HABEAS CORPUS

By Vincent J.F. Huang

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Habeas Corpus by Taiwanese artist Vincent J. F. Huang is a powerful performance taking place on Friday
10th December 2010 in London with a pop-up exhibition to follow.

Habeas Corpus coincides with the official Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo, where the Peace Prize for 2010
will be awarded to Liu Xiaobo for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in
China.

Commenting on China’s human rights record, Huang’s performance and accompanying exhibition
reassembles Chinese traditional symbols by using the artist’s own visual vocabulary. The UK has been
selected to showcase the artist’s event because it is the country where Habeas corpus originated, an
important legal instrument safeguarding individual freedom against arbitrary state action.

For Huang’s performance, a prisoner - blindfolded and shackled in a traditional Chinese yoke featuring
giant crab pincers - will be paraded on an open horse-drawn cart through the streets of London.

Beginning at The Tower of London, the route will stop at Tate Modern, the Houses of Parliament,
Trafalgar Square, Pall Mall, Hyde Park, Speaker’s Corner, before passing Oxford Street and finishing at
the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Portland Place.

To accompany the performance, a pop-up exhibition featuring a collection of Huang works will be on
display in London. In direct reference to the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Liu, Huang has created
a collection of limited edition gold plated bronze medals. Huang’s versions of the Nobel medal are
engraved on one face with the figure of a prisoner and feature Liu’s words – “I have No Enemies: My
Final Statement”.

Included in the exhibition, the central piece of the performance – a 3D artwork representing the
prisoner entrapped in traditional Chinese restraints - will form part of an installation reminiscent of
Tiananmen Square’s infamous tanks. Huang’s new paintings on wood panels and a 3D representation of
a Chinese Emperor figure will also be featured.

Habeas Corpus Performance
Friday 10th December 2010, begininning at 11am from Tower of London

Private View
Thursday 9th December
6pm-9pm

The Vaad Gallery, Basement, 26a South Molton Lane, Mayfair, London W1K 5AB
For further information please contact Nadia Walford at Essence Communications
E: nadia.walford@essence-communications.com
T: +44 (0) 207 7467 3910