Xiao Lu

Xiao Lu (; born 1962) is a Chinese artist specializing in Performance art and Installation art. She became famous in 1989, when she participated in the 1989 China/Avant-Garde Exhibition with her work Dialogue. Just two hours after the exhibition opened, she suddenly shot her own work with a gun, causing an immediate shutdown of the exhibition. When the Tiananmen Square massacre occurred four months later, her actions were heavily politicized, referred to as “the first gunshots of Tiananmen”.

Early life and education Xiao Lu was born in Hangzhou, China, in April 1962. She came from a revolutionary family with both of her parents being Socialist Realist artists; a tradition that she rebelled against. The exhibition was immediately closed after the gunshot by the officials of the museum. Xiao Lu was arrested. The exhibition later re-opened.

Dialogue (1989) Xiao Lu's infamous work at the China/Avant-Garde Exhibition, Dialogue (1989), shows a man and a woman talking to each other in phone booths; between them is a red phone with its receiver dangling off the hook. Dialogue (1989) could be called China's first major feminist contemporary work of art.

In an interview in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2014, Xiao Lu clarified that her reasons for the gunshots were not political, but also embraced the political interpretations of them, stating, “I created the work out of personal feelings, but this work became interpreted with political meanings…I don't reject this. I've come to understand that with this work, making it for myself is one thing, but how it is interpreted is also a big part of it.”

Later work After staying in Australia for eight years (1989-1997), Xiao Lu returned to her hometown of Hangzhou in 1997 and continued to create art up until now.

On October 19, 2003, Xiao Lu created 15 Shots… From 1989 to 2003(2003). She framed the photograph of the gunshots and brought it to a shooting range in Beijing, where bullets shattered the glass and pierced through the photograph and backing, leaving 15 bullet holes. This work is regarded as a response to her act of shooting at the China/Avant-Garde Exhibitionin 1989.

Xiao Lu's artwork Sperm (2006) consists of an installation piece and a documentary-style video chronicling her search for a sperm donor after a split from her longtime partner and a strong desire to have a baby. As Chinese women were not allowed IVF treatment if they weren't married, she consulted a Western doctor who promised to perform the procedure if she could collect and freeze the sperm.

In 2010, Xiao Lu published a novel named after her most famous work, Dialogue (2010), which was presented as a fictitious tale based on real-life people and events. She wrote down her inner thoughts and sentiments on pieces of xuan paper, each taking the form of a secret.

Xiao Lu's refusal to participate and her call for a boycott are linked to her objection to Geoff Raby's endorsement of the Chinese government, a regime known for its records of suppressing human rights. The artist's protest reflects a broader concern about the ethical implications of aligning with individuals who support or legitimize a government with a history of human rights violations.