Walking the Cabbage (2000–2025) is a social intervention and performance series by Chinese artist Han Bing, initiated in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. In this project, Bing walks a Chinese cabbage — and occasionally other vegetables or fruits — on a leash through public spaces, transforming an ordinary object into a provocative symbol. The performance encourages dialogue and critical reflection on everyday practices, social norms, and contemporary values.

Bing views the cabbage as a symbol of rural sustenance, highlighting its significance as a staple food for those with limited means in contemporary China. The absurdity of walking a cabbage through urban spaces playfully subverts the logic of social conformity, revealing the often-unquestioned structures of oppression and control in society.

As Bing explains:

“Walking the Cabbage (2000-2025) series of social intervention performance, video and photography works, Han Bing walks a Chinese cabbage on a leash in public places, inverting an ordinary practice to provoke debate and critical thinking. Walking the Cabbage is a playful twist on a serious subject – the way our everyday practices serve to constitute ‘normalcy’ and our identities are often constituted by the act of claiming objects as our possessions. A quintessentially Chinese symbol of sustenance and comfort for poor Chinese turned upside down, Han Bing’s cabbage on a leash offers a visual interrogation of contemporary social values.”

_
Sources: 13th Berlin Biennale website and Coilhouse website.