Curatorial Programme

 

Curatorial Programme for Photography and Moving Image

 

 

Co-launched in 2025 by Three Shadows Photography Art Centre and CHANEL, the Curatorial Programme for Photography and Moving Image (CPPMI) builds upon the partnership from 2021 to 2024, which featured four editions of the Jimei x Arles Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image from 2021 to 2024 and a series of cultivation practices, marking a new phase of long-term, deep-rooted commitment to supporting emerging curatorial forces in the field of photography and moving image. The programme aims to empower Chinese curators, researchers, and art project managers, continually advancing independent research and curatorial practice centred on photography and moving image art. Within the evolving context of visual culture, it strives to cultivate new curatorial voices equipped with critical awareness and a pioneering spirit.

 

CPPMI operates through a tiered mentorship framework, establishing a non-profit, subsidised curatorial development platform that integrates in-depth exchange, engagement with the art scene, and industry network connections. It comprises two core sections: the "Curatorial Seminar," which retains the core framework launched in 2024 under the original award initiative and serves as an interaction-led curatorial course. Anchored in the Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival while expanding beyond its scope, this one-week immersive residency featuring proposal reviews, masterclasses, local research trips, exhibition installation observations, and public presentations among other activities; and the "Curatorial Engine," an advanced stage that pairs nominated proposals from the seminar with senior industry experts for one-to-one guidance, and provides project development support.

 

 

Since 2021, this joint initiative by Three Shadows and CHANEL has attracted over 360 applicants, with past curatorial outcomes supported and presented across Beijing, Shanghai, and Xiamen in China, as well as in Singapore and Japan. Through CPPMI, both parties will continue to deepen the commitment to curatorial development in the field, providing a robust and long-term growth platform to drive cutting-edge curatorial thinking into the public sphere and infuse enduring vitality into the contemporary image art ecosystem.

 

 

About Three Shadows Photography Art Centre

Three Shadows Photography Art Centre is China’s first independent institution specialised in contemporary photography. It was co-founded by the influential Chinese contemporary photographer RongRong and his wife, the celebrated Japanese photographer inri, in June 2007.  Three Shadows Photography Art Centre has been the country’s premiere platform for the presentation, promotion and international exchange of photography by hosting high-calibre exhibitions, lectures, educational activities, publications, artist residencies and other independent events and programmes. It is comprised of two spaces, north and south: one is situated in Beijing’s Caochangdi Art District and the other in Xinglinwan, Jimei District in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen. Aside from its exhibition spaces, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre is also home to +3 Gallery, image production facilities, a photography library, a photography education centre and a photography bookstore.

 

About CHANEL

Chanel Limited is a private company and parent of the Chanel group, a world leader in creating, developing, manufacturing and distributing luxury products. Founded by Gabrielle Chanel at the beginning of the last century, Chanel offers a broad range of high-end creations, including Ready-to-Wear, Leather Goods, Fashion Accessories, Eyewear, Fragrances, Makeup, Skincare, Jewellery and Watches. Chanel is also renowned for its Haute Couture collections, presented twice yearly in Paris, and for having acquired a large number of specialised suppliers, collectively known as the Métiers d’art. Chanel is dedicated to ultimate luxury and to the highest level of craftsmanship. It is a brand whose core values remain historically grounded on exceptional creation. As such, Chanel promotes culture, art, creativity and “savoir-faire” throughout the world, and invests significantly in people, R&D, sustainable development and innovation. At the end of 2025, Chanel employed 38,000 people worldwide.

 

About CHANEL Arts & Culture

The CHANEL Culture Fund fosters a vibrant network of creators and innovators to advance the ideas that shape culture worldwide. Core programmes include CHANEL’s Art Partners, institutions whose leaders are supported in the development of ground-breaking, long-term initiatives that bring innovation to the cultural landscape. The CHANEL Next Prize celebrates artists and accelerates their future successes through access to resources and mentorship. And the podcast CHANEL Connects amplifies the voices of thought-leaders across disciplines, generations, and geographies—tackling the defining issues of our time. 
From driving artistic innovation with technology at CalArts in Southern California to catalysing creative freedom at scale at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, from championing game-changing artists at the Venice Biennale to celebrating the brightest directors at the British Film Institute, the CHANEL Culture Fund extends a century of commitment to the arts and champions creative audacity for a better future.

 

For more information, please contact:

Programme Manager: Amber Tang
Email: cppmi@threeshadows.cn