A sculpture park in California’s Mojave Desert founded by a Chinese dissident artist has gone up in flames for the second time in three years, raising suspicions that the latest incident is a continuation of the previous fire and a warning to all artists who oppose China’s communist regime.
The fire broke out on August 20 at Liberty Sculpture Park, according to a post on X by US-based artist Chen Weiming, who runs the sculpture park.
Two cars, all computer equipment, surveillance and security equipment, computer hard drives containing files and information about the sculpture park, photography equipment, and a Starlink-equipped electric gate disappeared in the flames, Chen said in text messages to Artnet News. He estimated that the loss could be more than $100,000.
Liberty Sculpture Park in the Mojave Desert, California, after the fire on August 20, 2024. Courtesy of artist Chen Weiming.
Chen said police arrived just in time and investigators have already begun investigating the cause of the fire, but he did not know when he would receive the results.
It was not the first time the sculpture park had burned. “Personally, I believe that the fire this time is a continuation of the previous incident. It should serve as a warning to those of us who uphold the values of democracy,” Chen said. “But of course, this is still under investigation.”
In 2021, a three-story sculpture depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping’s head in the shape of a giant coronavirus molecule mysteriously burned to the ground just days after it was erected. The surveillance cameras around the site were disconnected.
The sculpture, accompanied by a sign reading “CCP virus,” was a blatant criticism of Xi and insinuated that the Chinese Communist Party was responsible for the Covid pandemic. During the pandemic, China was cut off from the rest of the world for nearly three years under the zero-Covid policy. Major cities like Shanghai and Beijing suffered huge losses.
Liberty Sculpture Park in the Mojave Desert, California, after the fire on August 20, 2024. Courtesy of artist Chen Weiming.
In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted five people for “stalking, harassing, and spying on U.S. citizens on behalf of the People’s Republic of China’s secret police.” They included three people who had been paid more than $3 million by Chinese security services to spy on dissidents. All five were charged in July 2022 with “crimes related to a transnational repression program to silence critics of the People’s Republic of China” living in the United States.
“I guess this is the price to pay for fighting against the Chinese Communist Party and pursuing democracy. But no matter what happens, I will not give in. We will continue to expose (the actions of) the Chinese Communist Party and promote freedom and democracy by creating more sculptures,” Chen noted.
On Monday, a group of volunteers visited the sculpture park to help with the cleanup after the fire. They held a demonstration and vowed to continue their work despite the potential threats.
Is Chen worried about his personal safety? “I have already put my life in God’s hands,” he said.
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