Take an object from everyday life – the quilt – and add one of the symbols of Chinese pictorial tradition – the mountain – mix together and you will get improbable photographs, such as the ones created by Liu Yue 刘月 (born in 1981 in Shanghai). These artworks have attracted quite early the attention of several international institutions, notably the Photoquai festival in Paris in 2011. In Mountain Blossom (2007), Liu Yue does not content himself with a mere distorted vision of a utilitarian object. In fact, his multicoloured and floral patterned quilts symbolize not only his childhood but also the Mao period when they first appeared, as well as the 70s when quilts became more colourful. These photographs are full of humour and sensibility while evoking collective memory and cultural memory.
