Saturday 28 September 2013

REVIEW by Fangfei Chen: The 5th Dali International Photography Exhibition(DIPE)

Dali is a highly romanticised city which is located in Yunnan Province, China. I say this as the area Dali is situated in is complimented with scenery replete with paddies, mountains, a lake (with fish being caught in some areas by cormorant) and picturesque farmers traditionally plowing their fields; scenes that are endeared and idealised by Chinese urbanites. At one time this scenery and the relaxed atmosphere of Dali brought in backpackers (who would make up the majority of tourists) from outside of China. Nowadays however it attracts millions of national tourist groups and student travelers who travel for the amazing landscapes and welcoming minority and folk cultures. The 5th Dali International Photography Exhibition(DIPE) was held at this city between 1st and 5th Aug 2013. It displayed more than 6,000 photographic works in over 200 exhibitions. 

About the Curators and Photographers

These exhibitions were divided into three sections, which in turn are organised by invited curators, renowned galleries and the photography competition committee separately. The members of the artistic committee included Louise Clements (UK), Claude Hudelot (France), Didier de Fays(France), Gwen Lee(Singapore), RUAN Yizhong(Taiwan) and Robert Pledge (US). Although it may be a surprise (perhaps unfair) that Robert Pledge (one of juries) was awarded the best curator prize, the 2013’ DIPE did have a far more international presence in fresher committees and review boards, making it vastly different from the majority of Chinese photography festivals. 

Part of Pledge’s exhibition is a mini version of his project for the Barbican Centre which belonged to Everything was Moving: Photography from the 60s and 70s. He selected self portraits and photographs of ‘struggle sessions’ (批斗大会) during the Chinese Cultural Revolution by LI Zhensheng. The small portrait sizes of Zhensheng were set up to be compared with enlarged prints of struggle sessions. It does not simply show a photographer’s personal life that is rarely shown, but, under social unrest, the arrangement of these photographs represents how LI created his own utopia. It creates a new insight into this unforgettable historic period for a Chinese audience. As a result, this exhibition is worth its award. However, it cannot stop many people thinking that migrating the exhibition from London to Dali is very opportunistic. 


LI Zhensheng and I stood in front of the poster of Pledge’s exhibition

Other exhibitions that have also migrated to Dali included Multi-Dimensional Chengdu Contemporary Photography Exhibition (2009,2011,2013). However, if you are a visitor—like me—who has seen a previous version of this exhibition, the DIPE provides an opportunity to see how curators use different exhibition spaces, as well as how this space itself can influence the interpretation of the photographs. If you were a new visitor, these exhibitions were definitely worth a trip. 


Specimen, curated by QIN Bo who was nominated the best curator. 

A group exhibition—Asia Female Photographer Exhibition: Voice of Tacitness —was curated by ZHOU Peixia and presented in Dali for the first time. The prize for best photographic work was given to Taslima Akhter who was born in Dhaka and became an activist who pursued the right of workers, especially those of female workers.These photographs brought her great financial support for her work and life, which has encouraged her to carry on pursuing and being active with social movements in her country. They are incredibly affecting images that do much to make us aware of the problems in Bangladesh, of the abuse or just plain unjust absence of workers rights. This is not just localised to Akhter’s subject, but to the global stage where capital takes antecedence. International opinion has become a new political power that can be brought out in photographs like those of Akhter’s. 


HUI Huaijie was the winner of the best photographer prize. Each photograph was enlarged to about two by two meters on waterproof cloth. They were hung slightly higher than eye level. Therefore, viewers have to look up to see these aerial photographs. They record manmade constructions on the Chinese landscape, which used to be important (and took a great deal of effort to create) but are nearly forgotten in history, such as in the huge slogan - Long Live Chairman Mao - on deserted mountains. It is not difficult to imagine that these constructions were made during the Great Leap Forward or the Chinese Cultural Revolution during MAO Zedong’s leadership. HUI presents the contradictions and relationships between human beings and the landscape clearly. I understand the meaning and value of these photographs, however, as the waterproof cloth is a difficult material to be printed on, the visual effects limit my enjoyment and the effect of this group of photographs. Regarding technical appropriation, there are far better aerial views at the 2013’ DIPE. 

HUI Huaijie, The Representations of Appearance. 

