Xinwei Li

Xinwei Li

April 28, 2024

Great Khingan, Evenki, Messia, Giorgio Agamben, Companionship.

The exhibition "Paradise is a Forest," curated by Xiao Huaide and Gu Tao, examines the close connection between the Evenki people and the forests of the Greater Khingan Range through the explorations of resident artists. The exhibition challenges the romanticized imagination of the Greater Khingan Range as a "paradise" and reveals the true face of the forest and the ecological and cultural challenges faced by the Evenki people. This article cites the philosopher Giorgio Agamben's concept of "messianic" to discuss the self-redemption of the Evenki at the end of their traditional way of life and how artists, through bodily experiences, cross the threshold of the messianic with the indigenous inhabitants of the forests. Finally, the article focuses on the phenomenon of lichen symbiosis in the exhibition, emphasizing the importance of human coexistence with others.

© 2024, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license