An exhibition by anthropologist and award-winning photographer Evelyn Nodwell, In the Season of New Rice explores village and small town life in Guizhou Province during China’s growing urbanization. Among the least developed of China’s provinces, many of Guizhou’s villages are accessible only over rough, winding and narrow gravel roads; some are only accessible on foot. More than one-third of Guizhou’s towns and steep, green hills are populated by an ethnically diverse population of many indigenous ethnic minorities.
After the fall harvest, villages stage festivals, a traditional time for courtship. Festival activities include water buffalo fights, bareback horse races, dancing, lusheng pipe playing and stalls of food, balloons and crafts. Rice is an important crop with Autumn festivals called “Tasting New Rice Festivals.” The dried rice stalks are important fodder for animals and are stacked in the fields in characteristic pointed dome shapes.
The beauty and spontaneity of these photographs were created thanks to the welcoming openness and good nature of the Guizhou people. Nodwell’s photo exhibition captures the essence of life in the province of Guizhou. The photographic works featured in this exhibition appear in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary at UBC Library as well as celebrating Asian Heritage Month in the month of May.
“We are the first foreigners ever to visit one village. They are so excited to have us. Water-buffalo fights, costumes and dancing.”
– Evelyn Nodwell’s Field Notes
Artist Bio
Evelyn Nodwell, an Anthropologist and Ph.D. graduate of UBC, attended the Alberta College of Art for two years before moving to Vancouver. She has taken photography workshops with masters such as Sharron Milstein, Nevada Weir and Sam Abell, as well as taken classes in Langara College’s Photography Program.
Evelyn’s recent exhibitions include a one-month solo exhibit at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver, BC; the Art Museum of Guiyang in China as a member of an artists’ exchange group; and the DarkroomGallery.com. She began 2015 with an exhibit in The Gallery at Hycroft and also the Ferry Building Gallery in 2015. She was contracted with a solo exhibit at the West Vancouver City Hall in addition to exhibiting at the Burnaby Art Gallery and Deer Lake Gallery along with British Columbian and visiting Chinese artists in 2015.
Evelyn has had prints in the Burnaby Art Gallery Sales and Rental division; and has had photos published in Canadian Geographic Magazine, The Province newspaper and Vancouver Coast and Mountains Tourism publications. She has given photography workshops and presentations, and judges for camera clubs. Her images regularly score in the top 2-10% in local competitions.
As an anthropologist and independent filmmaker, Evelyn Nodwell has worked in British Columbia and India. Based on her research in India, she produced two television documentaries in collaboration with the Knowledge Network.
This exhibition runs from April 16 to May 31, 2015 at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 2nd floor foyer exhibition gallery space. Building hours: 6am to 1am, 7 days a week.
This exhibition is in partnership with explorASIAN 2015 Festival, in celebration of Asian Heritage Month.
