23.06.2018 | Chine – Carnets de voyages | Digit’ars Fabrica

China… this remote country imprinted with mystery and surrounded by legends, has always been an object of fascination for Westerners. For several centuries, the only sources of information that come to us from this land, long unknown geographically and culturally, are the travelogues. But who are these travelers, what was their experience of China and how did their testimonies help to shape the imaginary? Through the eyes of various characters such as merchants, Jesuits or industrialists, the exhibition will return to the discovery of the Middle Kingdom by Westerners from the 16th to the 20th century.

This exhibition will focus mainly on the collections of the two institutions through ancient books and travelogues from the 15th to the 19th century, archival documents, postcards, posters and newspapers.

The exhibition will be open to all types of audiences. Through a sensory journey, it will take the visitor to the heart of China. This project aims to sensitize schools of primary, secondary, and higher education but also families through appropriate media and a special animation offer. Companies, clubs and other associations will also find an ideal setting for the organization of their incentive, team building, conferences and other private or public events.

« Shanzhai Archeology »
DISNOVATION.ORG, Clément Renaud & Yuan Qu
Installation multimédia

Shanzhai Archeology is a collection of original phones from the technological interbreeding Made in China. This project casts a critical look at the production of technology through an artistic interpretation of a recent historical fact, still poorly known: the shanzhai.

Often presented as mere counterfeits of low quality, these objects nevertheless draw many unusual technological trajectories that make them the revealers of technological possibilities literally out of European standards. As odd looking hybrids, these puzzling artefacts question a hyper-normalised western technological imaginary.