From the moment she walks on stage, Cheng Lei conveys warmth, vitality and strength. All of these qualities were needed in 2020–23 when, while working as a journalist in China, Lei was blindfolded, arrested and locked up for reasons she is yet to fully understand, but which it is speculated may have had to do with her having released an embargoed document to a fellow journalist.

1154 Days is the story of this time, during which Cheng Lei was held by China’s Ministry of State Security in Beijing. At first, Cheng Lei spent six months in detention, where two guards watched her night and day, including when she went to the toilet.

Cheng Lei in 1154 Days. Photo © Sarah Walker

Lei has since described her time there, in what the Chinese call Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL), as mental and emotional torture.

After this initial six-month period, Cheng Lei shared a cramped cell with three other women before eventually learning that she would be released in 10 days. Representing the number of days she was away from her children, the sunshine...