A memorial service was held in May in the city of Quanzhou, south-east China, in memory of Cai Ruiqin, the bookseller and amateur artist who was the father of the internationally successful artist Cai Guo-Qiang. A few days later Cai posted a tribute to his father online. “My father was like a book that we could never read in its entirety. It pains me to think of what he suffered.” Born in 1935, Cai Ruiqin “was fond of history, calligraphy and painting. He longed to improve and exhibit [his art], but this was in vain,” because of the Cultural Revolution. “My father’s story is by no means unique,” writes Cai Guo-Qiang, adding that his father’s works were eventually “exhibited in the world’s best museums” alongside his own, even though Cai Sr was never able to see any of these displays.
