Army of the Unborn Girls: The Terracotta Daughters by Prune Nourry
Army of the Unborn Girls: The Terracotta Daughters by Prune Nourry

Video: Army of the Unborn Girls: The Terracotta Daughters by Prune Nourry

Video: Army of the Unborn Girls: The Terracotta Daughters by Prune Nourry
Video: Как устроена IT-столица мира / Russian Silicon Valley (English subs) - YouTube 2024, November
Anonim
A series of sculptures "Terracotta Daughters" by Prune Nurry
A series of sculptures "Terracotta Daughters" by Prune Nurry

When French artist Prune Nourry decided to start a project about China's missing daughters - the millions of girls who were never born due to gender discrimination - she needed to find an easily recognizable symbol. The choice fell on the national treasure of China - the Terracotta Army (more than 8 thousand full-size terracotta statues of Chinese warriors and their horses, discovered in 1974 near the tomb of the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang).

Nurri's sculptures are made from the same local clay and technique as the original Terracotta Army. Like the wars, each of Prune's figures is unique, but instead of portraying overweight men with swords and armor, Nurri created several hundred clay schoolgirls. The artist named the project “Terracotta Daughters”. “All my work revolves around the problems of human selection,” explains 28-year-old Nurri, “the myth of the ideal child that could be obtained if there was a possibility to program in advance his appearance and behavior.”

Exhibition "Terracotta Daughters" in Shanghai
Exhibition "Terracotta Daughters" in Shanghai

Terracotta Daughters is a sequel to Nurri's previous project, for which she traveled across India to study the issue of gender imbalance. Despite government efforts to narrow the growing gap between the number of women and men in the country, the census shows that the effectiveness of measures such as banning ultrasound to determine the sex of the embryo is close to zero.

Prune Nurri's Clay Schoolgirl Army
Prune Nurri's Clay Schoolgirl Army

In China, the sex ratio is 118 boys to 100 girls, largely thanks to the One Family, One Child policy, which limits the number of children in a family and provokes a huge number of abortions, both voluntary and forced, especially if it becomes known that a girl will be born. …

"Terracotta Daughters" are sculpted from real orphan girls
"Terracotta Daughters" are sculpted from real orphan girls

During the preparatory phase of the project, Pryun, in consultation with professors at Xi'an University, created eight life-size statues, modeled by orphan girls. After the first batch of sculptures was ready, Nurri turned to local craftsmen who specialize in replicating the Terracotta Warriors for help. The fruits of their joint work were 108 more sculptures, each of which is individual.

"Terracotta daughters" in the process
"Terracotta daughters" in the process

The Daughters Army, along with bronze prototypes, plaster molds, videos and photographs of the project, were exhibited at a gallery in Shanghai. In addition to an important milestone in his artistic career, the project was an opportunity for Nurri to help orphans who posed for sculptures. With the support of charitable organizations, she collects money in order to educate girls.

The artist at work
The artist at work

The Terracotta Army is one of the most valuable and famous, and therefore the most copied, works of ancient art in China. From the Shanghai Chocolate Festival to the Florida Street Art Festival, depictions of the brutal clay warriors can be seen in the most unlikely places.

Recommended: