Guy Lochhead, 13/02/12
The Golden Venture was a steamboat bearing 286 illegal immigrants from China to New York that ran aground in Queens in 1993 after a mutiny by the smugglers. The ringleader of the operation, a triad gangster called Ah Kay, was let off with a relatively light sentence while the passengers, who had already been ripped off and exploited by traffickers, were locked up for as long as four years. Whilst in prison, they created unique, complex modular origami sculptures of various animals and objects that have since been exhibited in outsider and folk art shows around the world. The eagles they made in prison came to be called “Freedom Birds”. This story is an excellent case study. The art it resulted in underpins the global super-plot with a quiet humility. It’s powerful stuff. I would like to include a Freedom Bird.