36 days in China 2018
Photographic exhibition
Photographic exhibition
Poster for the exhibition. Inkjet Printed card. 37 x 25 cm.
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36 days in China was an exhibition inspired by my time at the International Academy for Chinese Thought and Culture.
Through this photographic exhibition I invited the visitors to Sion Hill Gallery to experience some of the ideas that were introduced to us as part of this Summer School: the importance of the community as a vehicle to build a prosperous and stable society, the role that individuals play within that community, and the relentless and constant change that drives history. I tried to capture my own attempts to understand a culture that is perhaps very different from my own. It was very easy to feel overwhelmed by the differences, the new experiences and the intensity of it all but by making an effort toengage with the everyday of the people and the communities that I met, I felt able to connect and learn from others. I tried to reflect this in the way I have put together the exhibition. The viewers can immerse themselves in the mass of images and may initially feel overwhelmed as I did. But I hope that their curiosity will also help them engage with the individual images of the people I encountered. |
Amongst the experiences that I had during my trip I developed an interest in photographing subjects such as transport,
commerce and food. Overarching these was the importance of community and relationship. An exchange of goods was
also a moment of engagement between people and an exchange of experiences. Food too, is an important part of Chinese
society as it becomes a vehicle for friends and families to engage with each other while sharing a meal.
I found it interesting that for modern Chinese people there is a real enthusiasm for understanding their own history andculture.
The families I saw in the museums and cultural venues that I visited were genuinely engaged with the historical artefacts
and it seemed like the children felt real excitement about exploring their own traditions.
Documentation of the exhibition installation at the Sion Hill Gallery, Bath School of Art. December 2018.
On the summer school we learnt about the loss of many philosophical documents in the past. This has created a strange
situation in which many papers about certain aspects of Chinese tradition are now Western writings, interpretations of the
original ideas and teachings. In fact many of the scholars considered as experts in these areas are not actually Chinese and so,
as we experienced during the summer school, young Chinese academics are often learning about their own traditions from
Western academics. In many ways this creates a merger between Western and Chinese culture, something that I aim to
portray in my work.
The International Academy for Chinese Thought and Culture was a collaboration between Beijing Foreign Studies University,
Peking University andBath Spa University through the Global Academy of Liberal Arts network (GALA).
situation in which many papers about certain aspects of Chinese tradition are now Western writings, interpretations of the
original ideas and teachings. In fact many of the scholars considered as experts in these areas are not actually Chinese and so,
as we experienced during the summer school, young Chinese academics are often learning about their own traditions from
Western academics. In many ways this creates a merger between Western and Chinese culture, something that I aim to
portray in my work.
The International Academy for Chinese Thought and Culture was a collaboration between Beijing Foreign Studies University,
Peking University andBath Spa University through the Global Academy of Liberal Arts network (GALA).
A selection of images from the exhibition. 2/3 digital photographs.