Beyond the mountain: photography exhibition by Feiyue Liu

Opening event and artist talk

The event will begin with a walk-in and the opportunity to view the exhibition from 16:00 to 16:30. From 16:30 to 17:30, the programme will continue with an artist talk by Feiyue Liu, joined by research fellows from the International Institute for Asian Studies as discussants: Ren ZHE | IIAS, Yajuan ZHANG | IIAS and Cha-Hsuan Liu | IIAS. The event will conclude with informal drinks and additional time to explore the exhibition and continue the conversation. 

Venue: IHS is located on the 14th floor of the Mandeville building, Erasmus University Woudestein Campus, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA Rotterdam.

About the exhibition

This exhibition spans two continents and two countries—Western China and the Dutch coast—focusing on how people navigate, inhabit, and perceive territories that are continuously reshaped and transformed. Grasslands, mining pits, coal-fired power plants, dikes, and coastlines form a network of interrelated spatial fields, existing both as natural topographies and as living environments continually produced by technological and social forces. In western China, resource extraction, energy production, and modern infrastructure are redefining traditional pastures and rural landscapes; in the Netherlands, dikes and drainage systems sustain a delicate yet enduring balance between land and sea. The experiences of these disparate regions resonate with each other in Liu’s imagery, revealing the ongoing and complex negotiations between humans and their environment.

In Liu Feiyue’s work, figures and animals inhabit vast expanses—walking, pausing, laboring, or resting, if only momentarily. The human and animal body becomes a vital measure for understanding space, while also reflecting the profound influence of seasonal cycles, climatic conditions, and social structures on everyday life. At the same time, industrial sites, tourism, and public spaces transform formerly utilitarian landscapes into spaces of renewed observation and social meaning, continually reconfiguring their cultural and functional significance. These images not only document reality but also engage with contemporary narratives and imagination: from tourists mimicking lunar landings in volcanic pits, to decorated industrial chimneys; from livestock striding against the wind, to people traversing coastal sands—individuals seek their place within ever-shifting landscapes.

The exhibition presents a vision of “negotiated landscapes,” where nature and technology, tradition and modernity, local experience and global discourse intersect, collectively shaping the spatial forms and perceptual frameworks of contemporary life.