Women’s Museum Bonn Presents Revolutionary Work by Xiao Lu

Xiao Lu: First Gunshot of Chinese Feminist Art – The Rise of a Feminist Avant-Garde: Women’s Museum Bonn Presents Revolutionary Work by Xiao Lu

Bonn – From November 10, 2025 to February 8, 2026, the Women’s Museum Bonn will present the exhibition “Xiao Lu – First Gunshot of Chinese Feminist Art.” The show highlights the groundbreaking work of Chinese avant-garde artist Xiao Lu, focusing in particular on her revolutionary piece Dialogue (1989).

During her artistic action, in which she fired two pistol shots at her own installation during the landmark exhibition “China/Avant-Garde” in Beijing, Xiao Lu created a symbol of resistance that marked a turning point in Chinese art history. This provocative performance propelled feminist themes onto the international stage and established Xiao Lu as a key figure of the avant-garde movement.

Despite the enormous significance of her work, Xiao Lu was long denied authorship as a female artist. She fought for more than two decades for recognition of her contribution—a debate that has regained urgency following the death of Tang Song, the artist who had originally been mistakenly credited as the author. The exhibition addresses this struggle for artistic authorship and the challenges faced by feminist artists in authoritarian contexts—an openly impossible discussion in China today.

“Xiao Lu – First Gunshot of Chinese Feminist Art” invites the audience to question contemporary interpretations of Xiao Lu’s work. It raises the issue of how feminist impulses emerging from specific cultural contexts can be made visible. With this exhibition, the Women’s Museum Bonn provides a platform for critical engagement with art history and its often overlooked women protagonists.