FEBRUARY 5, 18.00, SCREENING + SHARING SESSION: 陈秋林 CHEN QIULIN, 花园THE GARDEN (2007) 

Welcome to a film screening of 陈秋林 Chen Qiulin, 花园 The Garden followed by a sharing session led by curator Yiling Wu from  A Thousand Plateaus Art Space! 

About the work
This single-channel video (14’45”) was filmed in the post-demolition landscape of Wanzhou, a city submerged and rebuilt due to the Three Gorges Dam. It follows a group of men known as “bangbang” (棒棒) — an almost-extinct labor profession once common in Chinese cities. These men, often rural migrants without stable employment, used shoulder poles to carry goods across towns. In the film, they carry oversized plastic peonies across demolished buildings, ruins, and sterile new construction zones in a repetitive, surreal procession.

Rather than situating the work solely within “ruins,” the video overlaps destruction, reconstruction, and anticipation, forming a continuous and unresolved urban condition. The plastic peonies — excessive, artificial, and vividly colored — function as collective symbols of aspiration — gestures toward beauty, prosperity, and a better life. They are carried through spaces where such promises remain unstable. Together with the vanished labor of the bangbang men, the work becomes a layered reflection on what is gained and lost in the name of progress.

“This work offers an entry point into Chen Qiulin’s artistic practice — not just because of the critical visual language, but because it invites people to ask how labor, visibility, and symbolic futures are shaped (and erased) by urban transformation. It also opens space for public dialogue around art as a way of tracing both collective and individual memory, gesture, and social shifts.” -Yiling Wu

BIOS

CHEN QIULIN 陈秋林 (born in Yichang, Hubei Province in 1975, now working and living in Chengdu) graduated from the Printmaking Department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2000. Her works manifest in various mediums including video, photography, installation and sculpture. Her creation process is constantly in the state of continuous development and progress. With a unique sensitivity, Qiulin keeps introducing new viewpoints and perspectives into frequently discussed social issues.

Chen Qiulin’s awards include: The Best New Artist Award of the first Montpellier Chinese Contemporary Art Biennale (2005), the recipient of ACC (Asian Cultural Council in New York) grant at China (2006), the First Asian World Women Forum Rising Talents Programme Nominee (2008), The Fourth Annual AAC Award for the Most Influential Participants of Chinese Art 2009 – the Annual Young Artist Nominee (2010), Reshaping History Academic Award Nominee (2010), Loop Award of Loop Art Fair (Barcelona) (2017).

A Thousand Plateaus Art Space
A Thousand Plateaus Art Space was founded in 2007 in Chengdu, China. Equipped with exhibition halls for artworks and collections and a screening room for videos and discussions, it is a professional gallery committed to present and promote China’s contemporary art. To date, it has represented and collaborated with over 20 artists of all ages.Through exhibitions, art fairs, academic platforms, and publications, the gallery fosters long-term dialogues between artists, institutions, collectors and broader cultural publics.

Led by founder Liu Jie, a pivotal figure in China’s contemporary art scene—particularly in amplifying voices from the southwest—the gallery works across generations through exhibitions, publishing, and research-driven collaborations. Based in Helsinki, regional director Yiling Wu leads its international programs, fostering cross-cultural dialogues and curatorial exchange.