Periphery Future
Exhibition Inspiration
“So close, so beautiful, weekend trip to Hebei!“ is a local slogan known to almost everyone in northern China. This slogan essentially welcomes Beijing residents to Hebei for tourism and vacation. I believe this is a form of objectification of the region for tourism promotion and commercialization. This slogan turns Hebei Province into Beijing’s backyard and resort, losing sight of Hebei’s unique characteristics.
Exhibition Concept
Periphery Future explores the central question: With urban expansion and accelerating capital flows, must rural areas exist solely as peripheral spaces to be consumed? It explores this theme through two approaches: “Problem Identification” and “Design Responses.” Periphery Future does not regard the countryside as a place of decline, but rather as a pioneering frontier for experimenting with future social structures. Here, art and design become tools for reimagining the possibilities of rural life.
Artists and Artworks
Yuhang Liu’s Concrete Bamboo reveals the reality of contemporary rural areas being replaced by industry amid urbanization. Bamboo—a material symbolizing nature and locality—is substituted by concrete, serving as a metaphor for the power relations between urban and rural areas. The work no longer presents romantic nostalgia but exposes how industrial materials invade and reshape the rural landscape.
Fangyuan Zheng’s Alness Memorial Geopark Sequence proposes a spatial design solution that balances the needs of local residents with tourism appeal. The artist seeks to address the issue of rural tourism focusing on “serving outsiders” while neglecting local livelihoods.
Kate Saldanha’s Intelligent Wilderness addresses the damage caused by industrial sites to agricultural and natural environments. Through landscape design, the artist reestablishes a balanced relationship between agricultural production and wild ecosystems.
Sara Dobbs’s Cooped. Farmed. Displayed examines how rural areas are “displayed” within consumer culture, exploring the dynamics between agricultural production and exhibition mechanisms.
Artist and Venue Costs
£1,796.00 (Five Days, Five Years Artist) + £179.60 (Half-Day Five-Year Artist) + £117.20 (Half-day newly graduated artist) + £117.20 (Half-day new graduated artist) = £2,210.00.
By reviewing the 2024 Summerhall pricing for cinema venues and performing the necessary calculations, I estimate that renting a space comparable in size to the Science Gallery for a 24-day arts festival would cost approximately £4,000. I anticipate the cost for a ten-day booking would be around £1,600.
Exhibition Souvenirs
Canvas bags, silk scarves, and hats
References
Kolb, Ronald, Camille Regli, and Dorothee Richter. “Centres ⁄ Peripheries– Complex Constellations.” Notes on Curating 41 (June 2019): 3-11.
Kathrin Bohm & Wapke Feenstra, “Introduction” in MyVillages (eds.), The Rural (Whitechapel Gallery, 2019), pp. 16.
“艺向山川——清华大学美术学院2023安吉青年艺术创作营成果展”启幕-清华大学美术学院
Fangyuan Zheng | Edinburgh College of Art Graduate Show 2021
Kate Saldanha | Edinburgh College of Art Graduate Show 2021
Sara Dobbs | Edinburgh College of Art Graduate Show 2021
Recommended Rates of Pay (RRoP) | Scottish Artist Union
Summerhall Arts, Summerhall Festival Information Pack 2024 (Edinburgh: Summerhall, 2024), 7–8, https://www.summerhall.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Summerhall-Festival-Information-Pack-2024.pdf
