I was lucky enough to experience the Rage collective's film and sound installation when it first opened in May. Their unique presentation of old footage from 1989 and contemporary pieces from today is both intelligent and impressive. 1989 was of course the year the World Wide Web was born, the Berlin Wall fell and the Tiananmen Square protests happened. '404 Resistance in the Digital Age' uses events such as these as an entry point to look at how digital platforms have been adopted as the primary means of protesting.
Bonnie Wong is the member of the collective we have to thank for both researching into Hong Kong's history and supplying the footage of China. Wong also informs us that the Chinese word for 'protest' also symbolises the hand. In her opinion, protesting began as being a physical action but now in Hong Kong, everything is happening online. "physical protests no longer work and the battleground for protesting has gone digital."
Amale Freiha Khlat's contribution to the show features footage from 1989 which has been overlayed with images from video games. The artist has explained that, as a child, playing Gameboy, Tetris and Pacman was her distraction from the war in Lebanon. She believes Tetris was invented by Russia in 89 to distract it's people from the fall of Communism.
The C.F.C.C.A has been working with artists who explore relevant global issues from different international perspectives for over 30 years. It's great that they've given Rage collective a chance to shine. The gallery is based in the heart of Manchester's Northern Quarter. The gallery is free to enter Tuesday to Sunday (10am to 5pm). '404: Resistance in the Digital Age' is well worth a visit.
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