About Heihaizi
For the speedy growth of population in China, instead of following the popular methods used in most countries at the time, the government in 1979 introduced and applied one-child policy, which restricted the number of births one only in a brutal and and often inhumane way, including force of abortion or female sterilization. As a result, millions of fetuses were killed; infants were abandoned to death; children were sent to orphanages or to human-trafficking. The policy becomes one of the most extreme and controversial examples of family planning in the world until this day since it is accused of human rights abuses as well as negative social consequences.
Heihaizi (Chinese: 黑孩子; pinyin: hēiháizi) or "black child" is a term applied in China. The term denotes children born outside the One child policy, or generally children who are not registered in the national household registration system.
Heihaizi (Black Child) VR Experience is a trip to a “Neverland” where the lost souls of the child victims under the One Child Policy go to.
The souls are divided into three main groups: fetus, new-born, and children. Not only does the land contains dead souls like aborted fetuses or babies abandoned to death, but it also has lost souls of “black” children who were living with no recored identity and having no coverage of health-care, education or love from family.
During this trip, user will go through different spots on the land including sailing through the entrance river, diving under the river, going through a forest and discovering a cave; and they will find out fetuses, babies, and children in these areas. Visual metaphor is applied throughout the experience, from the places users go to the visual images and installation of the victims: implication of death, secrets being buried, or human without identity. These metaphors are used in order to reduce the painful and extreme nature of the problem, but at the time evokes personal emotions and opinions towards the issue.
Users’ activities are minimal in order to focus on the visual observation part, mainly instructed actions to free the lost souls from the hidden places.
Created by: Oanh Phan
Music: Nang - Helly Tong
The red flags in real life are flags for the dead, used for aborted babies, impressively mentioned and captured in One Child Nation documentary film (2019) by director Nanfu Wang. It has the baby's name in the middle, date of death and parents’ names on bottom left, a short message from their parents on the top right. The flag is researched in details and recreate as close to the original as possible regarding cultural and spiritual appropriation.
Flesh & Blood Forest
The first location user will reach is the Flesh & Blood Forest. The name Flesh & Blood is an idiom in English that indicate a family relationship. In this case, it also have a literal meaning: the actual flesh & blood of the child. The forest is the first stage of age of child victims: fetus being aborted. Elements in this place such as ground, plants, animal, sky,... are made based on human organ and elements. The place is a visual metaphor for a fetus is growing and and being nutured.
Abandoned River
The second location user will reach is the Abandoned River. Abandoned River when first heard sounds like river where nobody visits, but it is also the metaphor for abandoned babies. Under this river hides the secrets of the second stage of ages of child victims: babies. These are babies in real life, after being born healthy and successfully, got abandoned to death or being human-trafficked for being an unwanted second child. In the VR, babies hidden under the river is a visual metaphor for a deadly secret.
Cave of The Unknown
The third location is Cave of the Unknown. “The Unkown” indicates Heihaizi, children that are not registered, which means they have no names, no families, no healthcare or education. These children in real life are sent to orphanages even though their real parents exists. As a result, I come up with these characters. They are the third stage of child victims: children. Since they have no identity, they all look the same and have no mouth. This is also a choice of metaphor: they can only witness and hear the situation, but cannot speak up due to the restriction of the government.
One Child Policy is a controversial topic and I don’t declare to stand on any side. However, the truth is still there and sufferings towards child victims do exist. Through the visual metaphor of the pain that Chinese children have been given, I would like to giver viewers a new artistic approach to the topic. By metaphorically describing the situation, users can have their personal impression on the topic and differ- ent feelings for the children.
Thank you for viewing!
