Art of travel inspired by international explorations

Nineteen emerging Chinese artists, writers, photographers and scholars are exhibiting their international travel-inspired creations, such as paintings, publications and music compositions, in Shanghai.

The exhibition, Sailors Program: Dive into the Field, is running until Oct 8 at Tank Shanghai, an art museum repurposed from five fuel tanks in the former Longhua Airport in Shanghai's West Bund area.

Presenting hand-drawn maps, documentaries, books and music composed using converted gamma-ray bursts, the exhibition features the works of creators who use travel as a methodology to explore such global issues as climate change, memories of war, gender experience, astronomical observation, insect ecology and oceanic civilizations.

Beijing-based nonprofit One-Way Street Foundation initiated the Sailors Program in 2018 to empower young creators to produce original works with public impact.

The program encourages a spirit of openness, urging young people to engage directly with diverse cultures and communities through fieldwork, and to reflect on these experiences through various forms of creative practice.

It provides funding for selected candidates' travels. Over 30 "Sailors" have participated in the four editions to date.

They have traveled widely — to the Balkans, Central Asian glaciers, Middle Eastern conflict zones, Iberian astronomical observatories, Pacific islands and Southwest China's borderlands.

They encounter diverse cultures, geographies and histories in unfamiliar terrains. In this process, art and writing become open forms of knowledge, transforming texts from mere narratives into languages of action that intervene in reality, says One Way Street Foundation's founder, writer Xu Zhiyuan.

"We encourage young creators to set out from China and weave a web that connects with the world. We believe that different creative languages can foster more direct and far-reaching dialogues," Xu says.

The exhibition seeks to go beyond the finished works to highlight the process of observation, contemplation and response that unfolds during the journey, says co-curator, Zhu Yujie. It emphasizes how artistic experience transforms the way we perceive the world.

"Going to the field is not about extraction but about proximity," Zhu says.

"It's not about presenting results but about embracing an attitude. The Sailors' works may not be conclusive or may even be full of doubt, but it is precisely this uncertainty that allows them to maintain genuine contact with the world."

One of the artists featured at the show, Liu Shuai, shares his experience traveling for a month in a war zone in Syria, documenting the conflict's lasting impact on local communities and ecosystems.

"I love adventure," he says, lifting his arm, which is in a splint from a skateboarding injury.

"In Syria, I walked through the ruins and wilderness to explore how the harm of war seeps into the land, plants, animals, people and even time on a more subtle level. I was also fortunate to enter the lives of local residents, and witness the memories and warmth of humanity that endure beyond the smoke of conflict.

"Drawing from my experience on the road and the materials I collected, I created a series of works on paper, sound pieces and installations — an effort to capture the traces of life and emotional echoes that, though wounded and disrupted by war, have never truly disappeared."

One of his works, The Gifts, consists of videotapes, a piece of soap, a pomegranate, cigarettes, a water cup and other daily items.

These objects "carried the weight of shared memories and emotional exchanges", Liu says.

"At the end of the day, it is the tiny, soft and often neglected things that are most worth capturing with art, especially in a turbulent environment."

Following the opening of the exhibition, the foundation also announced the public call for the fifth edition of the Sailors Program, which will remain open for three months.

By the end of August, the list of selected Sailors will be announced. A new cohort of young creators will soon embark on their journeys from China, continuing to engage the world through deep and resonant dialogues.