ACMI and Now or Never present
Feng Mengbo: Long March Restart 冯梦波: 长征 重启
When
19 Aug 2026 – 31 Jan 2027
10am – 5pm
Feng Mengbo playfully reimagines modern Chinese history as a fantastical interactive adventure.
Inspired by the Long March – the Chinese Red Army’s 1934–36 military retreat – this playable artwork transforms a defining chapter of history into an immersive side-scrolling videogame. Guide a Red Army soldier across two giant screens in a world inspired by classic videogames like Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter II. Armed with Coca-Cola cans, the soldier battles supernatural enemies and pop-culture figures across 14 levels drawn from historical landmarks, retro videogames and Cold War science fiction. Play along, or watch as the soldier advances, inviting you to join the surreal, pixelated march through time and space.
A landmark work of interactive art presented in Melbourne for the first time, Long March: Restart brings together videogame history, global screen culture and contemporary art. By remixing communist and capitalist symbols, videogame references and national myth, Feng Mengbo asks how history is constructed, retold and replayed through the images and systems that surround us.
Courtesy of M+ Sigg Collection, Hong Kong. By donation
Where
About Feng Mengbo 馮夢波
Feng Mengbo (b. 1966, Beijing) is a pioneering Chinese artist known for his use of digital technology, videogames and interactive media. He is Professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where he serves as Dean of the School of Experimental Art & Sci-Tech Art. Growing up during the Cultural Revolution and China’s later period of economic reform, Feng became fascinated by the collision of political imagery, popular culture and new technologies. Since the early 1990s, he has used videogame aesthetics and software to revisit national history and contemporary life, often inserting himself or childhood heroes into game worlds. His practice spans painting, calligraphy, installation, photography, video, performance and interactive art. Feng has exhibited widely internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, Documenta, MoMA PS1 and UCCA Center for Contemporary Art.
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