Kou Voravong
The political crisis caused by his assassination, barely two months after the Geneva Agreements which prepared to restore peace in Indochina, contributed to bring down the current neutralist government (pro-French) which was replaced by a progressive one (pro-American) in extremely tense atmosphere of the Cold War between Russia and the United States. From 1955 indeed, the political history of this small landlocked country fell trapped inexorably in the ideological confrontation between the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union, annihilating any hope of national unification.
Bouke de Vries
His series of works based on Mao Zedong are heavily rooted in his Dutch background. "Mao is the only 20th century dictator who is still un-toppled despite being the one who was responsible for more millions of deaths of his own people than all the others put together. The series uses 1960s Cultural Revolution cult-of-personality porcelain busts and statues." Bouke states that his thousands of hand made skulls are "meant to represent the millions who died because of his whims." Although his inspiration largely comes from nature and spirituality, when it comes to Mao there is a different energy surrounding his pieces. "The skulls also remind us that we too will die…of course we all turn to dust in the end, but earthly pleasures kick against this inevitability. Art is one way in which we can outlive our own mortality, it lives on after us."