Watching the exhibition| Wang's "Human Theater" won the 7th Jimei Arles Discovery Award

Artist Wang Weimo, nominated by curator Ho Guiyan, won the 2021 Seire de Arles Discovery Award for her exhibition "Human Theater". Wang Xiangmo received a prize of 100,000 yuan and was invited to hold an exhibition at the 2022 Arles Photography Festival in France.

Zhong Weixing, a judge of the Discovery Award and founder of the Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, said in his speech: "In the original power plant that has become a ruin, Wang Weimo transformed the factory ruins into dramatic scenes of collective memory by combining animation, performance performance and polyphonic performance of video installations, and directed a living drama commemorating the fate of the "industrial sublime" in the Internet age. Her work "Human Theater" is not only an elegy for the past based on personal experience, but also a dramatic and strong visual grasp and discussion of the relationship between time and memory. "Human Theater" also shows Wang's unique understanding and imagination of industrial themes, and also shows her ability to mobilize and use a variety of media and artistic means to fully achieve her creative goals. ”

In an interview with the media, Wang Said that "Human Theater" is her mother who worked in a factory, and she went there when she was a child, but she didn't like it very much. She even used the word "disgust" to describe the factory and her mother's life. With the adjustment of industrialization in Chongqing, the factory began to "rust" in Wang's eyes, and the workers were laid off, "but it is not so easy for them to change a job, and there is some sadness." This kind of hard and cold factory and machine, which was different from the impression she had when she was a child, later brought her new visual sensibility, and slowly became a kind of landscape in her work— the mysterious factory, which existed like a paradise. This is Wang Xiangmo, born in 1996, who created "Human Theater" for her age.

This year's festival is co-directed by Christopher Weisner, Director of arles Photography Festival (France), and Rong Rong, Chinese contemporary photography artist and co-founder of the Three Shadows Photography Art Center, and Professor Gu Zheng, a well-known photography critic, as artistic director. This year's exhibition was presented in collaboration with 28 curators.

Annual Arles unit

The Arles Photography Festival in France has set off again after the pandemic, and Jimei Arles has selected four exhibitions to exhibit in China this year: Arles"Re-Reading" section exhibition "Orient Express – Between History and Mythology" (curators: Ava Griviat, Arthur Meitetal), which presents precious archival materials of the Orient Express, the world's first international luxury train across Paris and Constantinople, including photos, maps, design drawings, brochures, etc. The discovery prize unit "Wadi Celtic: Light in Stone" (Curator: Sonia Voss) The work of artist Ilanit Iluz is based on the study of natural elements, exposing threatened ecosystems and presenting thought-provoking images of natural landscapes. In the discovery award section "Once Upon a Time My World" (Curator: Sonia Voss), artist Marie Tomanova tells the autobiographical story of her return to her former family farm and the re-exploration of broken time and memories after ten years away from home. The 2021 Arles Book Awards section also met with the audience as scheduled.

Jacques Tuccie, advertising poster for the Oriental Express in Zimpron, Venice, 1930. Poster, 103cm x 62cm. Images courtesy of the French National Railways Fund, SARDO, French National Centre for Historical Archives.

Ilanit Iluz, "Wadi", from the Sewage Outlet series, 2021. Non woven paper, 136cm x 90cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Mary Tomanova, "Wearing Daddy's Sweater (Everything Left Behind)", from the Once Upon a Time My World series, 2018–2019. Collectible grade art micro-spray, 31cm x 21cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Jimei Arles Discovery Award

Every year, 5 curators are invited to nominate a total of 10 talented Chinese photographers to hold solo exhibitions, and the grand prize winners are selected during the opening week, and the winners will receive a prize of 100,000 yuan (before tax) and are invited to hold a solo exhibition at the Arles Photography Festival in France the following year. This year's nominated artists are: Liu Yue and Zhou Jiangshan (nominated by Chen Xiao); Zong Ning and Wang Weimo (nominated by He Guiyan); Xu Guanyu and Li Wenjia (nominated by Li Jia); Tao Hui and Zhong Yunshu (nominated by Miao Zizhen); Guo Guozhu and Zou Biyu (nominated by Zeng Han).

Liu Yue, Basic Image Spectrum-07 (H30000, W30000, Dim3) 09a, 2016. Artistic micro-spray, 150cm x 150cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Zong Ning, "Boils", 2019. Hanemüller cotton barium sulfide paper printing, 330cm x 150cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Wang Xiangmo, "Human Theater" video still frame, 2021. Experimental image, 7 minutes and 30 seconds. Images courtesy of the artist.

