Persoonlijk werk, gemaakt in 2013 en 2015 in Shanghai, China
Verschenen in oa. De Standaard, tentoongesteld in Brugge, Leuven.
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Above the sea lies a sinking ship
Shanghai, which literally means ‘above the sea’, is an international metropolis drawing more and more attention from all over the world.
It’s known these days for being the second biggest city in the world, with more than 25 million inhabitants. Originally it was a small fishing village with little hope of advancing past its swampy origins but thanks to opening the port of the village it soon started growing and growing until it became the enourmous city that it is today.
As progress continues in Shanghai, the city evens starts sinking due to the mass urban migration, soft soil and global warming.
Or how building up is bringing Shanghai down.
I decided to visit one of the biggest cities in the world. My choice brought me to the land of the rising sun, and Shanghai drew my attention right away. I immidiately felt like an outsider in between those thousands and even millions of people.
A place where I didn’t speak the language, where I didn’t know the right directions.
Where I was literally lost in translation. I felt like I was walking in a place that’s emerging way too fast, a kind of model world, a world that is somehow fake. Even mankind as a powerful being falls apart in those enormous surroundings.
I tried to capture either way the contradictions of this metropolis and on the other hand the desolation I felt being a complete outsider.
