-- Artist statement
This is where the Yellow River spills into the sea. In 1955, more than 3,000 landlords, rich farmers, counter-revolutionaries, right wing politician and intellectuals were sent down here to be re-educated. In 1962, the farm population was over 10,000. In 1968, as a place for educating youths to work, more than 6,000 sent-down youths came to the farm to receive labor reform. On November 29, 1962, my father travelled for a day and night from Qingdao to the farm.
There was a total of 401 people who came to the farm from Qingdao. They were the first batch of sent-down youths on the farm. The entire population movement involved a total of 18 million urban youths, and about 800,000 sent-down youths are left in the “vast countryside heaven” forever. On February 13, 1971, my father returned to Qingdao for the Spring Festival, leaving a note to write “Goodbye, my home, goodbye, Qingdao. I am going to take the train at 8:20 tonight, to go to the farm. I have no idea if I will be able to come back next year, and still have to leave home like this...” I was born here in 1974. In February 2018, it was for the most part demolished.
Li Lin 李林 was born in Dongying, Shandong Province in 1974. He uses images to document his own living space and explore the relationship between individuals and landscapes. At the same time, images are used to record the destiny of the ruined hometown, the people who live here, the individual destiny and the historical situation in front of reality.
More information: www.instagram.com/lilinphoto
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