Shen Wei is included in the exhibition West East:Misunderstanding and complicities at MUFOCO (Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea), Milan.

The relationship between the West and the East explored through photographic images is the main theme of the new exhibition West East. Misunderstanding and complicities, from a project developed by GENDA magazine.

To explore the most modern language of photography in a markedly international environment – after a period of activity characterized by intense work on the collections and by projects carried out in collaboration with the community – the Museum is inviting the public to immerse themselves in the kaleidoscope of images selected by GENDA magazine: a captivating and mysterious dialogue, the visual expression of a globalized and at the same time fragmented world.

GENDA, conceived by Amedeo Martegani and Silvia Ponzoni in collaboration with Teresa Piardi, Alberto Sinigaglia and Stefano Graziani, was born as a concept magazine to investigate the most current trends in international photography in light of a fluid dialogue between the West and the East characterized by unpredictable associations, opposites and analogies, misunderstandings and points of contact. The very choice of the title, Genda, is a paradigm of these continual shifts between cultures: Genda is a western distortion of the common Chinese expression zhenda (which can be translated as “really?”), but also of the name of the flower, used in Hindu rites.

The magazine is the result of the research conducted by two editorial offices operating in China and Italy and is published annually with monographic issues that freely explore core issues of contemporary life. From 2015 to date, GENDA has presented a total of over 50 authors, combining the work of young emerging artists with that of renowned photographers: Ren Hang, Ed Panar, Bas Princen, Jeff Wall, Takashi Homma, Stefano Graziani, John Divola, Paul Kooiker, Melanie Bonajo, Ricardo Cases, Sophie Tianxin Chen, Josè Pedro Cortes, Todd Fisher, Geert Goiris, Zhang Kechun, Stephan Keppel, Paul Kooiker, Tatsuki Masaru, Yoshinori Mizutani, Andrea Pertoldeo, Fan Shi San, Alberto Sinigaglia, Mengxi Zhang, Robert Zhao Renhui, Lin Zhipeng (aka No.223).

The exhibition project fills the entire space of the Museum with about 180 images spread across three floors according to the themes of the magazine: Landscape as Abandon; Body as Packaging; Animals as Permanent Followers. The photographs on display were taken by all of the 57 artists presented by GENDA and have been printed on a single standard 70×100-cm module, as is usually done in the pages of books and magazines.

The collaboration with GENDA will end with the production of a new issue of the magazine (Endless Scenarios), which will be presented at the Museum next autumn during the exhibition’s closing event.

Exhibiting artists:

Melanie Bonajo, Xuan Canxiong, Ricardo Cases, Blaise Cepis, Sophie Tianxin Chen, Zheng Chuan, Confusedonism, Josè Pedro Cortes, John Divola, Todd Fisher, Charlie Engman, Geert Goiris, AgnËs Geoffray, Stefano Graziani, Ren Hang, Volker Heinze, Takashi Homma, Ice Society, Zhang Jungang, Zhang Kechun, Stephan Keppel, Ute Klein, Paul Kooiker, Lahem, Tatsuki Masaru, Ohad Matalon, Aaron McElroy, Fang Meiwen, Yoshinori Mizutani, Jon Naiman, Nononino, Ed Panar, Andrea Pertoldeo, Bas Princen, Chloe Rosser, Fan Shi San, Ouyang Shizhong, Liu Shuwei, Alberto Sinigaglia, Amy Stein, Tang Ting, Liu Tao, Christian Weber, Isabelle Wenzel, Xiaoxiao Xu, Yan YiBo, Pixy Yijun Liao, XiaoPeng Yuan, Yi Yuen, Jeff Wall, Shen Wei, Ni Weihua, Mengxi Zhang, Wenxin Zhang, Robert Zhao Renhui, Lin Zhipeng (aka No.223).