Friday, May 26, 2023
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Bunche Hall 10383

Vernacular China in the Context of Modernization through Images
现代化背景下的乡土中国
— A Scholarly Conversation between curator Duan Yuting and photographer Zhang Xiao
策展人段煜婷和摄影师张晓的学术对谈

The entire event will be held in Chinese.


This lecture examines the transformation of rural and urban China in the context of modernization, as documented through the evocative works of acclaimed photographer Zhang Xiao and other representative Chinese photographers of the same period. By exploring the visual narratives that portray the complex relationship between tradition and modernity within China's rapidly changing landscape, the lecture seeks to provide an understanding of the historical, cultural, and social factors that have shaped China's rural and urban transformations over the years.

The discussion will focus on the creative reinterpretation of rural experiences, the coexistence of rural and urban elements in contemporary cities, and the policies that have influenced the future of rural China. Central to this analysis is an exploration of the intricate interplay between China's evolving cultural landscape and the forces of modernization.

The lecture will feature a scholarly conversation between curator Duan Yuting and photographer Zhang Xiao, offering an opportunity for in-depth reflection on the themes and ideas presented. It will provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors that have driven China's remarkable rural and urban transformations, as well as the broader implications of these changes for Chinese society.


本次讲座将通过著名摄影师张晓以及同时期具有代表性的中国摄影师的追忆性作品，探讨在现代化背景下中国农村与城市的转变。通过描绘中国日新月异的视觉景观中传统与现代之间错综复杂的叙事，讲座旨在提供对于塑造中国农村和城市转型的历史、文化和社会因素的理解。

讨论将集中在对农村经历的创造性再诠释，当代城市中城乡元素的共存，以及影响中国农村未来的政策。这一分析的核心是探究中国不断演变的文化景观与现代化力量之间的错综复杂互动。

本次讲座将呈现策展人段煜婷与摄影师张晓之间的学术对话，深入反思上述主题和观点。这将为与会者提供全面了解中国农村与城市变革背后的驱动因素，以及这些变化对中国社会的更广泛影响的途径。

整个活动将以中文进行。


Duan Yuting 段煜婷

Founder and director of Lianzhou Foto Festival and Lianzhou Museum of Photography. Duan Yuting founded the Lianzhou Foto Festival in 2005 and has been closely involved in its development since then. The Lianzhou Foto Festival has become an influential platform for local and international photography discussions over the past ten years. The festival's long history was celebrated in 2017 when the Lianzhou Museum of Photography（LMP）was cofounded and opened by Duan Yuting and French curator François Cheval. The LMP is the country's first public institution dedicated to the medium, the result of Duan Yuting's constant striving to promote contemporary photography in China. She was recognized as part of the ‘Top Ten Characters of Chinese Photography.’ Author of Ten Years of Contemporary Photography in China 2005-2014. In the past several years, she has also been a nominator for Magnum Photo Agency, Leica Oskar Barnark Award, Hasselblad Award, Paul Hug Award of FOAM,Prix Pictet Photography Award, Houston Fotofest Discovery Award. Duan Yuting has been invited to be a jury member, photo reviewer and guest curator by many international photography festivals such as Houston FotoFest in the US, Photoquai Biennale in France, Kyotographie Festival in Japan, Landskrona Foto Festival in Sweden, Festival de la Luz in Argentina, Moscow Photobiennale in Russia.Photo Biennale Denmark, the LensCulture Exposure Awards, Swiss Photography Foundation and so on.

连州国际摄影年展创始人、总监，连州摄影博物馆创始人、联合馆长。2005年发起、策划连州国际摄影年展项目，十多年的时间里，连州国际摄影节成为中国具有国际影响力的摄影平台。2017年与法国尼埃普斯摄影博物馆馆长共同创立了连州摄影博物馆，成为中国首个公立的摄影博物馆，曾被评为“中国摄影十大焦点人物”；著有系统介绍中国当代摄影的专著《中国当代摄影十年》。担任马格南图片社亚洲区提名人、 哈苏摄影奖提名人、徕卡奥斯卡. 巴纳特摄影奖提名人、荷兰 FOAM 美术馆 Paul Huf 奖提名人、英国 Prix Pictet 摄影奖提名人、休斯顿摄影双年展发现奖等。担任多个国际摄影奖项评委及摄影节、双年展的策展人：美国休斯顿摄影双年展策展人、巴黎摄影双年展策展人、莫斯科摄影双年展策展人、日本京都摄影节策展人、丹麦国家双年展策展人、瑞典兰斯克鲁纳摄影双年展策展人及评委；英国 LensCulture Exposure Awards 摄影奖评委、中国摄影金像奖评委、中国新锐摄影奖评委、世界新闻摄影基金会6x6全球天才摄影奖评委、瑞士日内瓦摄影节评委、法国才华摄影基金奖评委、意大利 Vogue 摄影节评委、瑞士摄影基金会合作策展人等。

Zhang Xiao 张晓

Born in 1981 in Yantai city, Shandong province, China, Zhang Xiao graduated from the Department of Architecture and Design at Yantai University in 2005. He was a photojournalist for Chongqing Morning Post. Zhang won the Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography of Harvard University in 2018. He won the Three Shadows Photography Award in 2010 with They series. He also received the second Hou Dengke Documentary Photography Award in 2009, The Photography Talent Award（France）in 2010 and the Prix HSBC pour la Photographie in 2011 with his Coastline series. Zhang has participated in several solo and group exhibitions, including “Shehuo”, Harvard University Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, “ The World in 2015 ”, “Civilization：The Way We Live Now”（ Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China）, “ Unfamiliar Familiarities ” ,（ Fotostiftung Schweiz ,Winterthur, Switzerland）, “ Photoquai ”，（ Quai Branly Museum，Paris，France ）, and “ Apple ”,（ Lianzhou Photography Museum, Guangdong, China）, “ Social Geography：Ten Journeys with a Camera ,（Shanghai Centre of Photography ,Shanghai , China））, etc. Zhang currently lives and works in Chengdu city, Sichuan province, China.

1981年出生于山东烟台，2005年毕业于烟台大学建筑设计系。在2009年成为摄影艺术家之前，他曾于《重庆晨报》担任新闻摄影记者。2018年，张晓获得哈佛大学罗伯特·加纳德摄影基金。张晓的《海岸线》系列曾获得法国汇丰银行摄影奖（2011）、法国才华摄影基金中国区冠军（2010）及候登科摄影奖（2009），《他们》系列则在2010年获得三影堂摄影奖大奖。张晓曾参与UCCA尤伦斯当代艺术中心的展览“2015年作为理由”和“文明：当代生活启示录”。及瑞士摄影基金会的“Unfamiliar Familiarities”和法国巴黎布朗利码头博物馆的“Photoquai 2015”，以及连州摄影博物馆的个展《苹果》，上海摄影艺术中心《摄寻千里：十见天日》，成都麓湖A4美术馆《2000年以来的西南影像实验》，chi k11艺术空间《农场》等在内的多个国内外展览，张晓现工作生活于成都。