99 Needles
Chengyao He. 99 Needles, 2002.
Description:
When I was a child, my grandmother tried all sorts of folk cures and superstitious methods to treat my mother's mental illness.She hired spirit doctors and forced my mother to swallow Chinese and Western medicine.She even attracted the attention of several People's Liberation Army uncles from a nearby military factory. To treat my mother's illness, they held my mother down on a wooden door used as a table, while one of them stuck acupuncture needles into her. My mother lay on the door screaming and struggling. "99 Needles" is dedicated to my mother, who endured so much shameful wearing down, and as atonement because I stood as eyewitness but could not help.
Medium:
Performance
Tags:
acupuncture, Chinese medicines, mental illness, folk cures, memory, needles, relationships, China
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