“Language is power, life and the instrument of culture, the instrument of domination and liberation.”
Angela Carter, feminist author

If what Angela Carter wrote is correct, then how should we understand “women’s script” or nü shu (女书), a secret written language of women that was created in China hundreds of years ago? At that time, most women’s feet were bound, and all women were excluded from the halls of power and learning.  Were the "sworn sisters" (結拜姊妹)who created booklets that were as tightly bound as their feet, booklets that contained “third day missives” (三朝書), actually subversives secretly amassing power? Were the women who passed down the nü shu characters woven into brocades and who brushed them, graffiti-like, onto silk fans for their daughters, actually misandrist renegades creating their own feminist culture?  Were the nü shu folk songs and monodies soulful laments of the disenfranchised and enslaved concubines clandestinely transmitting their plans for liberation?   

Some have thought that the answers to these questions were an unequivocal “yes.”  The Japanese suppressed the script during their occupation of China in the 1940s, concerned that it could be used as a secret code for sending messages.  The Red Guards also suppressed nü shu during the Cultural Revolution, perhaps fearing the power in the hypnotic melodies that accompanied the stories from feudal nü shu literature would stymie their efforts to obliterate feudalism.

It is nü shu that has inspired this exhibit, The Secret Language of Women, which opens March 6, 2010, two days before the 100th (some say 99th or 101st) anniversary of International Women’s Day.  The Socialist Party of America declared the first International Women’s Day (IWD) in the United States on February 28, 1909.  Not always a peaceful or benign celebration, a year later 15,000 women marched through the streets of New York City, protesting poor working conditions and demanding better pay, shorter working hours and suffrage.  Today IWD is a global celebration of the social, economic and political accomplishments of women.

Yuanfen New Media Art has asked a number of accomplished male and female artists to reflect on the theme of The Secret Language of Women and exhibit the product of those reflections at our gallery. Artists whose works will be showcased at The Secret Language of Women include: Zhu Hui (China), Patricia Henriquez (Mexico), Teresa Wennberg (Sweden), Beat Kuert (Switzerland), Yam Lau (Hong Kong and Canada), Wang Hailei (China), J-Colby Wayne (USA) and Humphrey Wou (USA).   

In addition to the exhibit Yuanfen will be hosting a number of events during the exhibition period including documentaries on nü shu and on topics related to women.