Walks with a cabbage head on a leash have become very popular among young Chinese
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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This summer on the streets of Beijing, young people instead of pets, walking on a leash head of cabbage. As it turned out, this behavior was caused by the desire to draw public attention to the problems in modern China.
Initially, it may seem that cabbage head on a leash is a non-standard way to get acquainted on the street. As it was possible to find out to journalists, walks with cabbage help some teenagers cope with emotional stress and experiences. One of the lovers of cabbage - 17-year-old Liu Chen - says that he passes his negative thoughts to the head on a walk and returns home rested. Another young man noted that the head of cabbage understands him more than his own parents.
However, in reality, cabbage on a leash is a large-scale flash mob that was organized to support the art of one contemporary artist Khan Bin, in particular a series of his symbolic photos "Walks with cabbage." The very idea originated in 2000, during this time the artist created a series of photographs on Time Square, the Champs Elysees, the Chinese Wall and other famous places of our land.
His project the artist sought to show the rather important problems of modern society, moreover, not only Chinese. On the one hand, the artist displayed social values. In China, cabbage is the most affordable product and once stocks of this vegetable talked about welfare, stability, comfort. Today cabbage among the rich is no longer considered a sign of wealth, but among the average Chinese residents, cabbage has not lost its value.
By tying cabbage, the photographer thus wanted to point out the existing social inequality and the disrespectful attitude to food and labor of some sections of the population.
In one of his essays, Khan Bin wrote that humanity was told that it was necessary to move from "deceptive fantasies of the past" to "insane economic modernization." As a result, such a path led to a major decline in some regions and the ostentatious spoiling of others. But at the same time, the world, which existed for five thousand years, gradually disappears under the crumbles of rubble. Khan Bin with his cabbage on a leash as if asks the whole world to stop, look and think about what this life will lead and what price will it pay for it?
Another aspect of the social project of the contemporary artist touches upon the issues of individual freedom. Everyone deserves to be perceived and treated normally, even if it is significantly different from the steel surrounding. It is for this purpose that a young artist walks with a cabbage cabbage on a leash along rural roads, central city streets, while demonstratively ignoring the reaction of crowds passing by onlookers, journalists and cameras.
Khan Bin is sure that sooner or later the day will come when everyone will freely choose their occupation.