San Yuan Li () is a 2003 experimental independent Chinese documentary directed and produced by artists Ou Ning and Cao Fei. Focusing on the modern paradox of China's rapid economic growth and social marginalization, the film was shot in Sanyuanli, a rural village nestled in the industrial skyline of Guangzhou. The film examines the effects of development on traditional agrarian lifestyles. San Yuan Li was commissioned for and exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2003.
Plot synopsis Armed with video cameras, twelve artists present a highly stylized portrait of San Yuan Li, a traditional village besieged by China's urban sprawl. China's rapid modernization literally traps the village of San Yuan Li within the surrounding skyscrapers of Guangzhou, a city of 12 million people. The villagers move to a different rhythm, thriving on subsistence farming and traditional crafts. They resourcefully reinvent their traditional lifestyle by tending rice paddies on empty city lots and raising chickens on makeshift rooftop coops.
Public screening history
2018, exhibition "The Street Where the World is Made", MAXXI, Roma 2018, exhibition "The D-Tale: Video Art from the Pearl River Delta", Times Art Center Berlin 2017, exhibition "Canton Express", M+ Pavilion, Hong Kong 2016, Chinese Visual Festival, London 2013, Chinese Realities/Documentary Visions, Museum of Modern Art, New York 2012, The International House, Philadelphia 2008, Uplink Factory, Tokyo 2006, A/P/A Institute at New York University 2006, Center for Architecture, New York 2006, University of Tokyo 2006, Kyoto Seika University 2006, exhibition "Contemporary China: Architecture, Arts and Visual Culture", Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen 2006, exhibition "Never Go Out Without My DV Cam", Museo Colecciones ICO, Madrid 2006, exhibition "Guangzhou: Cantonese Artists in the Sigg Collection", Kunstmuseum Bern 2005, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts 2005, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London 2005, Michael Berger Gallery, Pittsburgh 2005, exhibition "BEYOND : an extraordinary space of experimentation for modernization", 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art 2005, exhibition "Kunst und Film", Kunstmuseum Bern 2005, exhibition "The Wall: Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art", Millennium Art Museum, Beijing; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; University at Buffalo Art Galleries 2005, exhibition "Follow Me! Contemporary Chinese Art at the Threshold of the Millennium", Mori Art Museum, Tokyo 2005, exhibition "Unspeakable Happiness", Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City 2005, exhibition "Living in Interesting Times: A Decade of New Chinese Photography", The Open Museum of Photography, Tel Hai, Israel 2005, exhibition "Crossovers and Rewrites: Borders over Asia", World Social Forum 2005, Museum of Contemporary Art, Porte Alegro, Brazil 2005, 3rd Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival 2005, 29th Hong Kong International Film Festival 2005, London Chinese Film Festival, SOAS, University of London 2005, International Short Film Festival, Alliance Francaise, Bangkok 2004, Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2004, exhibition "Die Chinesen: Fotografie und Video aus China", Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg 2004, exhibition "The San Yuan Li Project", Courtyard Gallery, Beijing 2004, exhibition "Tätig Sein", Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst e.V. (NGBK), Berlin 2004, exhibition "Traditions and Contradictions: New Video Works from Asia", Filmtheater't Hoogt, Utrecht; Argos Festival, Brussels 2004, Seeing China program, Nova Cinema, Brussels 2004, exhibition "Out the Window: Spaces of Distraction", Asia Center, Japan Foundation, Tokyo; Project Space Zip, Darling Art _Foundation, Seoul 2004, China Now program, Museum of Modern Art, New York 2003, exhibition "Fabricated Paradises: Artists from China", La Parvis Contemporary Art Center, Vidéo K 01, Pau, France 2003, MK2 Bibliothèque, Paris 2003, 10th Biennial of the Moving Image, Centre pour L'Image Contemporaine Saint-Gervais, Genève 2003, world premiere, 2003, exhibition "Z.O.U. (Zone of Urgency)", 50th Venice Biennale
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