Guanyu Xu, Expatriate Series: JZ-08132017-10032020, 2020. Collectible grade art micro-spray, 140cm x 178cm. Images courtesy of the artist, The Janssie Richardson Gallery and the High Terrace Center for Contemporary Art.

Wenjia Li, Untitled (Reykjavik, Iceland), 2017. Collectible grade art micro-spray, 101cm x 127cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Tao Hui, "The Beating Atom" video still frame, 2019. Single-channel HD color audio recording, 14 minutes and 12 seconds. Images courtesy of Tao Hui, Ma Ling Gallery (Hong Kong, Shanghai) and Sibor Gallery (Berlin).

Yunshu Zhong, The Long Way, 2021. Artistic micro-spray, 75cm x 100cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Guo Guozhu, "Liuyuan No.2|122°82′E 30°72′N, 2015. 315 grams of Hanemüller cotton barium sulfide paper printing, 128cm x 100cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Biyu Zou, "Life that Stops Abruptly: Harbour City", 2015. Artistic micro-spray. Images courtesy of the artist.

Jimei Arles International Photography Season "Image Curator Award"

With the core of supporting young image creativity, the "Image Curator Award" is committed to discovering and cultivating outstanding young Chinese image curators and researchers, and absorbing and participating in interdisciplinary research in images. The duration is three years. This year, a total of 53 valid submissions were received, and 5 groups of proposals were shortlisted for the exhibition: "The Past is a Foreign Land" (Curatorial Team: Peng Yanhan + Tracing the Elephant), "Unnamed River" (Curator: Jiang Feiran), "Time of the World, Time of night" (Curatorial Team: Yin Shuai & Zhang Yichuan), "Women are Fashioning" (Curatorial Team: Liu Ying & You Yiyi), "SMART-59" (Curator: Monday Chen).

Singapore Film Exchange

Each year the photography season focuses on the photography situation in an Asian country. Following Japan (2020), India (2019), South Korea (2018), Indonesia (2017), this year the focus is on Singapore. Gretchen Liu and Wang Xin, curators of Crossroads – Singapore through the Lens (1870-1940), depict Singapore's transformation into a thriving cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic port city from the photographer's perspective by presenting precious historical images. Cai Simin's "Leaving Truth: Portraits of Famous Contemporary Chinese Painters" spans Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe and the United States, and collects portraits of fourteen famous Contemporary Chinese painters born in the early 1900s. Curated by Gwen Lee, Director of DECK Photography Gallery in Singapore, the group exhibition "The Natural History of An Island" features photographs, archives, installations and films by a number of Singaporean artists in different forms of photographs, archives, installations and films to address the historical process of Singapore and explore the historical and contemporary narratives of the island nation (artists Hong Songnian, Zhao & Lin, Jiang Xiuying, Wang Chunlong, Li Weiye, Deng Weiyang, Cho Yan Hui, Syahrul Anuar, Huang Shuting).

Straits Chinese Children, 1890s, G.R. Lambert Corporation. Glass negatives for modern prints. Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Singapore, National Heritage Board.

Cai Simin, "Lu Yu Shao", 1988. Collectible grade art micro-spray, 50cm x 35cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Jiang Xiuying, Under the Camouflage of the Surface, 2014. Collectible grade art micro-spray, 115cm x 76.6cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Chinese rhythm

Every year, we join hands with a Chinese higher art school to show the new strength of Chinese photography. This year, the Central Academy of Fine Arts was invited to hold the exhibition "What Matters Is Not Photography: The Photography Chronicle of the Central Academy of Fine Arts". Jointly curated by Cai Meng and Cao Qinghui, on the one hand, the exhibition is intended to discuss the development process of photography in the Central Academy of Fine Arts, on the other hand, through "what is important is not photography", through the five chapters of "important is not a medium", "important is not professional", "important is not a point of view", "important is not an exhibition" and "important is not photography", one by one, under the premise of acknowledging the importance of their respective propositions, reflection and discussion.

Xu Bing, Where to Stir Up Dust, 2014. Collectible grade art micro-spray, 30cm × 45cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Unbounded imagery

The "Unbounded Images" section presents the diverse cross-border possibilities for artists to develop photography at different levels such as media (print, video, digital, installation, etc.) and multiculturalism. This year's invitation is made to the famous poet Kitajima, the famous painter Liu Xiaodong and the contemporary artist Zhao Bandi to exhibit their works.

