Lost Underground

In the 1960s, at great risk to their lives, a group of teenagers in China defied the authoritarian regime by reading and writing forbidden texts, painting and exhibiting avant-garde works of art, and exploring western music. Held in secret, these early underground salons laid the groundwork for a movement called “The Misty Poets.” Their stories from China’s Cultural Revolution have been buried by fear and fading memory. We present these stories to preserve a history that should never be forgotten and also reflects the struggles continuing in America and around the globe. (For our purposes, some names have been changed to protect the identities of those still living in China.)