“Flowing Waters Never Return to the Source: Photographers Gazing at the River in China”

The photography exhibition, “Flowing Waters Never Return to the Source: Photographers Gazing at the River in China” centres upon the Chinese river, a seminal theme in contemporary photography in China, as seen through the eyes of thirteen photographers. The exhibition lasts from July 15 to November 29, 2020, and +3 Gallery artists Michael Cherney, Liu Ke, Zhang kechun, and Chen Ronghui participates in the exhibition.

From the re-appropriation of traditional Chinese painting where idealized landscapes seem suspended in time (“mountain-water”) to the accelerated modernization of the country and its consequences for nature and the environment, and visual narratives using its evocative power, the river has formed a recurring motif of inspiration for photographers in China over the past twenty years - whether Chinese or otherwise.