Zhang Huan’s Pandemic Diary

Text and image courtesy of Pace Gallery & Artist

Zhang Huan’s Essay and His New Works

Death is my lover! Every time I went to Tibet, my mind became delusional, and I started to have strong hallucinations. Tibet is intoxicating! Maybe it was the geography of the Tibetan plateau? I yearned for a sky burial, which is my mysterious garden. And I dreamed of countless vultures taking my body and soul, flying high in the blue sky! The process of dying, which comes between breaths, is a revolution of 49 days, a reincarnation! During this period, a person will experience the trajectory from death to birth, undergo a process of cause and effect, go through uncertain reincarnation, and, finally, obtain rebirth.

© Zhang Huan

These are the stories that moved me during the pandemic.

Unknown Pneumonia
Weng Qiuqiu, a 32-year-old, pregnant woman in Huanggang, Hubei, felt unwell on January 8. After visiting multiple hospitals, she was finally examined, and it was discovered that both of her lungs appeared unusually white in her x-rays. After beginning medical treatment on January 10, she entered the ICU at the daily cost of RMB 50,000 to 60,000. After she borrowed more than 200,000 RMB for her medical care, her condition still didn’t improve, and on January 21 her husband, Chen Yong, finally signed a consent form, agreeing to cease medical support of Weng Qiuqui. An hour later, she died—only twelve days from the onset of her symptoms. This suggests that she could not afford to waste any time in obtaining a diagnosis for COVID-19. On January 22, the government announced that treatment for the new coronavirus would be free.

Zhang Huan, Love No.5, 2020, 300 cm x 400 cm © Zhang Huan

Beijing’s First COVID-19 Death
Yang Jun traveled to visit Wuhan from the 8th to the 12th of January and was diagnosed with COVID-19 on January 22. He died five days later. Just a few days before, he had posted on social media: “The first stop of the first day of 2020: the playground. It’s time to move around and experience youth in its prime.”

Zhang Huan, Amitabha No.7, 2020, 220 cm x 280 cm © Zhang Huan

Li Wenliang
On December 30, 2019, ophthalmologist Li Wenliang released information about the outbreak that began in Wuhan’s South China Seafood Market. For posting this information in a WeChat group of his classmates, he was labeled a “whistle blower” by the public.

On January 3, 2020, the police station in his jurisdiction reprimanded him for “publishing untrue statements on the Internet.”

On January 10, 2020, two days after examining one of his patients who was later diagnosed with COVID-19, Li Wenliang developed a cough.

On February 1, 2020, he was admitted to the hospital after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

On February 7, 2020, he passed away early in the morning, missing the birth of his second child.

Zhang Huan, Amitabha No.8, 2020, 300 cm x 500 cm © Zhang Huan

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