Chinese artist Hu Weiyi won the 2025 "Jimei x Arles Discovery Award", the top honor of the annual Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival held in Xiamen, East China’s Fujian province, with his exhibition The Inner Darkroom.
On July 8, Hu’s exhibition debuted as one of the main programs at the 57th Rencontres d'Arles in France, arguably the world’s most prestigious photography festival.
Curated by Wang Xi, The Inner Dark Room, running through Oct 4, is a profound inquiry into the essence of imagery, art critics say. Turning his own body into a living chemical reactor, the artist immersed film rolls of natural landscapes in his own stomach acid, involving the digestive process as a co-creator to alter the images. The results are a series of landscape films corroded to varying degrees, with some striking viewers as abstract paintings.
“Hu’s practice is distinctly experimental; his creations are rooted in images of mountains and nature, combined with a unique approach of media intervention,” RongRong, co-founder of the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre and Jimei × Arles, said at the opening.
“Through this, his work deeply explores the connection and philosophical relationship between humanity and nature, delivering both a profound artistic texture and a strong intellectual core," he added.
RongRong noted that Hu’s solo is one of the more than 10 exceptional exhibitions that Three Shadows and Jimei × Arles have brought to share with audiences in Europe over the last decade and more.
“China possesses a highly creative community of photographers, and we look forward to bringing more artists onto this international stage in Arles,” he said.
Aurélie de Lanlay, deputy director of the Rencontres d'Arles, stated in her speech at the opening that the 12-year collaboration between the renowned French photo festival and Jimei × Arles, built upon a foundation of professional trust, has become a vital platform for photographic and cultural exchange between China and France.
Today, Jimei × Arles has evolved into a crucial hub connecting the photographic arts of both nations, and through the "Jimei × Arles Discovery Award," it continuously discovers and supports young photographic artists, De Lanlay said.
Supported by the people's government of Jimei district in Xiamen city, Jimei × Arles is co-hosted by Three Shadows and Tianxia Jimei Cultural Media Co, Ltd. Since its inception in 2015, the photo festival has presented over 380 exhibitions by more than 900 artists, organizing over 1,000 public events and attracting more than 550,000 visitors. It has now developed into one of the most influential annual photographic art events in Asia and will welcome its 12th edition in November 2026.
Every year, Jimei x Arles brings selected exhibitions from Rencontres d'Arles to China, while curating multiple special sections to present exhibitions of photographers from China and other Asian countries. Six Rencontres d'Arles exhibitions will be presented at this year's Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival, according to the French photo festival organizers.
