Li Bai: Pilgrimage of an Immortal Nomad

LI BAI, the immortal, was one of China’s great poets, one of the most respected in Chinese literature and perhaps one of the best known in the West. His work has inspired great contemporary writers and composers outside China.

 

XU PEIWU is a well-known Chinese photographer who has devoted a significant part of his life to travelling the roads that LI BAI travelled in the 700s, on an itinerary as extensive as Chengdu, Hangzhong, Xian, the ancient city of Gaochang, Luoyang, Jining, Qufu, Najin, Yangzhou, Xinchang, Jingzhou, Wu Gorge (Yangzte River), and others.

Over the course of ten years, from February 2013 to February 2023, XU PEIWU, using a Swiss medium-format camera, captured the landscapes that inspired the poet to write his romantic poems, wandering through vast and widely scattered regions of China, in photographs of enormous beauty and density, images that allow us to contemplate a naked and captivating China that has largely preserved the dynamics and progress of civilisation.

 

XU PEIWU has recently published his work in book form: a Chinese edition and an English edition.

The exhibition that the Script Road Festival is bringing to the Macau public is, for reasons of space, only part of the overall project, but it shows the grandeur of this photographic epic.

In this room, as a counterpoint to Eastern culture and in relation to Western culture, we can listen to the symphony Das Lied von der Erde by Gustav Mahler, who claimed to have been influenced by Li Bai’s poetry when he composed it.

 

Curadores | 策展人  |  Curators

João Miguel Barros www.ochrespace.com

iiOn Ho www.arton.space

 

 

XU PEIWU  |  许培武

 

Born in 1963, Chaozhou, Guangdong Province. In 1990, began to take photos for Guangzhou city images. Over 20 years, Completed the City 3 Serials photograph works:  20 Years Changing History of Zhujiang New Town, Nansha New Town, Guangzhou City Images. After 2010, traveled to rivers and mountains and took photos on the theme of Poetry Fairy Li Bai.

Exhibitions:

. Nansha the Last Lizard, XU PEIWU Exhibition was exhibited in 2006, Guangdong Art Museum.

. Nansha the Last Lizard was exhibited in the first Paris Biennale in 2007, Paris, France.

. From Qing Dynasty Canton to Contemporary Guangzhou – Felines Bieto and XU PEIWU Exhibition was exhibited in 2008, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, UK.

. The Elegance of Bamboo and Spring, Respect to Guo Xi (XU PEIWU Exhibition was exhibited in 2010, Ancient Bridge, Gallery Heidelberg, Germany.

. 20 Years Changing History of Zhujiang New Town , XU PEIWU Exhibition was exhibited in 2017, Guangzhou Opera House.

. Poetry Fairy Li Bai, XU PEIWU Exhibition was exhibited in 2017, Gong Prince Museum, Beijing.

. Poetry Fairy Li Bai Exhibition was exhibited in 2023,LiBai Memorial Hall, Jiangyou, Sichuan Province.

. Collection Art Museum of China Central Academy of Fine Arts Guangdong Art Museum;Gong Prince Museum, Beijing; Hong Kong M+ Museum; Art Museum of Guangdong Academy of Fine Arts; Guangzhou Tianhe Museum precious collection); LiBai Memorial Hall, Jiangyou, Xichuan Province.