• Comment: The draft requires additional references from independent and reliable sources to establish notability. Presently, it is largely unsourced. Please remove any external links from the body of the draft and instead format them as proper references, if relevant. Hitro talk 10:43, 26 December 2024 (UTC)

RongRong&inri

RongRong (China) and inri (Japan) have been working together since 2000. Their works reflect the intimate world that they have created together and push the boundaries of traditional black-and-white darkroom techniques. Their critically acclaimed series of works, such as In Fujisan, Japan 2001 (2001), Liulitun, Beijing (1996-2003), and Tsumari Story (2012-2014), reflect their shared life and surroundings, delving into the rapidly changing world around them.

In 2007, RongRong&inri founded the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing's Caochangdi Art District. Since 2008, they have served as art directors of the annual Three Shadows Photography Award (TSPA), a prize aimed at discovering and encouraging China's most promising young photographers. In 2010, they began collaborating with the Les Rencontres d'Arles and co-produced, alongside Thinking Hands, the Caochangdi Photo Spring Festival in Beijing for three years—from 2010 to 2012. This partnership evolved at Three Shadows' Xiamen location, where, since 2015, they have co-hosted the Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival.

Born in Fujian Province, China, in 1968, RongRong is a contemporary photographer and the co-founder of the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing. He is also the co-founder and director of the Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival.

RongRong moved to Beijing in 1992. A year later, he relocated to the Dashanzhuang village, known as "East Village" within the artist community. In 1996, he co-founded the Avant-Garde Journal New Photo.

Early in his career, RongRong was deeply involved in the artist community of Beijing East Village, which became a mythic entity in the history of contemporary Chinese experimental art. In this tumbledown village, RongRong and a group of struggling artists such as Zhang Huan, Curse, Duan Yingmei, Ma Liuming created a series of highly challenging works, mainly performances and photographs, which sent an instant shockwave throughout the community of experimental Chinese artists.

RongRong used his camera to capture daily life there in the early 1990s and created the definitive documents of performance works by avant-garde artists Zhang Huan and Ma Liuming, among others. These epochal images brought him international attention. In the mid-1990s, RongRong began photographing Beijing's dilapidated buildings and ruins.

Inri was born in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, in 1973. While still in high school, she was deeply influenced by Ken Domon's photo book A Pilgrimage to Ancient Temples, which inspired her to pursue photography. She graduated from the Nippon Photography Institute in 1994 and worked as a photojournalist in the Photo Department of Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo. In 1997, she transitioned to freelance photography, focusing on personal and experimental projects.

From 1996 to 2000, inri pursued intense self-exploration and technical experimentation through series such as 1999 Tokyo, Maximax, Gray Zone, and Self Portrait. These works reflect her journey of introspection and innovation. In 2020, she published the photo book Symposion - About Love 1996─2000, which encapsulates these series and marks a significant milestone in her career by continuing to explore the themes of love and photography.

In 1999, RongRong was invited to Tokyo, representing 16 artists from the New Photo collective for an exhibition. There, he had a profound encounter with inri, who at the time was a stranger to him. Despite the language barrier, they communicated by writing characters on their palms. Inri's deep understanding of RongRong's work profoundly impacted him. After learning that inri was also a photographer, RongRong expressed interest in seeing her work, leading to their second meeting. Through inri's photography, RongRong felt a profound connection with her inner world. Before returning to China, RongRong gave a lecture in Tokyo, which inri attended, marking their third meeting. After returning to Beijing, RongRong continuously sent faxes and made phone calls to inri, inviting her to visit Beijing. The faxes were short, and when the calls connected, neither spoke because they didn't share a common language. Yet, their emotions still resonated across the silence. Nine months later, inri traveled to Beijing, igniting both a love story and a collaboration that would shape their future.

In 2015, RongRong&inri relocated to Kyoto and began developing their "Jifei Kyoto" series. After being showcased at the Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum in China and the Kyotographie International Photography Festival in 2021, the "Jifei Kyoto" series evolved into the "Jifei Photography" project. As part of this, they established "Jifei-an" as an experimental creative space. This project continues to grow, transforming with each iteration and expanding the possibilities and interpretations of photography.

