The Thousands

Beijing, June 5, 1989. Anonymous man armed with nothing but shopping bags stands alone before a line of tanks, preventing their advance. Virtually overnight, he becomes one of the world’s most famous icons of rebellion, though we still only know what his back looks like.

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests and the heroic ‘Tank Man’, as he has become known, artist/curator Mark Gerada is presenting 649 at Serial Space.**The exhibition will feature new paintings, drawings, installations, video and zines by the likes of Locust Jones, Chaina Productions, Pmfk, Brian P and Ryan Leech, and follows on from the political and human rights themes covered in Mark’s 888 exhibition which corresponded with the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Coinciding will be Deborah Kelly’s Tank Man Tango, a worldwide participatory memorial performance choreographed to occur before the exhibition opens, bringing back to life the steps of Tank Man. Learn his moves and dance to his beat.