Lianzhou, Focused by the World Again｜2024 Lianzhou Foto Grand Opening

LIANZHOU, China, Feb. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On the evening of December 31, 2024 Lianzhou Foto hosted by the people’s Government of Lianzhou Municipality, Qingyuan Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau, Xinhuanet Co., Ltd., and China Photo Press and co-organized by the Lianzhou Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau and Xinhuanet Guangdong Co., Ltd., opened grandly at the Liu Yuxi Cultural Square in Lianzhou City. Photography masters and photography enthusiasts worldwide gathered in Lianzhou to attend this grand celebration of visual art and share the global light and shadow event.

Su Jindan, deputy mayor of the Qingyuan Municipal Government, Chen Lei, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Pan Zhenghuan, secretary of the Lianzhou Municipal Party Committee, Liang Jifu, deputy secretary and vice chairman of the Party Leadership Group of Qingyuan CPPCC, Lin Wenzhao, former deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Qingyuan Municipal People’s Congress and director of the Qingyuan Municipal Working Committee, Dai Shaomei, deputy secretary and mayor of the Lianzhou Municipal Party Committee, Chen Liqun, executive vice president of China Photo Agency's "Photo World" magazine, Huang Mei, editor-in-chief of Xinhuanet Guangdong Co., Ltd., and Mo Dingkuan, member of the party group and deputy director of Qingyuan Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau, jointly launched the 2024 Lianzhou Foto exhibition.

Pan Zhenghuan said in his welcoming speech, Lianzhou is located in the northwest of Guangdong Province, connecting to three provinces by road and five ridges, having profound historical and cultural heritage, beautiful scenery, thousands of mountains and beautiful horses, and modernization construction in full swing. After 20 years of ups and downs and the accumulation of 16 sessions, the Lianzhou Foto has become a grand event for cultural and ideological exchanges between Chinese and foreign photographers. Currently, Lianzhou is in-depth promoting the "Multi-Billion-Dollar Project", actively carrying out the green and beautiful Guangdong ecological construction, planning for the layout of "six tens of billions of industries", and the new development pattern of "small counties and big cities" is becoming increasingly mature. He sincerely invites worldwide photographers and friends from all walks of life to deeply experience the unique charm of Lianzhou while immersing themselves in the photography feast. They can use the unique perspective of photographers and the light and shadow in the lens to appreciate the culture and landscape of Lianzhou, and watch the development boom, so that every outstanding work becomes a bridge between Lianzhou and the world, allowing the world to see a modernized Lianzhou with diversified splendor and vitality.

Su Jindan pointed out in his speech that Qingyuan is an important birthplace of Lingnan civilization, a pioneer in China's industrial reform, and a landscape city full of vitality. As the sub-central city of Qingyuan, Lianzhou has been a transportation artery connecting the north and the south since ancient times. It has a profound history and culture, and is rich in national cultural resources and eco-tourism resources. Since its establishment, Lianzhou Foto has gone through 16 years of baptism and precipitation. It has become a window showing the unique natural scenery, rich history and culture, authentic local life and social practice of southern Guangdong. It is also a beautiful cultural business card for Qingyuan and even Guangdong’s foreign exchanges. Su Jindan hopes that through this exhibition, more friends will learn about Qingyuan, value Qingyuan, invest in Qingyuan, and help the high-quality development of Qingyuan and Lianzhou. The people of Qingyuan and Lianzhou will warmly welcome friends from all walks of life to come for leisure vacation, inspection, investment and business with sincere friendship and high-quality services.

Chen Liqun, the curator’s representative, shared the curatorial concept in his speech. He said that since China Photo Press joined the Lianzhou Foto hosting team, it has been committed to bringing new vitality to Lianzhou, new ideas to the industry, and new feelings to the audience with highly international composition, high-quality works, in-depth academic exchanges, rich exhibition formats, sophisticated production, and new features and elements at all levels. This exhibition not only includes works by international photographers, traditional documentary photography, and landscape photography, but also contemporary photography that focuses on personal expression, and AI imaging works. The exhibition has various styles, which can meet the aesthetic needs of audiences with different hobbies and levels. It is a gift from all parties to the Chinese photography community. They wish the Chinese photography industry to flourish and Lianzhou a prosperous future.

Huang Mei said in her speech that Lianzhou is known as the "Chinese Photography City" and the Lianzhou Foto exhibition is known as "China's most professional photography festival". It is an important place for domestic and foreign photography circles to understand Chinese photography and showcase contemporary photography achievements. Lianzhou Foto adheres to high standards, quality, artistry and professionalism, while highlighting the mass, international and open nature of the activities, exuding great professional artistic charm. It shows the world the ancient city's characteristics of "openness, tolerance, integrity and hard work" and expand Lianzhou's international "circle of friends". It has promoted the better introduction of Lianzhou culture, Qingyuan culture and Guangdong culture to the world, demonstrated the new forms of cultural digitization and cultural economy in the process of promoting Chinese-style modernization, and set off a wave of international cultural exchange and resonance.

The theme of the 2024 Lianzhou Foto exhibition is "Looking Back and Looking Ahead". The exhibition will last until February 4, 2025. The international chief curator is Ms. Natalie Hessdorfer, director of the Elysee Museum of Photography in Switzerland and an art and photography historian. A total of more than 3,000 outstanding works from 291 outstanding photographers from 35 countries around the world and various provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in China were exhibited.

The annual exhibition has professional exhibition areas and open exhibition areas. The professional exhibition areas include master exhibitions, international exhibitions and domestic professional exhibitions, which are arranged to be exhibited in Lianzhou Photography Museum, the old granary and the former No. 2 Shoe Factory exhibition area. Open exhibition areas are arranged in Lianzhou City Library, Museum, Cultural Center and Huang Clan Ancestral Hall. At the same time, three rural extension exhibitions were set up in Fengyang Village, Fengyang Town, Lianzhou City, Xitang Village, Dongpi Town, and Dong Village, Xian Town. In addition, Lianzhou will organize off-site exhibitions starting from this year's annual exhibition, selecting outstanding works for exhibition in and outside Guangdong Province.

This year’s Foto exhibition fully absorbs and integrates the experience and resources accumulated from previous annual exhibitions, and organizes various exhibitions and cultural activities around the themes of Lianzhou’s humanities and history, natural scenery, folk customs, major events, etc. A series of photography tour routes and self-driving tour routes are planned and launched to connect Lianzhou’s mountain and water scenery, ancient villages, ancient post roads and other high-quality tourism resources into a line. Further expand the channels for external publicity of Lianzhou’s history and culture, explore new ideas for the in-depth integration and development of culture and tourism, and create unlimited possibilities for stimulating high-efficiency new tourism productivity.

In order to provide every exhibitor and visitor with a better artistic experience, the Lianzhou Foto exhibition will be held every two years instead of once a year starting this year. The next Lianzhou Foto exhibition is scheduled to be held in 2026. Lianzhou will always adhere to the concept of high-level, high-quality, artistic and professional exhibitions, and will continue to work hand in hand with all sectors of society to move towards the future, and continue to build a platform for photographers around the world to exchange, collide and display the latest achievements of photographic art that is both international, professional and popular. Lianzhou will use heart and soul to tell the Chinese story to the world, spread the voice of the Bay Area, and showcase the image of Qingyuan Lianzhou, so that the Lianzhou Foto exhibition will become an important window for countries around the world to better know, understand, and feel China.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/04878767-d5f4-4cd5-b443-0f9e53d42659

CONTACT: Contact Person: Feng Yunjing
Email: zhxxz@gdqy.gov.cn
Website: http://www.lianzhou.gov.cn/