Han Bing

Walking a cabbage on a small cart is an absurd gesture that satirizes the equal absurdity of political realities such as militarization and censorship. Walking the Cabbage is the title of a  social intervention initiated by artist Han Bing in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 2000. Since then, Bing has walked cabbages as well as other vegetables and fruits through public spaces, provoking dialogue and encouraging critical reflection. On the occasion of the opening of the 13th Berlin Biennale, under the title Walking the Cabbage in Berlin (2020/25), Bing will “walk the cabbage” once again. Bing views the cabbage as a symbol of rural sustenance, highlighting its significance in contemporary China as a staple food for those with limited means. Twenty-five years after Bing’s inaugural cabbage walk in Beijing, the performance’s arrival in Berlin sends a playful yet powerful signal about the potential of radical actions—actions that, through their silence and wit, can speak volumes. The absurdity of this urban performance subverts the logic of unjustified violence, provoking us to examine the normalized forms of oppression that surround—or inhabit us.

Abridged from a text by Valentina Viviani

Han Bing, *1978 in Yuzhou, China. Places of belonging: China. Affinity: Amor Mundi Institute, Intervention Committee. Book: The Art of Protest. Political Art and Activism, 2021.