From May to October 2023, the British Museum hosted the world's first cultural and historical exhibition on the late Qing Dynasty in 19th century China.
In September 2023, there were news reports of many artifacts stolen from the British Museum which still attracts tourists from all over the world, but since many of the artifacts in the British Museum were looted from other countries during the British colonial era, the ownership of these artifacts has always been a matter of controversy.
As a sojourner in a foreign land, this project expresses the sense of vague historical memory that I slowly developed while visiting the British Museum regarding artifacts from different parts of the country, and it also reflects the invisibility of my mother country's culture in the last few centuries. Gradually, I began to see the connection between the exhibition of the artifacts and my nation and history, also reduced the sense of separation in a foreign country.
I used Polaroid’s special photo paper and digital camera to capture the state of foreign artifacts being viewed and displayed in the British Museum, and used juxtaposed display to create the possibility of connection and a sense of contrast., although this was a personal research project, like other foreign visitors to the museum, we all experienced wider psychological activities, such as the collection, reconstruction, segregation and appreciation of the history and civilizations of our home country, and then returning to thoughts of identity, heritage and belonging.
This also includes moments when descendants of the colonized gaze at reality and history, and shows how the British Museum has transformed from being a vague historical memory to a tourist memorial for the visitor.