China's 2,000-year-old terracotta warriors are getting female
company thanks to a Norwegian artist living next door to the farmer
who first found the famous array of clay soldiers on the outskirts
of Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
Conceptual artist, Marian Heyerdahl, has so far created 70
replicas of the terracotta warriors in female form, each of which
carries a special message.
"Every one of them has a personality and each is telling a
story. I made them to express my love of peace, as women suffer the
most in war," said Heyerdahl, who is the daughter of famed explorer
Thor Heyerdahl.
Like the original soldiers made over two millennia ago,
Heyerdahl's soldiers each have a different facial expression but
none are of stoic, brave men. Instead, the women's faces in her
warriors often express the horrors of war.
"Some have their mouths open as if they're screaming, others
have their eyes closed in fear, some are smiling and some are
pregnant," said the artist who turned 49 during the three months
when she's been in Xi'an working on the project.
As daughter of Thor Heyerdahl (who gained world-renown for his
Kon-Tiki Expedition), she said she was raised exploring famous
archeological sites. Yet, her love and admiration of the Xi'an site
can be felt. "It's just fantastic to be here, it feels like I'm
working on an archaeological site. Just dig below my feet and I'm
sure you'll find something. My neighbor is the man who dug the well
and discovered the first warriors in the 1970s."
Heyerdahl is working with a factory that makes life-sized copies
of the warriors, which stand almost two meters tall and are sold as
novelties around the world. She said the factory has likely sold
more replicas than there are originals. The museum across the
street from her studio houses thousands of original terracotta
warriors.
On her first visit to China over five years ago, she bought one
of the replicas that now stands guard over her studio in Norway.
Her purchase also proved to be the inspiration for her current
project.
"I was sitting there with my husband looking at the big,
impressive general, when I noticed his uniform looks like a woman's
skirt. I realized it wouldn't be hard to turn him into a woman and
my husband thought it was a fantastic idea."
Now, almost five years later, Heyerdahl is working with the
still-wet statues as they come out of the factory molds. From
behind the warriors retain their original uniform and hairstyle but
the front is entirely re-sculpted.
"I add breasts and change the hairstyle to a woman's and give
the pregnant ones big tummies. Some have their mouths open and
others have their eyes closed. From the back they look like the
original warriors but from the front they deliver a different
message."
That message, encapsulating not only the women that die in war
but also the mothers, sisters, wives and daughters of the dead, is
one that Heyerdahl hopes will make people stop and think.
"Everyday there's killing around the world. War has always been
a problem; whether it's 2,000 years ago or right now or in the
future, war is horrible," said Heyerdahl who is not at all
optimistic about the future.
After her warriors are kiln-dried and painted, she plans to
first exhibit them in Beijing. The show is currently scheduled for
February in Space 798, the largest gallery in Beijing's 798
alternative art community.
"In Beijing, I'll also add some multi-media
elements?including a DVD of war that will be seen on screens
in the stomachs of a number of the statues," Heyerdahl said.
Heyerdahl is looking for sponsors to take her project to other
parts of the world. She said she wants to show in Xi'an and there's
been interest from an anti-war exhibit in South Korea and inquiries
from the US. "I just want to get my message out there," said the
artist.
(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2006)