Feminist artists turn 700 misogynistic comments into 100 kilograms of art in China to protest cyberbullying against women
- China has seen a series of incidents in recent times where women have been targeted in online hate campaigns
- A group of artists battles fear and ignorance before eventually creating a huge installation artwork to highlight online bullying of women
When they were being hurled on the internet, 700 misogynistic insults only took up a dozen pages on Weibo. But when printed out on banners in real life, the insults measure 3,000 metres and weigh 100 kilograms, and can surround an entire hill all the way up.
Last month, a group of artists printed out a selection of insults to demonstrate the weight of cyberbullying when directed at one person.
“You have to kill the devil in the crib”, “F**k you feminists”, “Are your family all dead?” These words stood out against a red background, creating a “museum of bad words”.
One artist who goes by the pseudonym Garlic to avoid being doxxed and cyberbullied told the South China Morning Post the idea for the project came after a string of recent cyberbullying incidents, most of them targeting women.
“Whenever there are discussions around gender or when women speak up about their rights, there’s always people saying the feminists are trying to create conflict,” he said.