In recent years, their work has been exhibited extensively at prominent museums and institutions worldwide, including the M+ Museum in Hong Kong, Haus der Kunst in Munich, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Tate Modern in London, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, the International Center of Photography in New York, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, among others.

RongRong&inri are renowned for their significant contributions to photography, both as artists and cultural activists. In 2007, they co-founded the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing's Caochangdi Art District, the first independent organization in China dedicated to contemporary photography.

In 2008, the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre launched its annual project, the Three Shadows Photography Award (TSPA), to support emerging Chinese photographers globally. Judged by an international panel, the award highlights works of significant artistic merit, promoting contemporary photography and bringing Chinese talent to a broader audience.

From 2010 to 2012, in partnership with Les Rencontres d'Arles and Thinking Hands, the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre launched "Arles in Beijing - Caochangdi PhotoSpring," the first photo festival in Beijing, connecting with galleries and art spaces in the Caochangdi and 798 art districts. In 2015, this partnership evolved into the annual Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival in Xiamen, co-organized by the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre and Tianxia Jimei Media.

In November 2015, in collaboration with the Social Archive of Chinese Photography, the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre hosted the 33rd Oracle Conference in China, bringing together curators and experts to discuss key topics in photography and further promoting international exchange in the field.

RongRong&inri have been recognized for their contributions to photography with the Outstanding Contribution to Photography award at the 2016 Sony World Photography Awards and the International Award at the 2022 Photography Society of Japan Awards, celebrating their artistic achievements and influence on Asian photography.

• Selfportrait
• East Village, Beijing, 1993-1998
• 1996-1998 Beijing
• 1997-2000 Beijing
• Fragments, 1998

• Selfportrait, 1997-2000
• 1999 Tokyo, 1997-1999
• MAXIMAX, 1998
• Gray Zone, 1999-2000

• Liulitun, Beijing, 1994-2003
• We are here, Beijing, 2002
• RongRong&inri 2005
• Three Shadows, Beijing, 2006-2007
• Dior, 2008
• Untitled 2008
• Caochangdi, Beijing, 2004-2012

• Tsumari Story, 2012-2014
• Jifei Kyoto, 2015-
• Jifei Photography Project, 2023-

• Jifei Kyoto, Lake Biwa Canal Museum, Kyotographie, Kyoto
• Trace: The Photography Journey of RongRong&inri, Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, Chengdu, China

• Day After Day: RongRong and the Beijing East Village, The Walther Collection Project Space, New York, USA

• Huang Rui and RongRong: Photo Symbiosis (1994-2001), Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China

• RongRong&inri: Tsumari Story, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong
• RongRong&inri: Tsumari Story, Chambers Fine Art, New York
• Memories Through Cycle, Art Tower Mito, Mito

• Geography: Documents and Works by RongRong&inri, Three Shadows +3 Gallery, Beijing
• Tsumari Story, KYOTOGRAPHIE, Ryosokuin, Kyoto, Japan
• Focus: RongRong&inri, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas

• Tsumari Story, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
• Tsumari Story, Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo

• Rebirth from Ruins: RongRong&inri Photography 2002-2009, Kuhlhause, Berlin

• Three Begets Ten Thousand Things, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong
• Three Begets Ten Thousand Things, Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo
• Ruins Series: 1996-1998, Chambers Fine Art, Beijing
• RongRong&inri, Michael Ku Gallery, Taipei

• RongRong&inri: Selections from the Three Shadows Collection, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
• RongRong&inri, MEM Gallery, Tokyo
• Compound Eye, HeXiangNing Art Museum, Shenzhen

• From Six Mile Village to Three Shadows: New Works by RongRong&inri, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
• Ruins to Renewal: Works by RongRong&inri, SF Cameraworks, San Francisco
• RongRong&inri: The Power of Ruins: Between Destruction and Construction, Casa Asia, Madrid and Barcelona

