The Chinese Photobook shows the richness and diversity of China’s largely unexplored history of photobook publishing. Showcasing from 1900 to 2014, the exhibition includes key titles by established and emerging Chinese artists. The exhibition includes books published by early colonial powers in China, including France, England, and Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War, as well as a selection of books produced during the Cultural Revolution, among many others. Many of the publications on display are unknown or rarely seen outside of China and offer a unique insight into the country’s complex cultural history from the twentieth century onwards. China has a long tradition of publishing photobooks, they come in a variety of approaches and styles depending on what the topic is on and as a consequence of the countries political twists during the las 100 years. This richness in form, context and authorial perspective is captured in The Chinese Photobook. The exhibition is divided into six sections, that include key publications as early as 1902 to contemporary formats by emerging Chinese photographers.
In 1971 Lin Biao, The Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, was killed in a plane crash in Mongolia.The following year, when news of the crash was finally announced, the Party's line was clear: Lin was to be written out of history. Pages of his writings were torn from books, photos and badges which showed his face were confiscated and destroyed.
When Ruben Lundgren, one of the co-curators of The Chinese Photobook at the exhibition was visiting the flea markets of Beijing, he came across dozens of defaced copies of one particular book, Chairman Mao is the Red Sun in Our Hearts. Using whatever came to hand - scissors or black pen or glued-on bits of paper - people had excised the image of Lin Biao from their copies.
Left-Interior selection from Gli Impressioni di Manchiu-Cuo (Impressions of Manchukuo), documenting the visit of an Italian delegation sent courtesy of Benito Mussolini (Liaoning Province, China: 1938).
Right- Cover and interior selection from Pictorial Review of the Sino-Japanese Conflict in Shanghai (Shanghai:1932)
