Credit: Davide Monteleone
The landscapes in Davide Monteleone’s images of China’s belt and road initiative are very familiar to me. We can see desert, uninhabited wasteland and views along the Yangtze River and in north-west China. There are also photographs showing the characters “Stay strong, Wuhan!” on skyscrapers in neon lights.
They are reminiscent of images I took in China, which captured dilapidated cities before they were rebuilt; energy plants; the development of impoverished areas and large-scale architecture. At that time, I wanted to write a new encyclopedia to elucidate new concepts and thoughts that emerge with rapid urbanisation, and to form a new language. The project was too ambitious, and I did not complete it. It was my failed “belt and road”.
The initiative, which has been likened to the Silk Road trade routes of imperial China, was proposed by the current Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, as a blueprint to reposition China in the era of globalisation, and to change the world order in a Chinese […]
Wei Wei is, by his nature, a Renaissance man. A visionary who seems to understand how systems, nations and individuals function (for better or for worse. When I first read about this project, I sensed it was a very bad idea, as Wei Wei so aptly translates the repercussions going forward. I happen to have great love for the Chinese people. The ancient wisdom which continues to live in their nature and their interactions with others. And I’ve lived among in various locations around the world. I find them to be generous people, who offer friendship in ways that are not common. I am nota Chinese citizen so I cannot speak to that aspect of their lives. But, like so many nations worldwide, the leaders and the governing bodies all too often demonstrate that they do have the best of intentions for their people. And much of that is related to wealth and power. Too often people in power do not understand the nature of the collective, other than how to play on their fears. That said, I do believe that there are number of people worldwide who have begun to understand and relate to on a deep level the strength of the collective. The patterns of entanglement that offer tremendous possibilities.
China has been playing the long game for decades. And America elected Trump (but the issue was far bigger than that)