Chinese Buddhists dreamed of a Pure Land. Taiping rebels fought for a “Heavenly Kingdom”. Communist revolutionaries proclaimed an ideal society. But visions of heaven on earth have a way of being scuppered by reality. China’s people have seen one promised paradise after another turned upside down or smashed into pieces.

Today, prosperity is within the reach of millions of Chinese whose ancestors had no hope of earthly comfort. Yet the dreamed-of golden age is as remote as ever. Material plenty and a measure of freedom have come at the price of greed, corruption and spiritual emptiness. For artists – arch-dreamers – the dissonance is an alarm bell.

In their eyes, the gods of East and West are colliding in a monumental mashup. The silent poor are oppressed by their own dreams. Venues that once offered escape are eerily empty, strewn with shattered glass. Glimpses of transcendence are bright hallucinations. Golden-chained gyrating dwarves lip-sync the ugly truth: heaven on earth is a Paradi$e Bitch.