Giving an ancient Chinese painting a contemporary transformation through photographs, Chinese artist Dai Xiang is winning over hearts with his detailing at the Kochi Biennale. Team Viva reports
The 25-metre, panoramic photo installation, comprising more than 1,000 photographs, strikes a deep chord with the 12th century Chinese painting, Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival by Zhang Zeduan. The characters and situations from the original painting of Zeduan have been totally altered by artist Dai Xiang in his work. Compiling 1TB data and processing almost 10,000 layers of photos, Dai Xiang’s work took nearly three years to complete.
Breaking national boundaries, Xiang’s photos sketch the current realities in China through a dramatic approach and point a finger at issues. A 21st century interpretation of a painting from Song dynasty, Xiang’s work was a topic of discussion in the Chinese social media.
The digital panorama on display at Aspinwall House, one of the platforms of KMB, gives an impression of Zeduan’s painting at first, but once you look at the detailing carefully, the crisis and issues of modern China will get clearer. Xiang’s panorama has included real incidents also. “The death of three university students while trying to rescue children drowning in a river in 2009 is an intriguing image. The high prices demanded by fishermen to find the corpses of the students sparked huge protests in China. The scene where the son of a police officer escapes from the tragic scene using his father’s name is also included in the panorama,” the artist says.
Xiang’s panorama got worldwide attention for reflecting the transformation of modern China into a corporatised society.
“The representation of China, a nation which always had a conventional view, undergoing a conflict between westernisation and transformation after liberalisation is being revealed in my panorama,” he says.
“I’ve tried to incorporate vivid perspectives to portray an in-depth narrative. The stories, similarities and paradoxes experienced during the journey towards modern China are included in the photos,” he adds.
Born in China’s Tianjin province, Dai Xiang’s works are based on his hometown and Beijing. It was in his college days that he had a chance to learn about the traditional Chinese paintings of Zang Zeduan.