The Third Jimei x Arles Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image

The Via Combusta, an exhibition curated by emerging Chinese artists Gan Yingying and Zhou Yichen, is the winning proposal of the 3rd Jimei x Arles Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image. Presented at Fotografiska Shanghai from 9 March to April 21, 2024, The Via Combusta, which translates as ‘the burning way’, will present the work of artists Alex Turner, Alice Wang, Gu Tao, Josef Kovac, Magali Duzant, Song Xi, Vivian Xu and Yurian Qunintanas Nobel.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The curatorial concept of the show is reflected by the golden stripe on the floor of the exhibition hall which is formed to resemble a flowing river that links each of the artist’s work. The exhibition is designed to be a journey into a realm where technology and human spirit intermingle, suggesting the possibility of human beings as the medium connecting the two.

At a time when rapid technological developments like artificial intelligence are promising change and uncertainty, The Via Combusta makes societal observations by mediating on the experience of individuals. The exhibition of eight artists’ work across photography, video, text, and installation and aims to provide different perspectives on the way communities throughout the world are preparing for the onset of this powerful new technology.

ABOUT THE JIMEI x ARLES CURATORIAL AWARD

The Jimei x Arles Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image was launched by the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre and CHANEL in 2021 to discover and nurture outstanding young Chinese curators working with photography and moving image. The award begins with an open call for curatorial proposals from which a shortlist is selected by a professional jury. Finalists of the prize are given funding for a group exhibition during the annual Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival.

ABOUT THE CURATORS

Gan Yingying (b.1990) is an independent artist and curator who works and lives in Zhujiajiao, Shanghai, after obtaining her master’s degree in photography at the University for the Creative Arts in Rochester, UK. Gan Yingying uses photography, installation, performance and curation to explore issues of identity, self-disclosure and confrontation with the environment. She won the 2019 Photography Expanded Mentorship Program Award by Magnum Foundation and shortlisted 2018 Jimei x Arles Madame Figaro Award and has participated in many art residency programs, including the Art Field in Fuliang in 2017. She is also the key member of ‘BUJISM’, an art group in Zhujiajiao.

Yichen Zhou is an artist working with photography, video, performance and installation. Zhou received her MFA in Photography and Related Media at Parsons School of Design in New York and has since taken part in various international exhibitions. Her performance-based work explores personal and collective memory and tries to figure out where she stands as an individual in the society. Zhou is co-founder and curator of MiA Collective Art, which is a non-profit art organization online.