Lower Galleries: Tank Man and The Heart of Truth

This exhibition took place from 1 April to 4 August 2024

Tank Man

In 1989 Beijing, China saw weeks-long protests calling for greater democracy. The demonstrations focused on Beijing’s main Tiananmen Square where protestors painted slogans, made pro-democracy artworks and some went on hunger strike.

The government stormed Tiananmen Square with soldiers and tanks and firing at the protestors on 4 June. It is estimated that hundreds were killed. In our Lower Galleries, part of The Camera Never Lies: Challenging Images from The Incite Project (on the Mezzanine Gallery from 18 May – 20 October 2024), photographs and archival video footage from this event were on display.

The moment captured shows an unknown demonstrator stopping a line of tanks as they leave the square, caught within seconds of each other by three different American and British photographers, all confined to a hotel.

In Europe, these are considered some of the most iconic photographs of the twentieth century for their emotive impression of one man’s defiance against authoritarian power.

In China, the protests, the military retaliation, and these images remain highly censored to the extent that it is not clear how well known the events of June 1989 are to the younger Chinese population.

Stuart Franklin The Tank Man stopping the column of T59 tanks. Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China. 4th June 1989. © Stuart Franklin, Magnum Photos

The Heart of Truth

The Heart of Truth explored religious teachings of truthfulness within Shinto and Buddhism.

Shinto (meaning ‘Way of the Gods’) is Japan’s Indigenous religion which venerates the nature spirits (or ‘kami’) that inhabit the trees, mountains, and waterfalls. The Shinto principle of ‘magokoro’ describes the ‘sincere, upright, true heart’ that is the truthfulness of kami in human endeavours.

Buddhism similarly teaches the need to be true in one’s thoughts, speech and action.

With the introduction of Buddhism in the 6th century from China via Korea, there came a gradual but significant shift in people’s religious practices. To accommodate both sets of beliefs, a syncretic Shinto-Buddhist faith (shinbutsu-shūgō) developed in which Japan’s native Shinto kami were seen as the protectors of Buddhism and cultural truths were adapted and reformed.

A display of paintings explored the idea of essential truths and how interpretations of truth shift within a culture over time.

Curated by Vanessa Tothill in partnership with the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures.

This display celebrated 25 Years of the Sainsbury Institute: From Nara to Norwich.

Seated figure of Bodhisattva, Production Place: Japan, Historic Period: 10th-11th century, UEA no: 1281.