Curated by curator Shen Yi, as one of the most important representatives of contemporary Chinese poetry, Kitajima's photography and poetry began almost at the same time, and photography is another way for Kitajima to observe things. A serious illness a few years ago almost ended Kitajima's writing, and photography became another language expression for Kitajima. As curator Shen Yi said, "Photography has become a new body of language given by the North Island." With the instinct and astonishing will of a poet, he tried to free himself from the language of life and death. ”

"Childhood Friends Are Fat - Liu Xiaodong Images" exhibits the photographic works he has taken over the decades. Photography for Liu Xiaodong is a record of life, an instant capture of some specific atmosphere. In the exhibition "Xiamen Zhao Bandi's Little Nest", "Zhao Bandi's Little Nest" as a continuation of the "Party" series of performance works, its existence is like an art ark far from reality, allowing people to gather here to share each other's limited time, and recorded by the camera.

Kitajima, "Vision", art micro-spray. Images courtesy of the artist.

Liu Xiaodong, "Migrant Workers in Decoration Studios, Beijing", 1995, Art Micro Spray. Photo courtesy of Liu Xiaodong Studio.

Zhao Bandi, "Zhao Bandi's Little Nest" exhibition site, 2020-2021. Image courtesy of Hao Art Museum.

Collector's Tales

The Collector's Tales section showcases the collections of important photographic collectors and institutions in China or Asia. This year's exhibition features the work of sebasti o Salgado, a master of documentary photography.

Sebastian Salgado, The Claws of the Sea Iguana, from the Genesis series, 2004. Hanemüller cotton barium sulfide paper printing, 90cm x 123cm. Photo courtesy of Chengdu Contemporary Video Museum.

salute

This module has been established since the previous year. This year's "Tribute" section exhibition "Riptide Moments: The Video Practice of Wartime China and Sha Fei", curated by Cai Tao, associate professor of the School of Arts and Humanities of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, commemorates Sha Fei (formerly known as Situ Chuan), an important photographer in the history of modern Chinese photography. Sha Fei is not satisfied with the professional identity of a photojournalist, but has a more personalized and idealized pursuit of freedom, he not only photographed images of Lu Xun and Mr. Bethune, but also used the camera to record life in the base area, and presented the appearance and spirit of wartime China with a keen perspective.

Sha Fei, "Bethune's Sunbathing," 1939. Photo courtesy of Ms. Wang Yan, thanks to the Art Museum of Beijing Academy of Fine Arts.

Act locally

The "Local Action" section aims to explore the development of the art of photography in the host area. "Infinite Party" runs through the exhibition with the "club party" element, combines multimedia mixed installations and video works, outputs the image picture in real time, breaks the disciplinary attributes of the photography exhibition itself, and builds an immersive illusory space; the "South of the South" exhibition landed at the Gulangyu Academy of Fine Arts in Xiamen. The works of many artists present the natural flow and behavior of people in these geographical spaces, and respond to history with contemporary issues; "The Imitation of Time" is curated by Fuzhou Guihu Art Museum and invites Fujian native and overseas Fujian artists to participate.

N. APE STUDIO, The Microscope, 2021. P2 LED screen, steel structure, acrylic, several power cables, radar sensor, 100cm x 20cm x 30cm. Images courtesy of the artist.

Zhu Lanqing, selected from the "Shipwreck Excavation" series, near the site of the former Quanzhou Local State Construction Shipyard, 2018. Digital micro-spray. Images courtesy of the artist.

Zhang Zhongting, "Real-time Slices of Home and Youth", 2020. Digital micro-spray, integrated material. Images courtesy of the artist.

Our moments – everyone is a creator

The exhibition includes mobile phone photography works by Martin Parr, Xiao Quan and many other artists, as well as excellent contributions from the VISION+ Video Project. Explore the possibilities that mobile phones bring to photography as a new medium, the meaning of the moments in life that make everyone stop, and the power of images to return to the most authentic record.

Martin Parr, 2021 Cornwall Story 376, 2021. The picture was taken with a mobile phone.

Find the most beautiful horizon

The works on display are from 10 creators who, in May, followed National Geographic experts to the Gongga Snow Mountain in Sichuan province to capture the most beautiful moments on the horizon.

Fang Xin @rwandanm, Yala Morning, 2021, Stinthaw, Sichuan, China.

Jimei Arles Book Fair

As an important medium of display and creation, photography books have always been a popular form of creation for photographic artists. This year's photography season set up the Jimei Arles Book Fair, which openly solicits works using photographic books as a medium for Chinese artists and Chinese art institutions. Among the more than 100 works submitted, more than 50 handmade books and publications from artists and art institutions were selected, and strived to show the development status of Chinese contemporary photography books, recommend excellent photography book creators, and establish a platform for the display and exchange of photographic books.

Launched in 2015 in Jimei District, Xiamen, jimei arles international photography season has attracted 350,000 visitors since its inception, showcasing more than 200 exhibitions of photographic works from China, other Asian countries and selected from the Arles Photography Festival.