Dry Farming Tools - Images from Xi Hai Gu

5 September - 5 October 2008
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WANG Zheng Shovel Tianlaozhuang Ningxia Province 铲 宁夏田老庄, 2008 Fine Art Paper, Inkjet 艺术微喷 38 x 51 cm
WANG Zheng
Shovel Tianlaozhuang Ningxia Province 铲 宁夏田老庄, 2008
Fine Art Paper, Inkjet 艺术微喷
38 x 51 cm
From Sep 5 to Oct 5, Don Gallery proudly presents "Dry Farming Tools - Images from Xi Hai Gu," a photography exhibition by Wang Zheng.

Born in Xi Hai Gu, 1962, Photographer Wang Zheng has been engaging in photographing since 1982. He began to work on his project about the living status in Ningxia Xi Hai Gu area in 1995. Since then, he spends about 100 work days every year in Xi Hai Gu area to investigate and shoot photographs, using a special sociological and anthropological field work methodology.

Located in the south of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Xi Hai Gu is the collective name for 7 State-Level Poverty Counties in Huangtu area, namely Xiji, Haiyuan, Guyuan, etc. Over the years, this area endured drought and natural disasters and thus has been defined by the United Nations as being not suitable for human residence. Despite of the emigrant policy by the government, the high birth rate in this area still results in an ever increasing population. With more than 1 million Hui People, Xi Hai Gu is the biggest gathering district for Hui Ethnic Group in China.

In Xi Hai Gu, special tools came in to existence because of its drought and poor soil. Produced from local materials, those tools are extremely portable and versatile…

Even the tiniest thing in Xi Hai Gu can have a whole bunch of stories. Stretching out in the drought plateau, Xi Hai Gu is like a giant tree under the burning sun, lively but lonely. The more you get close to it, the more you feel confused by its twisted branches. In the mysterious realm it created, all you can do is pick up a scattered leaf, observe it, and keep it, just like the farming tools in Xi Hai Gu.
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