2026 Jimei × Arles

The "Exhibitions from Arles" section presents a selection of exhibitions from Arles, bringing the latest international perspectives to audiences in China. This July, the 57th edition of Les Rencontres d'Arles opened with the theme of "WORLDS IN VIEW", among which five exhibitions will be toured: a part of “We Are Not Alone — Alien Images”, curated by Philippe Baudouin, explores the relationship between visual evidence, the unknown, and human imagination through UFO photography and contemporary art, reconsidering the boundaries between reality and fiction through works by Billy Meier, Erik Bullot, Michael Horn, Sébastien Duijndam, Caryline Boreham, Douglas Curran, Yves Bosson, Sacha Goldberger, Gui Christ, and Silas Bahr. “La terre amoureuse (said of soil that sticks to the boots)” through long-term fieldwork, artist Rebekka Deubner observes land, water, and everyday labor, rethinking the relationship between people and place through sustained attention and shared experience. The Discovery Award Louis Roederer Foundation, curated by Nadine Hounkpatin in Arles 2026, presents in Jimei two projects: “Cosmologies of the Heiresses” through photography, weaving, and embodied practices, artist Mallory Lowe Mpoka explores the transmission and ruptures of female identity, family memory, and colonial history, presented by Occurrence [Montreal, Canada], and “Re/cover” by artist Phan Quang, presented by BAO Gallery [Paris, France], uses the wedding veil as a metaphor to reconstruct reality through staged photography, giving visibility to obscured micro-histories in the tension between revealing and concealing. And finally, the spotlight will be on photography publishing with the presentation of the 2026 Book Awards shortlist and winners.

This year, the “Jimei × Arles Discovery Award” features eight nominated artists, proposed by five galleries. The award winner will be selected and announced during the opening week. The winning artist will receive a cash prize of RMB 100,000 (before tax) and present a solo exhibition in Les Rencontres d'Arles the following year. Hart Gallery nominates artist Cai Shanhai with the exhibition “Easy Wandering”, curated by Liu Yiheng, artist Chen Jianfei with the exhibition “A Pagoda that Moments Built”, curated by Liu Yiheng, OFOTO & ANART nominates artist Liu Haohui with the exhibition “The Garden of Social Media Delights”, artist Ruya Qian with the exhibition “Here and Gone”, Bonian Space nominates artist WangJinglan_Lain with the exhibition “21st Century Tower of Babel”, curated by Yang Di, Tianfu Image Art Center · May Park Gallery nominates artist Li Yong with the exhibition “Fushun Case”, curated by Dong Bingfeng, X Contemporary Art nominates artist Chen Houlin with the exhibition “Vessels of Hill”, curated by Wang Xi, and artist Sun Yanchu with the exhibition “Developer Paintings”, curated by Wang Xi.

The "Luminous Motion" section of the 2026 Jimei × Arles is jointly curated by guest curators Yan Qi and Zhou Yichen in collaboration with Three Shadows Photography Art Centre. Titled "The Core is not Inside the Fruit", the exhibition focuses on experimental short films, single- and multi-channel moving-image works, video installations, and mixed-media practices incorporating moving image. The section reflects Jimei × Arles’s continued expansion beyond photography toward a broader field of contemporary image-making. It explores how artists  engage with lived experience while extending the possibilities of visual language and exhibition formats.

Meanwhile, Three Shadows and SmallRig have jointly established the "New Motion Award" for this section, aiming to support emerging artists whose practices demonstrate experimentation, innovation, and long-term potential. One recipient, selected by a professional jury, will receive RMB 30,000 (before tax) in financial support.

The "Greetings from Asia" section is dedicated to showcasing rich and diverse video and photographic art creations from across Asian. Over the years, it has presented works from countries including Indonesia, India, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. This year, the section once again turns its focus to South Korea with the contemporary photography exhibition “Objects In Oscillation”. Curated by renowned South Korean photographic artist Koo Bohnchang, the exhibition features still-life works by eight South Korean photographers: Chung Heeseung, Jo Seongyeon, Jung Jungho, Kim Kyoungtae, Koo Bohnchang, Koo Seongyeon, Park Chanoo, and Zo Sunhi. The exhibition's first iteration was presented at Kukje Gallery in Seoul, South Korea. Starting from contemporary debates on image authenticity in the era of artificial intelligence, the exhibition re-examines the relationship between photography and the material world of reality. Through the artists' sustained gaze upon everyday objects, it explores how objects bear time, memory, desire, and individual experience. 

