Notes on China

These notes, divided into chapters, constitute the account of the moments spent in China with Cōng Yàn. They bear witness to the unique relationship between a stranger and his guide. The foreigner tries to understand the symbols, the meaning of things and places, but, inevitably, he mixes the codes of his own culture with those that open to him.

Observing traditions and social rules or listening to memories allows you to build an image of China. This image is only subjective in appearance ... 

In describing the life of a single person, attention is drawn to the individual, whereas China is usually seen as an indefinable mass. 

The meeting between Cōng Yàn and Wiktoria Wojciechowska is decisive: "Around Cōng Yàn, it's China".

Celine Duval

Curators: Sébastien Dupuy and Céline Duval
Scenography: Étienne Andréys

Wiktoria Wojciechowska - multimedia artist working with photography, video, collage, installation and books - was born in Lublin, Poland. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In 2015, she won the Oskar Barnack Leica Newcomer Prize for her project Flashes shorts, portraits of motorcyclists soaked and captured in the streets of Chinese metropolises. This work also subsequently received numerous awards.

Between 2014 and 2016, she worked on the series Sparks - a portrait of contemporary warfare based on individual stories during the Ukrainian conflict. Sparks was recently exhibited during the New Discovery Prize 2018 of the Rencontres d'Arles, awarded the Audience Prize and the Madame Figaro Prize. Sparks also received the Lensculture Emerging Talent Prize and the Prize for Photography from the Fondation des Treilles.

Since 2015, she has been working on China. These series, grouped under the title of Chinese Chapters, question the individuality and traditions of the country. Wiktoria Wojciechowska has been nominated for many prestigious scholarships such as: Joop Swart Masterclass 2016, Unseen Young Talents, Lucie Foundation Emerging Artists, Visura Grant, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize and Foam Paul Huf Award. She has participated in artist residencies in Iceland, China and France.

His works have been presented in solo exhibitions and at international art and photography festivals, in France, Poland, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Latvia, China and published in magazines such as: British Journal of Photography, Vice, Leica Fotografie International, FT Weekend Magazine, Guardian, China Life Magazine. His first book “Short Flashes” was released in May 2016 by Bemojake.