Innocence during the Pandemic, taken by Si Nina in Zhengzhou, Henan province.
A Beijing photo exhibition uses the theme of windows as a door to explore how people have coped during the COVID-19 outbreak, Lin Qi reports.
Never has there been a time when the little space provided by an open window has meant so much to so many.
While many people are largely confined indoors around the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic, windows' main function-to allow light and air inside-helps curb the virus.
Meanwhile, windows have become a symbol of freedom, and a channel for communication and exchanges of care for neighbors.
The Documenta 2020-Windows in Pandemic exhibition running at the Tsinghua University Art Museum through June 26 presents over 200 photos and videos. They express various perspectives on the global public-health crisis by sharing what photographers saw and how they lived, inside, through and outside of windows.
Application, created by Alexander Papadopoulos of Italy.
The exhibition is the result of a joint initiative by the Tsinghua museum and the university's School of Journalism and Communication earlier this year. It invited people to submit still and motion pictures. Works on show were selected from more than 6,000 submissions from home and abroad.
The museum currently only receives students, teachers and faculty members. But the public can visit its website to take a virtual tour of the exhibition.
Works on show were captured or filmed by artists, journalists and, mostly, ordinary people, whose snapshots document how they've coped with the changes in life and work.
CPC Tsinghua University Committee deputy secretary Xiang Botao says the exhibition helps people emotionally bond with art at a time when individuals need to continue social distancing.
Snow Flutters to Welcome Spring, taken by Zhao Yaming in Liaoyang, Liaoning province.
He says museums are where the material evidence of times is kept, and when people re-examine these photos and videos years later, they'll better understand how much these images mean as historical references.
A group of photos by Xu Bing were taken in Brooklyn, New York City, in March. They show his studio, where he was for the opening of his solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and where he was held up for a longer period as the coronavirus spread in the metropolis.
Xu says the photos reflect his everyday activities during the period. These include preparing meals and putting them and other necessities in a basket that was pulled up by his daughter, her classmate and his niece, who were staying on the studio's top floor for a 14-day self-quarantine.
Choice, taken by Chen Chen in Songyuan, Jilin province. The picture features a grocery store owner, who puts up a "for-sale" sign.
The photos also show a magnolia tree neighboring Xu's studio in full bloom, which he says contrasted with the predicament faced by humans.
A selection of images came from people in Wuhan, Hubei province, the city hardest hit by the coronavirus. A highlight is Road Closure, a black-and-white photo by Pan Zhidao in which the Wuhan resident captured an overlook of the residential community in which he lives in the early morning of Feb 12.
"It was a pleasant day," Pan writes in an introduction to the photo.
"Looking out of my home's window, I saw one of the gates to our residential compound. There were no people in sight, but a bus blocked the road to the gate to keep outsiders from entering.
"I felt shocked and sad. It was going to be a tough spring for people in Wuhan."
Choice, taken by Chen Chen in Songyuan, Jilin province, offers a glimpse into the dire situations small businesses faced. It shows a grocery store owner, who looks helpless. He has no choice but to put up a "for-sale" sign.
Artist Xu Bing is held up in his studio in New York during the pandemic. He put meals and daily necessities in a basket which would be pulled up by his daughter, her classmate and his niece in self-quarantine.
Some other photos on show convey positive attitudes, such as images of people trying to pass time while stuck inside.
Video-conferencing apps, for example, gained popularity. For years, Beijinger Wang Guobin would have a drinking party with friends during the Spring Festival holiday. His photo, Cheers with the Cellphone, shows how the annual tradition became an online celebration, as they toasted via videoconference.
Tsinghua University Art Museum deputy director Su Dan says the massive amount of images received form "an integrated and complex … sketch portrait" of the global health crisis.
Stay with You, Wuhan, taken by Li Jing.
He says these images are memories that expose people to a moment in history that'll never be forgotten.