• RongRong&inri, Rencontres d'Arles, Arles

• The Third Space, Alexander Ochs Galerie, Berlin
• Liulitun, Chambers Fine Art, New York

• Beyond, Walsh Gallery, Chicago

• Tui-Transfiguration: The Image World of RongRong&inri, Dashanzi Art District, Beijing

• Shanshui: Echos and Signals, M+ Museum, Hong Kong

• Trace – Formations of Likeness: Photography and Video from The Walther Collection, Haus der Kunst, Munich
• Bohemia: History of an Idea, 1950-2000, Kunsthalle Prague, Prague
• House of Photographs: The Kasakoff-Adams Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

• Performer and Participant: Beijing East Village, Tate Modern, London
• A Window Suddenly Opens: 30 Years of Experimental Photography in China, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.
• Love Songs: Photography and Intimacy, Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; International Center of Photography, New York
• What Is Left Unspoken, Love, High Museum of Art, Atlanta

• M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation, M+ Museum, Hong Kong
• Focus China, Mönchehaus Museum, Goslar

• About Us: Young Photography from China, Alexander Tutsek Foundation, Munich
• The Stillness Within, 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong

• Practice and Exchange: An Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art, UCCA, Beijing
• Art and China After 1989: Theater of the World, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

• Why Are We Doing What We Are Doing?, Mizuma Gallery, Singapore
• Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition, Somerset House, London
• An Art Exhibition to Celebrate the Anniversary of the Tasmania-Fujian Sister State Relationship, Fujian Museum, Fuzhou
• 4th Annual Collectors' Contemporary Collaboration, Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong

• Designing View Beyond the Earth: The First Xi'an Contemporary Art Document Exhibition, Xi'an Art Museum, Xi'an
• We May Have Met Before - Chinese Contemporary Photography, Foam Amsterdam, Amsterdam
• Chinese Photography: Twentieth Century and Beyond, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
• The Second Beijing Photo Biennial, Beijing
• The Photography: What You See & What You Don't, Tokyo

• Hong Kong International Photography Festival, Hong Kong
• China Photography 1911-2014, Stavanger Art Museum, Stavanger
• The Symposium of Challenge the Tradition: 20th Century Western Classical and Chinese Contemporary Photography, Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing
• China ARTE Brasil Exhibition, São Paulo
• Hanart 100: Idiosyncrasies, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hong Kong

• Portrait of the Times: 30 Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, Power Station of Art, Shanghai
• How Far: Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Photography, Songzhuang Art Center, Beijing
• New Framework: Chinese Avant-garde Photography 1980s–90s, Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong
• Collection Exhibition 2013: The Aesthetics of Photography, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo
• All You Need Is Love: 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo

• Transformation: A View on Chinese Contemporary Art, Istanbul Modern, Istanbul
• Passing Through Memory, Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum Opening Exhibition, Suzhou Jinji Lake Museum, Suzhou
• To Walk Alone: Contemporary Chinese Photography, Tokyo Photo, Tokyo
• WORLD BOUNDARY: Three Realms & Ten Directions Exhibition, Echigo-Tsumari

• Staging Action: Performance in Photography since 1960, Museum of Modern Art, New York
• New Photography from China, Getty Museum of Art, Los Angeles
• Interconnected: Selections from the Three Shadows Collection, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing

• Europalia—International Art Festival, Brussels Art Museum, Brussels
• Third Guangdong International Biennale, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou

• DIOR & CHINESE ARTISTS, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing
• LASST HUNDERT BLUMEN BLÜHEN, Der Dresdner Kunstverein, Dresden
• Daegu Photo Biennale, Daegu
• Right Hand, Left Hand: Couples in Contemporary Art, MOCA Shanghai, Shanghai

• Net: Reimaging Space, Time and Culture, Chambers Fine Arts Gallery, Beijing
• Convection, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing

• Another World: Photography from China, Lukas Feichtner Gallery, Vienna
• Intimate Beijing: Photography Exhibition (China–Japan–Netherlands), 706 Factory, Beijing
• Inner Scopes, Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai

