2025 Jimei × Arles “Curatorial Seminar for Photography and Moving Image (Curatorial Seminar)” took place from November 25 to December 1 in Xiamen, Fujian, and successfully concluded.
Since 2021, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, in collaboration with CHANEL, has initiated the Jimei × Arles "Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image”, aiming to support young creative forces in photography and moving image art, to discover and nurture outstanding young Chinese curators and researchers. To date, the award has engaged more than 200 outstanding curators in interdisciplinary research and curatorial practice within the realm of visual imagery. Based on the practices and observations from the past four editions of the award, Three Shadows and CHANEL jointly launched “Curatorial Programme for Photography and Moving Image” in 2025, which includes the non-profit curatorial course “Curatorial Seminar” first launched in 2024, and the new extended “Curatorial Engine" guidance mechanism. The programme aims to provide emerging Chinese curators, researchers and art project managers with a solid growth path, aiding the incubation of excellent exhibition proposals and further expand the exchange and presentation of new voice in contemporary photography and moving image curation.
The theme of the 2025 Jimei × Arles “Curatorial Seminar” is "Transcending the Lines." The course features curator, art critic Dong Bingfeng, and photography and visual culture researcher, writer, curator Joanna Fu as dual mentors, who collaborated with the programme committee of Three Shadows Photography Art Centre to plan the curriculum and academic exchange activities. The project integrates the multifaceted and cutting-edge photography and moving image art presented by Jimei × Arles and brings together experts from various fields to conduct lectures, panel discussion, local field visits, exhibition installation observations, proposal reviews, as well as Jimei × Arles opening week activities, targeting 12 participating members enrolled through open call and over ten auditing guests.
“Curatorial Seminar” aims to open up enrolled members' curatorial cognition through substantial teaching and learning, allowing them to fully engage in self-reflection and problem-solving in an immersive and intensive learning environment with equal and eager exchanges. During the course, mentors Dong Bingfeng and Joanna Fu, along with filmmaker and curator Pan Lu, independent curator Seok Jaehyun, curator and producer Bas Vroege, visual artist and independent researcher Guilherme Cunha, researcher and curator Xiang Zairong, curator of 2025 Discovery Award of Les Recontre d’Arles, César González-Aguirre, and independent researcher, curator Hripsimé Visser, provided seven thematic lectures and one curatorial dialogue, sharing insights into local and international institutions, practical experiences of large scale art biennial, research methods, and perspectives from curators in South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, and the Netherlands.
Connecting with the local context, the “Curatorial Seminar” visited the historically rich Gulangyu Island. Led by oral history expert Huang Changjia, the members explored nine sites on the island, discussing dual interpretations of the same events or figures. Additionally, they visited the hidden Minnan temple Weizhendian in the urban area, where Chen Huaxian, an inheritor of traditional Minnan painting in Xiamen responded to the concepts of "centre" and "margin" through local perspectives and the shaping of beliefs. With Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival, curator Bas Vroege, artist Frank van der Salm, and exhibition coordinator Guo Jingyao shared curatorial concepts, on-site planning, and detailed artwork presentation approaches with enrolled members at the exhibition installation site. Members also experienced the visual imagery feast presented at the 2025 Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival, participated in opening-week activities, and joined customised networking sessions throughout the opening week.
The theme for 2025’s Curatorial Seminar, “Transcending the Lines,” aims to broaden perspectives beyond formed “lines” and explore the question "How do we encounter the diversity of existence?" Twelve participating members responded to the theme with their curatorial proposals, discussing various angles such as ecology, artificial intelligence, locality, and the body. They participated in an internal proposal reviews session led by mentors Dong Bingfeng and Joanna Fu, lecturer Pan Lu, senior art journalist, curators, documentary film director, president and publisher of Meta Media’s art platform, Cao Dan, and contemporary photographer, the co-founder and co-director of Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, RongRong. During the Jimei × Arles opening week, the members presented their proposals to guests and public, sharing their curatorial topics. (Please see the attachment for the proposals and curators’ introduction):
Cao Yixiao Curator and artist active in Berlin, Chengdu
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Pandemonium
Brief Introduction of Proposal: Through the artistic practices of international artists, this exhibition deeply studies and rebels against the unstoppable wave of AI technology, breaking the boundaries of photography.
