Xiamen’s Jimei x Arles Photo Festival Names Prize Winners

Initiated in 2015, the festival is a collaboration between Beijing's Three Shadows Photography Art Centre and French photo festival the Rencontres d'Arles.

Spanning various locations in the Jimei District of Xiamen, a coastal city in Southeast China, the Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival aims to nurture the creation, curation, and study of Chinese photography.

The festival presented its Discovery Award to artist Lahem (Luo Xin) for his exhibition Modernity's Fracture: The Odyssey of Returning Hometown, which featured photography, video, and installations presented at the Jimei Art Centre.

'The artist's adept use of photography to navigate the return to their hometown amidst this rapidly evolving era reflects a nuanced exploration of the intricate ties between individuality, hometown, urban life, memory, and identity,' said the jury. 'He examines the inevitable cycles and links between humans and nature, life, and death.'

The Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image went to Gan Yingying and Zhou Yichen for their exhibition The Via Combusta. The jury commended the team for selecting 'a vital and contemporary theme experienced both by the curators themselves and their community.'

As well as supporting local talents, Jimei x Arles prides itself on introducing leading photography from abroad. A key focus of this year's edition is photography from Southeast Asia.

At Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Archipelago: Paradise Revisit, curated by Gwen Lee, explores human quests for utopia and the dystopian realities in the islands of the region.

Notable in the exhibition are a group of greyscale panels by Ang Song Nian, titled Heavy On My Eyes (2016). By providing a visual representation of the air quality index, the artist draws attention to the smog in Singapore largely caused by the polluting activities of its neighbours.

Much like similar events in China, Jimei x Arles depends on support from the local government. Given this, its inclusion of works that engage with pertinent social issues is impressive.

A major show during the festival, Søsterskap: Contemporary Nordic Photography, for instance, reveals how photographers in Nordic countries explore the welfare system, feminism, and gender fluidity. It's not difficult for the local audience to compare contexts and contemplate their own realities.

Isle Projects walking tour in the historical lanes of Jimei District. Photo: Shanyu Zhong.

This year's Jimei x Arles introduces the 'Isles Project,' inviting visitors to stroll beyond the main venues into the streets of ancient villages across Xiamen, as well as neighbouring cities including Quanzhou and Zhangzhou.

Photographs were displayed in residential neighbourhoods, hanging on trees, hidden behind aged window grills, and even stuck to the mirror of a public toilet.

While the event was successful, Jimei x Arles co-founder RongRong suggested it still had a long way to go.

'As it reaches its ninth year, the photo festival is still in its youth,' he said. 'There are many unknown possibilities alongside challenges ahead of us.' —[O]