The open call of members for the 2026 Jimei × Arles "Curatorial Seminar for Photography and Moving Image" is ongoing. As a core component of the "Curatorial Programme for Photography and Moving Image", this non-profit curatorial course was launched in 2024, supported by CHANEL. It builds on the Jimei × Arles "Curatorial Award for Photography and Moving Image", jointly established by Three Shadows Photography Art Centre and CHANEL in 2021, and further develops the related training initiatives arising from the partnership. The programme aims to empower Chinese curators, researchers and art project managers in pursuing independent research and curatorial practice, while fostering critically engaged and forward-looking new voices in contemporary photography and moving image curation.

Centered on the theme "The Generative Eye", this edition of the "Curatorial Seminar" invites curator and researcher He Yining as the mentor, with special participation from senior curators Carol Yinghua Lu and Liu Ding as guest mentors. Invited lecturers will also share insights drawn from their professional practice. Taking place in Xiamen, Fujian, from November 17 to 22, this immersive residency will coincide with the Jimei × Arles opening week, featuring proposal reviews, master lectures, field visits, exhibition installation observations and public presentations. Nominated curatorial proposals from participating members will advance to the subsequent "Curatorial Engine" phase, where they will be refined under the guidance of senior curators and receive project development support.

Through “Curatorial Programme for Photography and Moving Image (CPPMI)”, Three Shadows and CHANEL continue to deepen the commitment to curatorial development in the field, driving pioneering curatorial thinking into the public sphere. Incorporating the insights of the Art Committee of the 2026 Jimei × Arles, “Afterglow”, curated by Rachel Wuang, 2025/26 CPPMI Curator of the Year, will make its exhibition debut at this year's festival. The curation defines "Afterglow" as a latent high temperature and an undercurrent surging in the dark. Rather than extinguished embers, it represents an inherent tendency for change and a flowing potentiality shared by all things. The exhibition brings together the works of six image artists: Gu Tao, Hu Weiyi, Li Yong, Liu Yujia, Tong Yutian, and Yi Changhong. It attempts to break the rigid stereotypes of Northeast China —often confined to "grand narratives" or "the allegory of decline from the layoff tide"—and focuses instead on the individual vitality that still flickers across this ruined landscape after a century of industrial and historical dissolution. Here, the acute perspectives of local creators and established artists collide and co-arise.

“Deep Currents: Norwegian Narratives from Deep Space to the Deep Ocean” is the inaugural exhibition of the Jimei × Arles Nordic Express section. The section presents photographic and moving-image practices from Norway and the wider Nordic region. “Deep Currents: Norwegian Narratives from Deep Space to the Deep Ocean” is a comprehensive art exhibition centered on photography, integrating sound art, moving image, scientific observation, and cross-cultural collaboration. Anchored in the overarching curatorial concept of "Currents", the exhibition ascends to outer space to gaze upon the Earth before descending into polar glaciers, migratory paths, and the deep ocean—exploring the visible and invisible forces that shape Norway's natural environment, ecosystems, and human civilization. Through photography, sound, and interdisciplinary practices, the exhibition presents Chinese audiences with a contemporary Norway that transcends conventional impressions of mere natural scenery. To foster cross-cultural dialogue between Norway and China, the project incorporates a joint artistic co-creation initiative, inviting Chinese interdisciplinary artists to engage in collaborative production. Ultimately, this is not merely an exhibition about photography, but a profound exploration of the Earth, life, time, and modes of perception.

In 2026, the “Ricoh GR” series of cameras celebrates its thirtieth anniversary. Since the first GR1 was introduced in 1996, GR has remained committed to the concept of “ultimate snapshots”. With its compact, portable body and a shooting style that provides direct feedback to the photographer’s senses, GR accompanies creators as they capture moving moments. For GR, photography is closely connected to everyday life: with the camera always at hand and the senses open to the world, each press of the shutter turns an encounter into a memory of one’s own. 

