The “Hometown Series” launched by the Pingshan Art Museum speaks of the coexistence of the past and the reality through the lens of simplicity and honesty. In the series’ first exhibition, Hai Bo’s photographic works exude the deep nostalgic feelings shared by people who are away from their roots. His artistic ideal is to express that the journey of drifting away from the hometown is also a journey of homecoming.

Works on exhibition. Photo from Pingshan Art Museum

This seemingly contradictory philosophy reflects on those who leave their families, friends and surroundings to pursue their passions and ideals with mixed sentiments of sadness and hope. The roads each one embarks on beyond this moment may be full of uncertainties; yet in the scope of grand eternity, they all seem so familiar. Just as the works presented in this series, the hometown is ordinary yet elusive, close to us yet also far away. The tensions gathered between the instant and eternity are the passing good old days and the history of a generation.

Taipingshan Village in Changling County is a rural township in Jilin Province where Hai spent most of his early years. Since 1987 his deep attachment to his family and hometown has deeply influenced his aesthetics. The vast, silent and forgotten landscapes and the lives of its people in this rural part of Northeast China are strikingly portrayed through Hai’s camera. By returning to his homeland time after time, he found and documented the greatest comfort and familiarity in this banal yet beautiful land with his lens.

Hai graduated from the Printmaking Department of the Fine Art Institute of Jilin in 1984. Reminiscing in the photographs of sweeping landscapes, serene and rural villages and its people, Hai reminds his viewers to cherish the gradually fading and simple way of living while setting off for new journeys towards modernity.

Dates: Until Feb. 28, 2021

Hours: 9 a.m.-noon, 2-4:30 p.m., closed Mondays

Booking: WeChat account “PingshanArtMuseum”

Venue: Pingshan Art Museum, Huide Road, Pingshan District (坪山区汇德路坪山美术馆)

Transport: Take the high-speed rail from Futian Station or Shenzhen North Station to Pingshan Station and then take a taxi