Land Speech
4 mins, 2020
Since 2017, the government of Changping District in Beijing has implemented the "Leave Space, Increase Greenery" project, a sweeping initiative aimed at reclaiming land from demolished illegal structures to create urban parks, enhance cityscapes, and enrich the local ecosystem. While this project seeks to protect key ecological areas and improve air quality, it has sparked deep tensions between the government and local residents. Businesses have been shuttered, homes razed, and even the deceased have not escaped disruption, with graves unearthed and relocated to make way for new forests.
Land Speech seeks to amplify the often-overlooked perspective of the land itself, a resource that has been fought over for millennia. From the construction of homes and businesses to the cultivation of crops and the final resting places for the deceased, land has been fundamental to human development. Yet, in the relentless struggle for ownership and use, the land's voice remains unheard—its exhaustion, its degradation, and its quiet resilience.
In this interactive sound project, three local residents of Houying Zhen, Changping, who recently moved into the area, collaborate in a workshop to give the land a voice. Using tools such as stones and shovels to represent construction, hoes and rakes for agricultural activities, and tree branches and spades for reforestation, the participants engage with the land, each action symbolizing humanity’s imprint. They are also given emotion-laden words to express the land's buried feelings, allowing the earth to communicate its untold story.
Land Speech is a 4-minute moving image that documents this workshop, a poignant exploration of the silent, often disregarded, cries of the land as it endures human interference and alteration. This project invites viewers to reflect on the long history of land use in Houying Zhen, Changping, and to consider the broader implications of environmental policies that, while well-intentioned, may overlook the nuanced relationship between humans and the land. As governments and communities worldwide grapple with the challenge of environmental preservation, this work challenges us to listen to the land and consider its needs alongside our own.
Land Speech seeks to amplify the often-overlooked perspective of the land itself, a resource that has been fought over for millennia. From the construction of homes and businesses to the cultivation of crops and the final resting places for the deceased, land has been fundamental to human development. Yet, in the relentless struggle for ownership and use, the land's voice remains unheard—its exhaustion, its degradation, and its quiet resilience.
In this interactive sound project, three local residents of Houying Zhen, Changping, who recently moved into the area, collaborate in a workshop to give the land a voice. Using tools such as stones and shovels to represent construction, hoes and rakes for agricultural activities, and tree branches and spades for reforestation, the participants engage with the land, each action symbolizing humanity’s imprint. They are also given emotion-laden words to express the land's buried feelings, allowing the earth to communicate its untold story.
Land Speech is a 4-minute moving image that documents this workshop, a poignant exploration of the silent, often disregarded, cries of the land as it endures human interference and alteration. This project invites viewers to reflect on the long history of land use in Houying Zhen, Changping, and to consider the broader implications of environmental policies that, while well-intentioned, may overlook the nuanced relationship between humans and the land. As governments and communities worldwide grapple with the challenge of environmental preservation, this work challenges us to listen to the land and consider its needs alongside our own.
- Exhibited at Ircam Paris, 2021, Online
- Art for artists event, ArtSect Gallery, 2021, London
Art for Artists, ArtSect Gallery, 2021 (Curator: Lea Rose Kara)
Art for Artists, ArtSect Gallery, 2021 (Curator: Lea Rose Kara)
Director / Cinematographer / Wenqing Yao
Performers / Weidong Yao / Shaohua Zhang