This is a list of photographers who left an impression. (Maybe some of them did not join in the competition.) 
AO Guoxing, The Ode of Happiness.
QIU Guojun, The Walking Gods. 
ZHANG Zhihui, Serenity of Landscape. 
Anna Kahn, East/West See Dali: Water’s Memory. 
LIN Tianfu, East/West See Dali: Love for Half a Century.
Muge, ASH.

The 2013’ DIPE prizes also included photo books, which award books for the combination of great photographs, the outstanding analysis and interpretations of photographs as well as creative editing and design. Cédric Delsaux’s Dark Lens was awarded the best photo book prize. Personally, I enjoyed the design and photographs of LI Yingjie’s Tai Chi. The long exposures capture the a routines of Tai Chi. The actual situation is playful and full of rhythm, which reminds me of writing Chinese calligraphy. The photographs are shown in black and white. This set of contrasting colours can represent yin and yang, matching the ideology of Tai Chi and Chinese conceptions of nature. The brief articles in the book introduce the ideas and meanings of the projects clearly. Every detail of this photo book shows the input and work of the producer. 

Cédric Delsaux, The Buick, Dubai, 2009. Dark Lens 

Tai Chi by LI Yingjie


About the Organisational Problems

The DIPE was established in 2009. In all honesty it was created to compete with Lijiang, another major tourist location in Yunnan. Dali has resultantly enjoyed a tourist boom for the last five years. Although tourists seem to be more excited about the Torch Festival, which coincides with DIPE on 1st Aug., the DIPE, obviously, is trying to distinguish itself from folk festivals in Yunnan as well as from other photography festivals in China. 

As many other photography festivals in China, the 2009’ DIPE began with different kinds of benefits and financial support from the local government. In other words, the opinions of the local government significantly influences the photography festival’s work. Earlier this year the British Journal of Photography published an article regarding four photography festivals in Asia. It mentioned the governmental oriented characteristic of the Pingyao International Photographic Festival, China. One of the major exhibitions had to be removed there because of governmental request. However, the major partnership for the 2013’ DIPE was a bank, seven real estate developing groups and two distilleries. Two exhibition spaces and one event space were provided by the local real estate developers. Although this may be due to the local government being unwilling to help the DIPE financially, it is more likely a sign that the DIPE is trying its best to be independent from political powers.  

Moreover, the DIPE has paid great attention to sales. From last year, the festival promoted a slogan: If you are looking to buy classic photographs, you should look for them at Dali. Galleries and curators were made ready to take orders from visitors. Every year DIPE publishes its turnover. SHU Nan, a curator and a photographic magazine’s editor, suggested that DIPE has started its transformation from a photography festival to a photographic art fair. 

There are examples of selling photographs from photographers to collectors directly at photography festivals, such as the FOTOBILD, Germany. This brings into question the role of photography festivals, and highlights a potential threat to the structure of photographs’ market (in China, galleries and auction houses are relied on to secure contemporary photographic works). What’s more, because most exhibition spaces in real estate are sold or unsold, the organisor and curators could not change the space much and have very limited exhibition lines. Since no one has lived in those houses for such a long time, the house leaked when raining. This could potentially damage photographs that were exhibited there. Nevertheless, the more financial autonomy the DIPE gets, the more independent the photography festival can become. Of course there are still dangers in seeking private investment which we can hope does not reflect on the content displayed.

DIPE, like many other festivals, adopted a former factory that produced beddings and transformed it into an exhibition space. A brand new wifi installation covered the space, and it will now become a permanent place for art exhibitions and the major venue for the following DIPE. Although this new space still has many issues, such as lighting and electricity, it can be considered as a sign that DIPE wants to escape from the disadvantages of using real estate. From the next DIPE, it will change into a photographic biennale. This decision will give the DIPE more time to solicit partner organizations and exhibition proposals in order to improve the event’s quality. This gives DIPE full potential to becoming the leading photographic festival in China. 

After Thoughts

Coming back to Beijing, I joined a symposium with Beijing photographers and curators. They were talking about the advantages and disadvantages of DIPE and compared it with the Aries, France. Everyone was able to clearly identify the problems with DIPE, but no one was able to suggest ways of solving these problems. In my opinion, everyone believes that the solutions are beyond themselves and inherent. This is the biggest problem for Chinese photography festivals at the moment, in that enthusiastic photographers and curators do not hold organisational power.

P.S. There were about 20 men and 7 women in the meeting room.