After an intensive review and deliberation，the jury awarded the 2024 Jimei × Arles Discovery Award to Jia Yu for his exhibition Strangers.
As the jury mentioned, “As a jury, we are honored to recognize a project that stands out for its honesty and simplicity. In a time when the future of images feels increasingly uncertain, this work serves as a reminder of the human connection at the heart of photography. The project reflects the responsibility photographers have toward their subjects, approaching this relationship with humility and integrity. It highlights the importance of care and thoughtfulness in representing others, offering a perspective that feels both necessary and timely. This work brings photography back to its essence: helping us understand who we are and preserving the memory of who we once were. It reaffirms the role of photography as a tool for connection and reflection, encouraging us to look beyond its aesthetic dimension and consider its deeper impact. We selected the work of Jia Yu as the winner of the Jimei x Arles Discovery Award for its honesty, integrity, and its meaningful contribution to the ongoing conversation about the future of photography.”
Jia Yu
Jia Yu, born in 1972 in Qinghai, is an art teacher working and living in Xining, Qinghai.
He was awarded The 1st Qinghai Contemporary Art Award (2015), and also held a solo exhibition titled "Useless Blade" at Xining Contemporary, a local art institution (2017).
In recent years, he participated in some art programs including: "Deep 2024 Desert Plan", Annual Artist Project at Tuff Contemporary Art Museum (2024); "TETRIS: A March From the Highlands to the Mountain City and the Island", Institute for Provocation (2020).
Important group exhibitions include the following: “1+1” Guangzhou-Macao Cross-city Art Exhibition, Art Museum, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts / Art For All Society, Guangzhou / Macao (2024); "Go to the Ground", Public Art Program, AC Box, Chengdu (2023); "BOOMERANG - OCAT Biennale 2021", Shenzhen (2021); "Zero", the Opening Exhibition of Chengdu Tuff Contemporary Art Museum (2019); "Ethereal Capital", Contemporary Art Exhibition, Xining, Qinghai (2016); "Absolute Desert", Xingning Contemporary (2016); The Opening Exhibition of Yinchuan Contemporary Art Museum, Ningxia (2016); "Gathering", The 1st Qinghai Biennale (2013); GUYU Action International Performance Art Festival, Xi’an (2008); etc.