The Oriental Scene investigates the concept of Chinoiserie architecture in the UK in the context of decolonialism. The project uses a replica of the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing in Kew Gardens as the main object of investigation, which includes objects, drawings and documents to show how the pagoda was represented in various mediums.
Prompted by the »wrong number of stories« of Kew’s pagoda, this project explores the appropriation, decontextualization, and reassignment of meaning to oriental symbols across time and space. The project is -concerned with the interrogation of Orientalism and the authoring of visual narratives. In this project, the artist chooses to redact the architectural subject, engaging in a dispute about the discourse of culture and the Orient, and constructing an alternative paradigm for orientalism.
about the artist
Yuxing’s photographic work is an exploration of narrative and representation, focusing on themes of the decolonisation of difference, the exoticism of Orientalism and the gaze that it brings.
