shehuo: Community Fire

May 13, 2023–April 14, 2024

Zhang Xiao, the 11th recipient of the Peabody Museum’s Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography, brings us on a bilingual photographic exploration of the transformation of Shehuo, a traditional spring festival held in rural northern China that coincides with the New Year. When Zhang began his photography in 2007, Shehuo (社火, Community Fire) was celebrated with great regional variation, and included prayers for a good harvest and ritual performances of local folk tales.

2023年5月13日至2024年4月14日

张晓是皮博迪博物馆罗伯特·加德纳摄影奖（Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography）的第11位获得者，他将带领我们进行一次双语的摄影探索，展现社火这一中国北方农村欢度春节的传统习俗及其变迁。张晓在2007年开始拍摄此系列作品时，社火的庆祝活动因地域差异而各具特色，包括对于丰收的祈求和本地民间故事的宗教仪式表演。
 

A decade later, Zhang found that the festival—while still fascinating and visually engaging—had become a highly commercialized, tourist enterprise with mass-produced props and costumes.

十年后，张晓发现社火庆典虽然依旧引人入胜、带来视觉上的震撼，但已成为一个高度商业化的旅游企业，包括批量制造的道具和服装。

The exhibition is accompanied by a related book of photographs, Zhang Xiao: Community Fire (Aperture/Peabody Museum Press, July 2023), which includes text by Ou Ning, a writer, curator, and writer based in New York.

The museum presented a special public preview event on Thursday, May 11, 2023 with Zhang Xiao in conversation with Ou Ning.

Learn more about the exhibition in this photo essay.

Learn more about Zhang Xiao's Gardner Fellowship and the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography. Listen to the related podcast, "Journey of a Visual Anthropologist with Ilisa Barbash, Curator of Visual Anthropology at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology."

本次展览将与张晓的相关摄影集《社火》（Shehuo: Community Fire）（Aperture/Peabody 博物馆出版社，2023年7月）一同呈现，其中包括了常住纽约的作家和策展人欧宁的文字。

博物馆将于2023年5月11日星期四下午6:00举办特别的公开预展活动：张晓将与欧宁进行对话，随后在展厅举行酒会。

点击这里了解更多关于张晓获得的加德纳摄影奖。点击这里了解更多关于罗伯特·加德纳摄影奖学金。