• About Beauty, House of World Cultures, Berlin

• 5th Shanghai Biennale: Techniques of the Visible, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai
• All Under Heaven, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Antwerpen
• Le Moine et le Démon: Art Contemporain Chinois, Musée Art Contemporain Lyon, Lyon

• Chinart, Museum Kuppersmuhle Sammlung Grothe, Duisburg; Museo Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome; Ludwig Museum, Budapest
• A Strange Heaven, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague

• Beijing Afloat, Beijing Tokyo Art Projects, Beijing
• Dream 02, Red Mansion Foundation, London

• Chinese Contemporary Photography, Galerie Steinek-Halle, Vienna
• Cross Pressures, Oulu City Art Museum, Oulu; The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki

• Alexander-Tutsek Stiftung München, Germany
• Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, USA
• AW Asia, USA
• DSL Collection, France
• ESSL MUSEUM, Vienna, Austria
• Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan
• Getty Museum, USA
• He Xiangning Art Museum, China
• Ivory Press, Spain
• Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Oregon, USA
• LVMH Foundation, France
• Mori Art Museum, Japan
• National Museum of Australia
• Sigg Collection, Switzerland
• M+ Museum, Hong Kong
• Shiseido, Japan
• Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
• Smart Gallery of University of Chicago, USA
• Tate Modern, UK
• Tampere Art Museum
• The Estella Collection
• The Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation, Switzerland
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA
• The Red Mansion Foundation, UK
• Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
• The Walther Collection, Germany, USA
• Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, China
• Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography,  Japan
• Pier 24 Photography, San Francisco, USA
• Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA

• Inri: Symposion - About Love 1996–2000, Akaaka Art Publishing

• RongRong's Diary: Beijing East Village, Steidl & The Walther Collection, New York

• RongRong&inri: Tsumari Story. Texts by John Tancock, Tokihiro Sato, Fram Kitagawa, and RongRong&inri. Three Shadows Press Limited & Saneido Co., Ltd., Beijing & Kanagawa

• RongRong&inri: Three Begets Ten Thousand Things. Text by Mimi Gradel. Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong
• RongRong&inri: Three Begets Ten Thousand Things. Text by Iizawa Kotaro. Shiseido Gallery, Tokyo

• RongRong&inri: Compound Eye. Texts by Feng Boyi and Wu Hung. HeXiangNing Art Museum, Shenzhen

• From Six Mile Village to Three Shadows: New Works by RongRong&inri. Text by Wu Hung. Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing
• RongRong&inri: El Poder de las Ruinas. Texts by Jesus Sanz, Menene Gras Balaguer, Wu Hung, Ai Weiwei, Zhang Li, Christopher W. Mao, and RongRong&inri. Casa Asia, Barcelona

• RongRong&inri: Liu Li Tun. Texts by Christopher W. Mao, Zhang Li, Ai Weiwei, and Wu Hung. Three Shadows Photography Art Centre & Chambers Fine Art, Beijing & New York

• Beyond: Recent Photographs by RongRong&inri. Texts by Julie Walsh and Wu Hung. Walsh Gallery, Chicago

• RongRong&inri: Tui-Transfiguration. Edited by Wu Hung and RongRong&inri. Timezone 8, Beijing & Hong Kong

• RongRong's East Village 1993-1998. Text by Wu Hung. Chambers Fine Art, New York

• RongRong: Ruin Pictures. Texts by Wu Hung and Christopher W. Mao. Chambers Fine Art, New York

• Agnès b. SNAP CARDIGAN, "Des Photographes et Le Cardigan Pression," 798 SPACE, Beijing, China, 2004
• Dior "DIOR & CHINESE ARTISTS" Exhibition, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China, 2008
• "LADY DIOR AS SEEN BY" Exhibition traveled to Beijing, Tokyo, Milan, and São Paulo, 2011-2012
• Moncler Toy Auction in Hong Kong. Proceeds benefited the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation, 2009