The Story of Ji’an

Every city has a story.

From 1-10 August 2014, photo.circle had the opportunity to workshop with a group of young storytellers gathered in Ji’an City in Jiangxi Province from across Mainland China. Armed with questions and cameras, they set out to explore. For 10 days, they walked the streets and met with locals, discovering pressing social and economic issues of life in Ji’an as well as the small, every day nuances of life in the city. For a small window in time, they bore witness to the rapid changes that are consuming Ji’an.

Gan river and people’s complex relationships with it. Farmers who continue to farm despite highrises on the horizon. Dancing ladies who fill bustling city squares and shirtless men who take evening naps on the quiet side streets. The sounds, smells and soliloquy of Ji’an.

Next summer, Ji’an will have lived a year longer. Many new buildings will have come up and old ones gone down. People will have moved in and moved on. Change after all is the one thing that is constant and Ji’an is a city that represents this in all its glory and growing pains.

An exhibition featuring the stories produced during the workshop, traveled to four venues across the city of Ji’an.

Small publications were made that are on sale online at http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1.w4024-6640239495.1.09aszA&id=40841536782&scene=taobao_shop