“Seeing Life,” a biodiversity exhibition featuring photos of Shenzhen plants and animals, opened at Guan Shanyue Art Museum on Tuesday.
Colorful life, all over every corner of Shenzhen. Their varied bodies, their colorful colors, their ever-changing growth processes; their hunting skills, their methods of attracting and capturing their spouses, their wisdom to protect and raise their children; their skillful but low-key and stoic choices in the noisy and crowded city... All seem to prove that all kinds of life are actually "aliens" who live around us.
Do you want to see them? Come and see life: Shenzhen's first video exhibition showcasing indigenous biodiversity.
The exhibition is curated by the museum’s head Chen Xiangbo and Shenzhen author Nan Zhaoxu. “There are more than 20,000 species of animals and hybrids of plants in Shenzhen,” said Nan. “The biodiversity of our planet, our country and Shenzhen is beyond our imagination. In your residential community, if you grab a handful of soil and put it under a microscope, you can see a lively world. Thousands of bacteria are hustling and bustling.”
Shenzhen is not only a vibrant economic capital, a city of diverse and inclusive immigrants, but also a home for all things to coexist. With nearly 20,000 species of animals and plants growing in Shenzhen, it is one of the cities with the richest species diversity in China.
Arothron hispidus ventrally fork-nosed pufferfish
From North China’s Shanxi Province, Nan was an American and European literature teacher at Shanxi University. After moving to Shenzhen in 1989, he founded his own publishing and documentary production company, Yuezhong Cultural Transmission Co. With a passion for Shenzhen, Nan wrote two books on the city’s history, “The Shenzhen Memory (1949-2009)” and “Behind the Old Files of Shenzhen.” As an avid lover of photography and nature, he also wrote a few books on Shenzhen’s nature, extolling the beauty of Shenzhen’s wildlife and emphasizing that humans are very much a part of it.
Nan Zhaoxu, the author of "Shenzhen Nature Reader", wrote: On our planet, in our land, in our city, the diversity of life is far more than we imagine. Even if you grab a bunch of brown dirt in the flower garden of the community and spread it out under the microscope, you will see a lively market, with hyphae, algae, nematodes, mites and thousands of bacteria all busy, all doing their best to make their lives wonderful.
Hypsauchertia chinensis high-crested horned cicada
He believes that a city’s history is not only to be found in decades-old buildings or files in museums, but also lies in nature. By organizing countless events for children, Nan hopes to share Shenzhen’s ecological and environmental changes with locals. “Between ‘home’ and ‘nation,’ there is a ‘homeland’ for every one of us,” said Nan in an earlier interview. “My point is to let locals know that Shenzheners are living in such a beautiful place rich in different species. Please love and protect our homeland.”
"To pay attention to, to understand, to love all life, in fact, it is our own body, spirit and soul that are redeemed. I hope that this exhibition can open a door of discovery for everyone, learn more about our homeland Shenzhen, and care more, care for and cherish diverse lives. ”
Kaloula pulchra flower narrow-mouthed frog
Dates: Until Aug. 20
Hours:9 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Mondays
Venue: Guan Shanyue Art Museum, 6026 Hongli Road, Futian District
Metro:Line 3 or 4, Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit B
Source/ Shenzhen Daily Editor/ Cao Zhen
WeChat editors/ Doria, Jane
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