The Land of Rebirth | Yuwen Vera Wang

Exhibition: May 16th - June 29th
Opening Reception:  June 6th, 6 - 9 pm

The Land of Rebirth is a photographic series that focuses on the Wang Gezhuang village in rural Yantai. The images in the series explore the experiences of aging populations in rural China, and the process of shooting them was one of reconnecting with my roots. My paternal grandparents raised my father in the Wang Gezhuang village. When I was young, we visited his home village during family holidays. Returning to this village has allowed me to reconnect with this place and its inhabitants. My project adopts a poetic gaze to capture the living conditions of the elderly in Wang village. I also explore the psychological impact of prolonged separation from children and partners as well as what it means for the villagers to get by without proper social services and health care. 

In creating this project, I have been given the opportunity to return to my family’s home. This place evokes flashbacks of my childhood memories, and gives me comfort in the grief I feel over the loss of my grandparents. I have always believed that photography has the ability to collect and preserve memories, transcending generations. Through this series, I hope that the memories I have captured will be preserved both physically and spiritually. Through these depictions of  landscapes and domestic spaces, the rhythms of these people’s lives, the textures of their pasts and present, I hope to show that this land not only carries the trials and tribulations of the villagers' experiences, but also the possibility that family histories and cultural heritages will be preserved and remembered.