U-topophilia : HUANG Sunquan’s Solo Exhibition

The concept Utopia reflects the “unsatisfied yet desired history” of human beings. “U” in“Utopia” comes from the Greek word “ou-topos” which means “no place”, similar to the English word “a-topia”. “U” here can also be interpreted as “eu-topos”, meaning joy and happiness. The word “Topophilia”, on the other hand, means love of place. The Chinese-U.S.

Geographer Yi – Fu TUAN once wrote a book on “Topophilia”, examining the affective bond between people and place, and how it contributes to the formulation of identity. Here the new word “u-topophilia” refers to the conflicts between love of no place and love of place. Such conflicts may lead to new possibilities: by recognizing and acknowledging differences among people and places, we may shift from Jus soli, identity associated with place to socially engaged art practices that do not bond love with a particular place, which may be one way of mediating the social contradictions caused by new liberalism.

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Artist
Huang Shunquan

Organised by:
Red Brick Art Museum