Chinese socialist slogans cause ruckus on London’s Brick Lane
Art students painted Chinese characters over a mural on a wall in an East London neighborhood. And then a war of words — and paint — broke out.
Brick Lane, the graffiti-laden heart of East London, has long celebrated the meshing of different cultures, art, and ideas, as well as its eclectic mix of immigrant communities.
Over the weekend, in a reported act of artistic expression, several Chinese students studying in the U.K. covered up original artwork on one of its walls with white paint.
They spray-painted 24 large red characters that spell out “prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony, freedom, equality, justice, rule of law, patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendliness” (富强 fùqiáng, 民主 mínzhǔ, 文明 wénmíng, 和谐 héxié, 自由 zìyóu, 平等 píngděng, 公正 gōngzhèng, 法治 fǎzhì, 爱国 àiguó, 敬业 jìngyè, 诚信 chéngxìn, 友善 yǒushàn) — the core values of socialism as defined by propagandists of the Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 government. The students livestreamed their actions on the popular Chinese lifestyle app Xiaohongshu.
Heated responses both in favor of the act and vehemently against it erupted on social media. There was huge backlash from the local art community, with many Chinese people condemning the act.
“This is really embarrassing. It’d make sense if they covered graffiti with graffiti, but painting the entire wall white is just rude and vulgar. Will this further perpetuate harmful stereotypes about Chinese people?” a Weibo user asked, while another person wrote, “[The creator was] using political products to erase real art. It achieved nothing other than cause backlash. I don’t think there’s anything applaudable about that. It was really out of place.”
On Weibo, scores of people expressed support for what they interpreted as a patriotic gesture, while criticizing naysayers for empathizing with “anti-China colonialists” in the West. “So you write ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ in English but not in Chinese. How free and democratic it is!” a Weibo user remarked.
“Why do I have to care about what foreigners think when they don’t care about what I think?” another person complained.
Within a day, counter-graffiti appeared, subverting the original characters with anti-Chinese government messages:
And as of this writing, all the socialist slogans have been painted over:
Hello from Brick Lane! The wall has been painted in white again.#bricklane pic.twitter.com/e8GXhWraIz
— Kit Y (@itskityaulee) August 7, 2023
Meanwhile, in China, the news is quickly turning into a sensitive topic. Censors on WeChat have been suspending accounts that have shared images of the original Chinese slogans and ensuing protest messages. On Bilibili, a few videos about the incident have been deleted.
Others in support of the initial graffiti have argued that its medium as a form of anti-mainstream and anti-establishment street art should also allow expressions that are unpopular, or that may conform to the establishment.
