The Lines We Draw

This solo exhibition for Robert Zhao Renhui at the Yalu River Art Museum explores the relationship between man and nature through his usual scientific method. He uses an artist’s sensitivity, the methods of photography and computer editing, and the temporal and spatial visions of bird migrations in the project, which he presents with large images. For the artist and the exhibition, piercing through the dusty skies to discover the limitless dynamism of their migration is not a simple survey or objective record of bird species in nature; it is a visual presentation that conveys warnings and foreknowledge of ecological destruction using the methods of reconstruction and displacement. Thus, the show reflects the multi-faceted reactions that we and Zhao have to everything about the present and future, but it also shows his anxiety about the natural environment and human ecological crisis, and it suggests a kind of vigilant tension. Perhaps deeper social issues are concealed behind these images, which means that the Yalu River Art Museum can show Zhao’s composed insight and expression, revealing to the viewer humanity’s existential crisis on psychological and conscious levels... - Curator Feng Boyi

Background Information on Dan Dong Wetlands
The wetlands in Yalu River, Dan Dong is an important bird migratory site for the godwit and great knot. These birds migrate between New Zealand, China, North Korea and Alaska every year. The migratory flight of the godwit is the longest nonstop migration of any bird in the world. The stop in China and North Korea is an important refueling stop for these birds. As more wetlands and coasts in South Korea and China become concretised, the wetlands in Yalu River remains one of the last sanctuaries for these birds in the world.