Gaia Group: Zheng Moham Wang, Ziqing Zhao A down-to-earth yet refreshing experimental crew
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Body Is Light-
Post-Body East Asian Bodies: Practicing Existence at the Threshold of the Real and the Virtual
Brief Introduction of Proposal: Using "The Body at Stake" and Wendy Chun's concept of "habituated media" as theoretical starting points, the exhibition selects East Asian artists such as Yang Yuanyuan, Chen Yu, Liu Xiaohan, Song Lang, Ren Lun, and Chen Tianzhuo. Through techniques like light sources, side shadows, delayed images, multi-layered screens, and AR/VR, it allows audiences to engage with the artworks through breath, footsteps, and subtle movements. The exhibition reveals the flexibility and critical nature of East Asian bodies within the social and structural forces of the image through two paths: "collective wandering" and "human-divine interaction."
Luna Huang Ruomin Freelance writer, currently residing in Guangzhou
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Reincarnated Gravity
Brief Introduction of Proposal: In various challenging circumstances, how do people autonomously approach the metaphysical gravity? Why, the more confusing the times, does our intuition draw closer to spirituality?
Jin Qiuyu Working in Tokyo and Shanghai, curator, researcher
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Between Two Times of Seeing
Brief Introduction of Proposal: Stories about two kinds of time aim to continue exploring photography with the audience
Li Jiawen PhD candidate, curator
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Sites of Precariousness
Brief Introduction of Proposal: "Sites of Precariousness" focuses on the vulnerabilities displayed by individuals and groups in the face of uncertainty. The exhibition unfolds around two themes: the fragility and mutual assistance between people, and the precarious situations individuals face within the structural conditions of the times. It aims to provide the audience with a renewed understanding of fragility and pathways to connect with others.
Li Jingjing Independent curator
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Through Vegetal Being
Brief Introduction of Proposal: "Knowledge" and "power" are inescapable; in this world dominated by metaphysics and scientism, we seek a "gap" to re-"perceive" plants.
Lin Yanlin Creator/independent curator/writer
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Welcome to My Room!
Brief Introduction of Proposal: "Welcome to My Room!" is a curatorial experiment centered on AI-generated images, discussing the boundaries of image reality in the context of the AI era.
Starry Lyu Executive of the Exhibition Research Department at the Asia Art Center
Title of Curatorial Proposal: appearance - recognition - acting in concert
Brief Introduction of Proposal: In a reality marked by differentiation and alienation, this exhibition seeks to open a gap between the "disappearance of consensus" and the "reconstruction of understanding": how do we continue to reach each other amidst cognitive disputes, searching for a form of "coexistence" based on differences?
Rachel Wuang Independent curator
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Embers
Brief Introduction of Proposal: The exhibition "Embers" uses the case of Fuxin, a city facing resource depletion in Northeast China, to present artworks by artists exploring resource politics, labor memory, and ecological changes through individual experiences, while also showcasing the tension between ruinous landscapes and local spiritual culture, reflecting common dilemmas in resource-based regions globally.
Xiao Ruiyun Independent curator focusing on visual narratives
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Inter-Island Cipher
Brief Introduction of Proposal: Can we explore the key to interpreting "Inter-island cipher" from local narratives, finding a direction for communication between one another?
Zhang Wen Curator and writer
Title of Curatorial Proposal: Rhododendron, Lemon, Palm, Cypress
Brief Introduction of Proposal: Through the artists' responses to archival documents, it attempts to open the "black box" of plants within colonial history, rediscovering the "hidden operations" of plants in global circulation.
The curatorial proposals from the participating members have the opportunity to be selected to enter the "Curatorial Engine," the subsequent session where their refinement and implementation will be facilitated with the guidance of experienced curators. Completed and refined proposals will be recommended to global photography and art institutions via Three Shadows' network of collaborators, with the opportunity to receive implementation support. Please stay tuned for further announcements from Three Shadows.
To continuously support the development of emerging curators and researchers in the field of photography and moving image, Three Shadows has joined hands with CHANEL to create a platform that combines in-depth communication and practical learning, offering rich resources and development opportunities. This collaboration aims to encourage young curators to freely explore and courageously express their ideas, forging the space for curators to delve into key issues in contemporary art while inspiring more innovative and socially conscious artistic practices. Three Shadows and CHANEL look forward to their ongoing efforts not only to spark positive change and resonance in the art world, but also seek to guide profound reflections on art and culture in society, infusing lasting vitality and infinite possibilities into the future art ecosystem.
For more information:
Programme Committee: cppmi@threeshadows.cn
