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Survival as soul is bleak, it is the minimum that human beings can be. But the soul is mutable.
Great artists create, they do not imitate. The great contemporary artists of China are creating conceptions of the soul that compete with the Center's soul as survival.
This image and those to follow are by Maleonn (Ma Liang) in a series called "White on White." Old photographs, and the memories they recall, fade to white over time. The Center wants memories of the Cultural Revolution to fade away. Maleonn's parents were artists during the C.R. and suffered. He has taken still-vivid photographs from the Cultural Revolution period and placed them against all-white backgrounds. Maleonn wants China's history to be remembered, against the Center's intent to white-wash it.
