WALKING THE CABBAGE

A head of fresh green cabbage placed on a small cart, leashed by a silver chain in the hand of Han Bing, walking the streets of Berlin during the golden hour. An unusual sight for a dog-walking lady across the street. A glitch in the matrix – a simple and mischievous, yet subversive act that Han Bing often repeats as part of his performance series Walking Vegetables to provoke dialogue.

‘Bing views the cabbage as a symbol of rural sustenance, highlighting its significance in contemporary China as a staple food for those with limited means. Twenty-five years after Bing’s inaugural cabbage walk in Beijing, the performance’s arrival in Berlin sends a playful yet powerful signal about the potential of radical actions—actions that, through their silence and wit, can speak volumes. The absurdity of this urban performance subverts the logic of unjustified violence, provoking us to examine the normalised forms of oppression that surround—or inhabit us,’ reflects Valentina Viviani on Bing’s work.

Bing believes that it is the political value system of a country that determines who or what is considered valuable. The Kashmiri Cabbage Walker, an iteration of Bing’s Walking the Cabbage performance currently on display at KW Institute for Contemporary Art alongside Iris Yingzen and her Garden of Hope, uses the quiet absurdity of dragging a cabbage on a small cart to reflect the equally absurd reality of Kashmir’s heavy militarisation, where armed presence far outweighs civilian life. Active since 2015, the figure remains anonymous, concealed beneath a traditional pheran coat, embodying a fugitive, collective identity. This allows the action to move fluidly across contexts, standing in solidarity with global struggles while resisting recognition and control. The gesture continues, passed on.