bureau did not immediately respond to requests for comment on his case. REUTERS
