Gengzi Picture of Modern Exiles
Tami Xiang
Gengzi Picture of Modern Exiles by Tami Xiang, addresses the situation of the 300 million Chinese domestic migrant workers from the countryside, who do not have the same access to public welfare due to the household registration system which differentiates the people from the rural areas and urban areas. Xiang has appropriated the Picture of Exiles (1943) created by famous Chinese artist Jiang Zhaohe, depicting the condition of Chinese refugees during the 1943 famine.
In 2017, three million migrant workers were forcibly exiled back to their hometown from Beijing. Xiang photographed the ruined doors and collected images of migrant workers on their trips. Xiang appropriated these images into the Picture of Exile, to communicate with the people in history, also questioning our reality