To mark this thirtieth anniversary, Ricoh GR, as the “Special Imaging Partner”, joins hands with the 12th edition of the Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival to present the Ricoh GR “Year-Round Without Pause” Special Exhibition. The exhibition will bring together selected works from the joint open call on the official GR WALKer platform, alongside the latest works by officially certified GRists An Feifei and Zhou Mengying, photographed during this year’s Arles photography festival in France and their accompanying travels, bringing different creators’ ways of seeing together in Jimei.

“Year-Round Without Pause” expresses the observation and creation that continue throughout all four seasons. As time passes, GR users accumulate their own “unique memories” through photographs, while their creative notes record the observations and feelings behind the shutter. As these personal experiences are shared, viewers are also invited to notice anew the moments worth recording in their own lives. From a camera carried everywhere to a lasting habit of photography, GR hopes to become part of life, keeping the passion for taking photographs alive in every ordinary day.

“SHANG CHENG SHI: Rooted in the East” is specially presented by “Shangcheng Shi”. Founded in 2021, “Shangcheng Shi” holds the conviction of "Originating from the East, Reaching the World," dedicated to translating the endogenous force of Oriental civilization and local cultures through contemporary imagery. As a content-driven cultural brand transcending the boundaries of traditional print media, “Shangcheng Shi” adopts photography as its primary medium, systematically traversing over a hundred cities and regions across China to document the craftsmanship and spiritual presence of hundreds of intangible cultural heritage practitioners. It transforms endangered traditional crafts into contemporary visual narratives that can be seen, felt, and disseminated.

Rejecting assembly-line studio shoots, their photographic creation insists on on-site documentary practice, taking portraits, local artifacts, architecture, and lifestyles as clues to construct a contemporary articulation of Oriental aesthetics. From the phenomenal nationwide surge in intangible cultural heritage tourism triggered by Zhao Liying’s Xunpu flower headwear imagery in 2023, to the immersive exhibition “Shangcheng Shi Intangible Cultural Heritage Itinerant Space” staged at Weiyuan Tower in Quanzhou, “Shangcheng Shi” continually demonstrates that imagery is not merely a tool for documentation, but an active medium for revitalizing traditional culture and connecting local heritage with contemporary life, the East with the world.

Today, “Shangcheng Shi” is transitioning from a content producer into a new cultural platform—"Shangcheng Culture." Using imagery as a bridge, it continues to explore world civilizations guided by the Oriental spirit.

The “Crossover Photography” section presents artists’ explorations of the moving image, comprising two exhibitions curated by Li Zhenhua: “Shanghai Daughter” by Ag (Shen Zhongmin) and “China’s Architectural Heritage Trilogy: Building, Factory, Village” by Ju Anqi. All works presented in the section take the form of moving images. Drawing on photographic ways of seeing and cinematic storytelling, these practices move between documentary and experimental approaches, exploring the diverse expressive possibilities of the moving image while probing deeper questions of memory, homeland and the legacies of an era.

The “Collector's Tale” section has a long-standing focus on collecting photographic and image-based art. “A Decade of Dreams: Li Zhenhua × 9mouth Collection” curated by Li Zhenhua, the exhibition features three photographic works by 9mouth: “Proof”, “Flover”, and “Mother - in Beijing, 2020”. The exhibition is grounded in a collecting relationship between the curator and artist that has unfolded over a decade. Through intimate photographic images, it explores love, family, and the passage of time, considering the multiple meanings of photography as both an instinctive record and a fragile vessel for memory. Stepping outside the predetermined framework of project-based practice, the exhibition returns the camera to everyday moments, allowing photography to release its most genuine emotional force through intimate narratives. At the same time, it reveals the distinctive connection between collector and artist, built on trust and a shared passion for artistic practice.

Each year, the “China Pulse” section focuses on photographic and moving-image practices by students and faculty from universities in China and abroad. 

“Beneath the Surface, Upon the Surface: Images, Traces and the Unseen” is a joint exhibition of works by students and faculty from the University of the Arts London (UAL), presented as part of the 2026 Jimei × Arles. Co-curated by Liu Haohui and Xia Tian, the exhibition brings together the work of eleven artists engaged in photography and expanded image practices at London College of Communication: Zhang Gigi, Xu Zhongren, Xu Yulai, Shi Zhanyi, Li Lingshuo, Jiang Long, Wang Sio, Bai Lei, Chen Jiyang and Chen Yuxing.

