2025 Jimei × Arles

The "Exhibitions from Arles" section aims to synchronize the Chinese audience with the freshest international perspectives. This July, the 56th edition of Les Rencontres d'Arles opened with the theme of "DISOBEDIENT IMAGES", among which six exhibitions will be toured: a part of Ancestral Futures — Brazilian Contemporary Scene by Igi Lọlá Ayedun, Denilson Baniwa, Rafa Bqueer, Mayara Ferrão, Collective Lakapoy, Paulo Nazareth, Melissa de Oliveira, Lincoln Péricles, Ventura Profana, Glicéria Tupinambá, and Gê Viana, curated by Thyago Nogueira; a part of Retratistas do Morro — Reflections from Serra Community, Belo Horizonte (1970-1990) by João Mendes and Afonso Pimenta, curated by Guilherme Cunha; and Alma by Keisha Scarville. The Rencontres d'Arles Discovery Award, curated by César González-Aguirre in Arles 2025, presents in Jimei two projects: The Belongings of the Air by Musuk Nolte, presented by Vist Projects [Medellín, Colombia], and Men and Landscapes for an Act of Violence by Denis Serrano, presented by CAMPO [Mexico City, Mexico]. And finally, the spotlight will be on photography publishing with the presentation of the 2025 Book Award shortlist and winners.

This year, the "Jimei × Arles Discovery Award" features eight nominated artists, proposed by five galleries. M Art Center has nominated Gao Yutao (exhibition Tomorrow Is Another Day, curated by Cui Can) and Fu Bailin (exhibition Photographic Ecology: Plants breathe; photographs breathe, curated by William Schaefer); OFOTO & ANART has nominated Xu Xiaowei (exhibition Spacing Memories, curated by Joshua Gong) and Cao Mengqin (exhibition After <A Kiss After Drink>, curated by Huang Yunhe); Wang Juyan nominated by see+ Gallery (exhibition I woke up. Another falling Lucifer. It is not safe to turn off your computer); Gao Mingxi nominated by Tianfu Image Art Center · May Park Gallery (exhibition Archipelago); and X Contemporary Art has nominated Jiang Pengyi (exhibition Light Is the Awakening of the Soul, curated by Wang Xi) and Hu Weiyi (exhibition The Inner Obscura, curated by Wang Xi).

Co-launched with CHANEL in 2021, the mission of Jimei × Arles Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image is to support young creative forces in photography and moving image art, discover and nurture outstanding young Chinese curators and researchers. "Metal Odyssey," the winning proposal of the 4th edition, curated by Yi-Ning Lin (Michelle) and Chia-Shin Yang, was announced as the winner in December 2024, after which it entered the exhibition implementation stage with the support of the award. The outcome made its inaugural debut at the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing this spring, followed by a conversation at the 2025 Kyotographie International Photography Festival. "Metal Odyssey" employs "metal" as a symbol of the medical instruments associated with patients and their families. Through the works of Jess Ching-Wa Lau and Chia-Shin Yang, the exhibition delves into trauma and the memories shaped by significant life events. The tour to Jimei × Arles will continue the exploration, narration, and dialogue between the artists and the audience regarding individual experiences of life.

The open call of members for this year's Jimei × Arles Curatorial Seminar for Photography and Moving Image is ongoing! This non-profit curatorial course builds on the practice of Jimei × Arles "Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image," as well as the "Curatorial Programme for Photography and Moving Image" jointly launched by Three Shadows and CHANEL this year. It aims to provide emerging Chinese curators, researchers and art project managers with a solid growth path, aiding the incubation of excellent exhibition proposals and broadening the exchange and visibility of new voices in contemporary photography and moving image curation. Centred on the theme "Transcending the Lines," this edition of the course will be led by dual mentors: curator and art critic Dong Bingfeng, together with photography and visual culture researcher, writer, curator Joanna Fu. Over the course of seven days, it will include master lectures, field visits, exhibition installation observations, proposal reviews and public speeches, along with Jimei × Arles opening week activities. 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.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of China-EU diplomatic relations, Jimei × Arles presents the exhibition NOWHERE – Imagining the Global City, curated by Bas Vroege. The exhibition brings together thirty years of work by Dutch artist Frank van der Salm. It presents a world in which "Instagrammability" is first and foremost, revealing a consumer-oriented, imaginary metropolis. Images question each other about the reality they represent. Together, they form the image of a city that, all of a sudden, simultaneously seems to be everywhere and nowhere: both now here and nowhere.

The exhibition Coleccionar en femenino. Nuevas maneras de ver presented by El Instituto Cervantes, brings together the work of Spanish photographers Linarejos Moreno, Isabel Muñoz, and Laura Torrado, in dialogue with Chinese artist Xing Danwen. Curated by Spanish contemporary art specialists Rosina Gómez-Baeza and Lucía Ybarra, the exhibition presents works drawn from major private collections led by women. In a field traditionally dominated by men, this new perspective not only highlights the achievements of women artists in the visual arts but also offers a distinct perspective on the role of female collecting in the preservation and dissemination of contemporary art — opening up a new space for dialogue on female identity.

The "China Pulse" section spotlights the photographic and moving image practices of university teachers and students from both China and abroad.

The "Crossover Photography" section presents the creative explorations of cross-media artists exploring photography as a medium. Curated by Gu Zheng, The World as a Theater — Xu Lei: A Solo Photography Exhibition brings together renowned painter Xu Lei's long-term photographic practice. Captured with mobile devices over the years, these works serve as distinctive visual responses to his acute observations of everyday life. For Xu Lei, the world itself is a theater, continually unfolding myriad acts and unpredictable happenings. With a painter's sensitivity and perception, Xu Lei has long captured the visual spectacles staged in this grand theater of reality. Beginning with ordinary and often-overlooked moments, Xu Lei cleverly "matches" disparate elements within a single frame, embarking on visual adventures into the unknown and the ambiguous. At its core, his "anomalous photography" employs visual paradoxes that draw viewers toward the hidden, surreal depths of the world, while calmly expressing his unique understanding of both reality and the photographic medium.

Presented by SIGMA, the exhibition Poet's Guide to Life showcases the works of artist Sun Ruixiang. In Sun's vision, still life serves as a vessel of memory, bearing traces of the past and textures touched by time. The recurring motifs and everyday objects in his series Quiet Days — stones, staircases, dried flowers, portraits, and trees — are not only the cornerstone of his creation but also a guide leading viewers back to the essence of life. Breaking free from the constraints of narrative, the artist invites viewers to focus on the images themselves and savor the fleeting, pure visual experience. Just as the SIGMA BF camera advocates the spirit of "Beautiful Foolishness," photography here is no longer a simple act of documentation, but a choice to swim against the tide — to seek one‘s own unrepeatable beauty in a chaotic world.