Adding a meter to an anonymous mountain

Cang Xin (born 1967), Adding a meter to an anonymous mountain, 125 x 200 cm, 1995, Gift of the SAMC

This exceptionally large photograph captures the image of a performance carried out by ten artists from Beijing's East Village.

This is one of the most famous performances of a decade in which contemporary Chinese art experienced a remarkable boom, revealed in France by the major exhibitions of the early 2000s. According to one of its main instigators Zhang Huan, the work was inspired by the Chinese proverb "there are always higher mountains and more talented people" (shanwai you shan, renwai you ren, 山外有山，人外有人).