Group Show, Under the Stars: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Hannah Arendt's Passing, Goethe-Institut Beijing (German Cultural Center), Beijing China, 11 October 2025 – 11 January 2026
- xuchen zhao
- Oct 5
- 2 min read
Saturday, 11 October 2025 - Sunday, 11 January 2026
12am - 6pm, every day except Monday
Location: Goethe-Institut Beijing (German Cultural Center, China), Creative Square, 798 Art District, No. 2 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Opening on October 11, 2025, at the Goethe-Institut Beijing (German Cultural Center, China), the exhibition Under the Stars: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Hannah Arendt’s Passing is curated by Yao Siqing. The show features artists Li Nu, Long Di, Shi Yong, Wang Haha, Xu He, Xu Zhe, and Yao Qingmei, who engage with Arendt’s pivotal ideas—such as the “public realm” and the “banality of evil”—through contemporary artistic practices, exploring their resonance and relevance in today’s Chinese context.
The exhibition title, Under the Stars, draws from Arendt’s The Human Condition, referencing the notion that “the public realm allows human action to shine,” paying tribute to one of the brightest stars of twentieth-century thought and the constellation of ideas surrounding her.
On the opening day, a curator-led tour and an artist talk will take place, offering insights into how the participating artists interpret and respond to Arendt’s philosophy.
Yao Qingmei
Third verse of the Internationale, sung solo in Monaco
2012
Video Subtitling recorded after art action, sound, 12’30''
“The State oppresses and the law cheats, Tax bleeds the unfortunate; No duty is imposed on the rich, The rights of the poor is an empty phrase.” Strangely enough, although the third verse of the Internationale really exists and is supposedly anarchist in intent, it is never sung during demonstrations. Singing the hymn out aloud in a famous tax haven like Monaco where local inhabitants are unlikely to have ever heard it before gives voice to truths that are kept hidden, despite the action itself being absurd and naive in such an imposing setting. Broadcasting the song through a loud-hailer, the car went twice around the Grand Prix Formula 1 circuit before coming to a halt at Place du Casino square. Here, two policemen rapidly intervened to silence us and a discussion duly ensued in which the specific languages of art and politics collided, so shedding light on the narrow fissure where art finds a refuge.
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