Drawing on family relationships, local memory, identity, experiences of faith, cultural representation, digital media, and everyday temporality, the exhibition considers how images are formed and how they shape our understanding of reality.

“China Pulse”also presents the evolving artistic practices of the artists selected for the 2024 “THREE SHADOWS YOUNG ARTIST RUNNING PROGRAM”, with overall curatorial coordination by Gwen Hu. The exhibition comprises 11 relatively independent artist exhibition units, bringing together photography, moving image, and mixed-media works that reflect the artists’ ongoing creative practices and reflections over the past year of the program and discussions with their mentors throughout the program. Participating artists and exhibitions include: Xin Jin, “A Mood of Relations”; Pu Tian, “We Are All NPCs”; Rikki Cui, “Eighteen Views of California”; Xinyu Li, “Entering the Outland”; CHEN GUANHONG, “Interstice”; turtur Lu, “NECROCOMPLEX”; Jiawen Zhang, “Ceiba Speciosa”; Wenling Zhang, “Baleen Imperative”; Serin, “As Noon Arrives, As Noon Recedes”; Guo Tutu, “Echo Only Post Office”; and Yingying Gao, “Glass Mountain”.

The exhibition unfolds an exploration that moves from the external world inward: from the relationships between people and their environments, and between place and time, to social and production systems, and ultimately to memory and belief.

The “Spotlight” section focuses on creators and artistic practices that have yet to receive widespread attention, offering a platform for presentation and exchange through solo and group exhibitions. Drawing on the platform and professional resources of Jimei × Arles, “Spotlight” connects creators, institutions and audiences, bringing a wider range of artistic practices into public and professional view.

This year’s “Spotlight” section includes: “Theater of the Yangtze River”, by artist Zhong Qi, curated by Li Zijian, “Still Becoming”, by artist Andrew Yang, curated by Pan Chaoqun, “GAZE·THE Multitude”, by artist Etienne Rastoin, with ATTIAN IMAGE as the curatorial organisation, curated by Luo Ming and Yao Gaocai, with academic support from Qiao Linghuan, “Translating Reality”, featuring artists Hu Tu, Geng Mali, Zhang Chi, Zhao Yongzheng and Zhang Liang, curated by Hu Tu.

The 4th "Isles Project" continues to focus on communication between the individual and place, moving from the broader social and cultural environment down to individual viewpoints and lived experience, with overall curatorial coordination by Mongting Liou.

In its exploration of local culture, the project is once again partnering with “Wulin Traditional Village to jointly launch Migration and Homecoming: The 5th Wulin Art Season”. Through artist residencies, it practices art-led rural reconstruction as a way of reviving the cultural memory of this overseas-Chinese hometown. Newly launched is the "Isles Creative Camp": led on site by local guide “SUHU WORKSHOP”, with artistic mentor Du Yang providing guidance throughout, participants travel together to Chongwu to explore the texture of Quanzhou's maritime culture. At the same time, the "Isles Roaming Zine" will be co-created with Special Tea Talk Partner “Fu Xian Yun” through roaming talks, evolving from an exhibition guide into a cultural in-house journal. Through “huaxian”—informal, lingering conversations—with different local cultural organizers, it asks how place-based culture functions as a living, continuously breathing system: how it is seen, connected, and carried forward.

This year, sustainability remains a central concern. Greenpeace, the Climate Action Partner of the 12th edition of the Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival, and "Isles Project" will jointly present Seeing in the Heat. The exhibition brings together works from the “Heatwave” open call and four commissioned series juxtaposing documentary photography with thermal imaging by Li Sicheng, Song Zeyi, Zhao Yushun and Zou Biyu. These series focus, respectively, on film extras in Hengdian, children and teenagers whose summer holidays are affected by extreme heat, agricultural workers, and people beyond the shelter of air conditioning. Through everyday scenes of work, rest and the search for relief, these images reveal the people and lives behind the temperatures.

In 2026, the Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival will launch a new section — the Jimei × Arles Art Fair. Building on the influence of the Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival and its eleven-year network of artistic resources in China and abroad, the Art Fair will bring together selected visual art works during the festival, providing artists, institutions, and brands with a platform for presentation, exchange, and sales that connects the art industry with the public.