‘We all survived’: Wuhan artists keep virus memories alive
WUHAN (AFP) – A melancholy guitar melody intertwines with an ethereal beat as wild-haired singer Lu Yan intones his hometown’s feelings into a microphone: “Virus in Wuhan. We all survived.”
In music, graffiti, even comics, Wuhan artists are beginning to pay homage to their city with works referencing its coronavirus suffering, punishing 76-day lockdown, and subsequent rebirth.
“Wuhan’s people made a great sacrifice for the whole nation and world,” Lu said of the song’s intended message.
The song, “WUHAN2020,” is the title track of the pandemic-themed debut album by Wuhan synth-rock trio Hardcore Raver in Tears, conceived and written remotely while the bandmates were separated during the lockdown.
Stress and cabin fever provided inspiration.
“I was worried the world would end,” said Lu, after singing through a black mask during a rehearsal in a Wuhan studio.
The coronavirus emerged in the city one year ago, before spreading into a global pandemic.
The vast majority of China’s 4,634 officially acknowledged COVID-19 deaths occurred in Wuhan. Its economy was pummelled, and its name indelibly linked to the pathogen.
To many Wuhan citizens, the pandemic period is best forgotten.
But graffiti artist Huang Bowen tries to keep the memories alive.
Huang, a self-taught 22-year-old designer, tagged the city with virus-themed graffiti during the lockdown, using a pass gained as a pandemic volunteer to evade restrictions on moving around what had become a ghost town.
Huang’s subjects have included ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, one of several Wuhan doctors who first warned of the spreading contagion in December 2019 and were told by authorities to keep quiet. Li later died of the virus.