RURAL EXODUS
The young rural population in China leaves its homes to live in the city. The elderly stay behind, the villages decay.
IDENTITY - ANONYMITY
Cities grow rapidly. Within a few years, Shenzhen has become a megalopolis.
The principle of “high rise, low density” results in shopping malls, office high-rises and residential towers.
PERSPECTIVE
They are working hard to implement their dream of western standard of living. Their new home should be modern. Nearby Hong Kong remains the unachievable goal.
LOOKING BACK
Only seldom do they return to their villages. On Quingming, the festival to remember the ancestors, the families reunite every year. The ancestral shrine is a fixed part in the traditional Chinese home.
Review by URBANAUTICA
These photographs tell us of a great exodus that geographers call urbanism. It corresponds to the migration of masses from rural areas to the new megalopolises. A phenomenon that has been known, observed, and studied for decades affects the entire planet. The Chinese version of this demographic decentralization and colossal infrastructure hit the headlines due to its gigantic scope. Hundreds of millions of people and families were forced into these urban gravity wells to fuel unprecedented economic momentum. The speed of this epochal change has captured the media’s attention and public opinion. In Laura Egger’s photographic diptychs, we see past and present side by side in a single image. Time shrinks, and the contrast is very evident. It is difficult today to measure the impact of these very rapid changes. Sometimes the photographs reveal the issues. They make them visible, even through visual short circuits. Still, we can imagine the difficulties of entire generations uprooted from their origins and catapulted into a different context. What remains of the tradition? Will there be time to remember? What we observe in China reflects a global trend. How long will this exile from the earth last? This neurosis of grandeur seems unstoppable. Almost surreal if we look at some completely uninhabited New Towns. Aggregates of skyscrapers like concrete jungles. But how are we going to fill them? With who? Will it be enough to move people from their land?
