XIAMEN.- Co-created by Sam Stourdzé, the director of famous international photo festival Rencontres d’Arles, and Chinese photographer RongRong (also the founder of Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, first professional art center in China dedicated to photography), Jimei x Arles features international artists selected from Rencontres d’Arles alongside Chinese and Asian photography talents. The festival has attracted more than 100,000 visitors since its inception in 2015.

In 2017, the two founders of the Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival appointed Bérénice Angremy as festival director, co-founder of art festivals DIAF (2004-2007) and Caochangdi Photospring – Arles in Beijing (2010-2012), and former cultural attaché at the French embassy in China (2012-2017).

The 2017 festival boasts the works of more than 150 artists from the UK, United States, France, Iran, Spain, the Netherlands, Indonesia, and of course China. The festival’s aim of providing a platform for new Chinese photography has once again been re-affirmed with several exhibitions showcasing young Chinese photographers and curators. The 21 exhibitions of 2017 Jimei x Arles attest to the diversity of photographic approaches and practices, and include:

• 8 exhibitions from Rencontres d’Arles 2017: Early Works by Joel Meyerowitz, Superfacial by Audrey Tautou, The Gorgans by Mathieu Pernot, Iran: Year 38 with 66 Iranian photographers, Stories of the Immediate Present by the Spanish collective Blank Paper, Retracing Our Steps, Fukushima Exclusion Zone - 2011-2016 by New Discovery Award Winners – Carlos Ayesta & Guillaume Bression (presented by Le 247 gallery), The Parallele State by New Discovery Award Nominee – Guy Martin (presented by nineteensixtyeight Gallery), The 2017 Book Awards

• 4 China Pulse exhibitions curated by young Chinese curators and China photography specialists: Uncertain Traces (curated by Du Xiyun), To be an image maker (curated by He Jing), BrokenIce: 160118-170811 (curated by Ruben Lundgren), Phantom Pain Clinic (curated by Shen Chen)

• 10 Jimei x Arles Discovery Award nominees picked by five young curators: Guo Yingguang and Jiang Yuxin (curated by He Yining), Shao Wenhuan and Yu Mo (curated by Liu Tian), Deng Yun and the real (curated by Nie Xiaoyi), Yu Feifei and Siu Wai Hang (curated by Tang Zehui), Feng Li and Sun Yanchu (curated by Thomas Sauvin). The winner of the 2017 Jimei x Arles Discovery Award will be awarded a 200,000 RMB prize and an exhibition in 2018 Rencontres d’Arles

• Local Action exhibitions curated by Xiamen curators Chen Wei (After the Ebb) and Wang Qi (Social Images)

• A solo show of Chinese photography master Wang Wusheng

• 2 Greetings From Indonesia exhibitions showcasing the vitality of contemporary Indonesian photography

• A Collector’s Tale exhibition showing a prominent Chinese photo collector’s treasures