“Sino-Dutch Reaction Chongqing/Rotterdam Photo Exhibition” Unrolled in Chongqing

Chongqing-2020 “Dutch Day” was held on the afternoon of Nov 21^st in Baguo City, Chongqing. Meanwhile, the “Sino-Dutch Reaction Chongqing/Rotterdam Photo Exhibition” was unrolled to the public.

Since the first “Chongqing Dutch Day” was held in 2015, the government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Chongqing have been committed to deepening mutual understandings and bilateral cooperation through abundant exchange activities in fields of culture, art, sports, innovative designing, etc. At the opening ceremony, Mr. Koen Sizoo, the Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Chongqing, said, “The unofficial common thread of our Dutch Days over the past few years has been Quality of Life. We continue along that line this year.” The present event, “Sino-Dutch Reaction Chongqing/Rotterdam Photo Exhibition,” was dedicated to the role of public space in cities. It belonged to the Quality of Life factor as well.

 “Sino-Dutch Reaction, Chongqing/Rotterdam Photo Exhibition” presented two groups of photographic works by two authors---Patrick Cooper, a Dutch professional photographer, and Liang Wu, a Chongqing local who is a photography enthusiast. During the creation of these photographic works, Mr.Cooper came to the Graffiti Street of Chongqing deliberately. He finished the photography project, while Mr. Wu took these photos as a visual diary that displayed people and life in Rotterdam when he took a business trip there. Through their lens, although two cities are thousands of miles apart, they had a lot of things in common, and finally, the exhibition generated cultural integration.

What’s worth mentioning was that the format of the exhibition was an innovative one. Instead of displaying photos on traditional walls, it used darkroom lightboxes as the exhibiting frame placed in different angles so that the focus of viewings of audiences was only on the picture and content itself.

At the opening ceremony, one of the authors---Mr. Wu and other professionals in art, photography, culture, and tourism shared their opinions about the twin cities' aesthetics-- Chongqing and Rotterdam.