Insights

A moment captured in a photograph may be brief, yet it can hold enduring memories; a film, with its twists and turns, often tells the profound realizations sparked by a single instant in life. Gazing at an image is like returning to the banks of the river of time, observing the intertwined realities, memories, and imaginations of life and history reflected in its currents.

The year 2025 marks the 130th anniversary of world cinema and the 120th anniversary of Chinese cinema. At the same time, video art, deeply influenced by the development of these two mediums, celebrates its 60th anniversary. This special year also coincides with the 10th edition of PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai. In light of these milestones, the exhibition has invited curator Shi Hantao to facilitate a dialogue on the art of image-making through the works of four artists: Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Jia Zhangke, Liu Zheng, and Yu Liwei.

Through ordinary individuals, fragmented dreams, disassembled machines, and moments of error and struggle, these four artists capture nameless instants that glimmer like fragments in an ever-flowing stream. Whether trying to part the waters with a blade or seeking a lost sword by marking the boat, they seem determined to hold time still. Though such efforts may be in vain, they preserve the unique spirit of our era for future generations. Just as “cupping the moon in hands, the moonlight slips through the fingers; toying with flowers, the fragrance lingers on the clothes,” those who seek to grasp the intangible may still retain a moment imbued with moonlight and scent. That fleeting play of light and shadow becomes a return to feeling—elusive yet certain. In that certainty, we preserve the part of ourselves that has not yet been swept away by the river of time.