ACMI and Now or Never present
Feng Mengbo: Long March Restart 冯梦波: 长征 重启
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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 different 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 stories, 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
To celebrate Feng Mengbo: Long March Restart, ACMI commissioned three arcade games in partnership with Now or Never. You can play these for free in the foyer near the ACMI Shop.
This work is an interactive videogame played using a handheld controller. The controller requires two-handed use. One visitor can play at a time.
The work contains loud sounds, flashing imagery and rapid screen transitions. Visitors who are sensitive to sensory stimuli may wish to take care or speak to staff for guidance.
There is no spoken dialogue or narrative text in the work, so closed captions are not applicable. While the work uses visual and audio cues, audio is supplementary and not required to engage with the gameplay.
Written interpretation is available in English, Simplifed Chinese and Traditional Chinese within the gallery. English, and translations in Simplifed Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Hindi and Punjabi can be accessed via QR code on your own device.
A printed visual guide to the controls and gameplay is available at the entrance to the space and on a plinth in the centre of the exhibition space that also holds the controller.
The exhibition is wheelchair accessible, lift access to the gallery is available.
Seating is available throughout the exhibition.
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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