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marc riboud: a hundred FLOWERS ARVIN MAHANTA
HIDDEN AWAY in the rabbit warren of lanes that make up Tianzifang markets, Beaugeste Photo Gallery is not the most conspicuous of places, but for the next few months it is hosting one of the most interesting and important exhibitions Shanghai has seen in some time. ‘Marc Riboud’s Hundred Flowers’ features over forty original photographs taken by the legendary French photographer during his stay in China during the Hundred Flowers Campaign of early 1957. Minister Zhou Enlai, was there to capture this crucial moment. ? ‘He was the right man at the right time,’ declares Jean Loh, owner and curator of Beaugeste. ‘Marc has come to China twenty-two times since 1957, but this was his first experience here. This is just a small selection of his 1957 work; he took over 900 photographs during this visit alone.’ It becomes clear as we walk around the small gallery space that Loh is a fountain of knowledge on this subject. He has selected each image meticulously, and consulted extensively with Marc Riboud himself. Every photograph has an insightful story behind it, which Loh is all too happy to explain. ? First we look at photographs taken at the Beijing Fine Art School, of students at a life drawing class with a nude model. This might not seem too remarkable, but the European tradition of nude drawing, as well as many other foreign artistic practices, were forbidden before and after this short window in 1957. ‘When these photographs were first exhibited, people thought they were fake, they could not believe that such practices happened during this time,’ explains Loh. ‘No other foreign photographer was able to capture these scenes. They are truly unique.’ ? We move on to one of Riboud’s most famous shots: a woman eating in a steel mill canteen in Anshan, Liaonig province. ‘This work became iconic because of the subject matter. The steel industry was an immense source of national pride at this time. It symbolised China standing up and becoming a modern society,’ Loh reflects. ‘However, what I find interesting about this photograph is the relationship between photographer and subject. Marc was captivated by this young woman he was photographing. In his notes accompanying the photograph he wrote that she was twenty four years old, had studied engineering, and was single. He was clearly attracted to her.’
? n February 1957 Chairman Mao made the famous proclamation to ‘Let one hundred flowers bloom, let one hundred schools of thought contend.’ Mao believed that ‘constant revolution’ was vital for the progression of a socialist state, and was concerned that the relative stability of the early 1950s would cause people to lose their revolutionary fervour and lead to stagnation. With this in mind, the Hundred Flowers Campaign sought to relax restrictions on freedom of expression and encourage ‘constructive’ criticism of the Communist regime. ? What ensued in the following months was an outpouring of spontaneous expression: ideological, cultural, and political. Marc Riboud, a young photographer who had been given the rare opportunity to visit China courtesy of Prime
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