Abstract as per original application
(English/Chinese): |
The Pearl River is the second-largest river system in China after the Yangtze River. Its three major tributaries (West River, North River, and East River) and vast river networks connecting with the South China Sea shape and nourish the Pearl River Delta (PRD), making it one of the most populous urban clusters and creative hubs in the world. However, cultural and artistic impressions regarding the Pearl River are much impaired compared with the Yellow River and Yangtze River, which are often intricately associated with the Chinese national ethos and central plains landscape. This research aims to address this by tracing the existing artistic narrative of the Pearl River using contemporary art practices, as well as to enlarge our conception of a river from a linear water body to a vast water system with a co-constituting hydrosocial relationship with human society and the more-than-human world. The Pearl River, apart from providing natural water resources and a habitat for the delta’s biodiverse communities, is also one of the most human-engineered rivers to further develop a water-centric and amphibious economy and culture. As the PRD region undergoes rapid urbanisation and development, particularly with construction of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), it has become a contact zone for constant negotiations between land and water, anthropocentric development, and the more-than-human world, amidst increasing environmental hazards (Wang and Rainbow, 2020). The role of the Pearl River and its cultural and aesthetic agencies has become more crucial for researchers and the general public to understand the shifting ecological and cultural landscape of the region, as well as its translocal impact.
Departing from the interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities, blue humanities, and creative arts, this research aims to explore the complex nature of human–river relations through the vernacular ecological art practices of the PRD region. Taking a different stance to the existing scholarship, which primarily focuses on the metropolitan characteristics of the region, this research aims to shift the focus to the water-centric environment of the area. It will further analyse art work through ecocritical theorisation and contextualisation in the PRD and coastal environment to further activate the artworks’ ecological messages, aesthetic richness, and social impact.
珠江是中國僅次於長江的第二大河流水系，其三條主要支流（西江、北江與東江）及其他的繁密逕流構成與南海相連的龐大河網，共同塑造並滋養了珠江三角洲，使其成為全球人口最稠密的都會群與創意樞紐之一。然而相較於常被賦予中華民族精神與中原景觀意涵的黃河、長江，珠江在文化藝術層面的形象建構明顯薄弱。本研究旨在透過當代藝術實踐梳理珠江現有的藝術敘事，同時將河流概念從線性水體擴展至更複雜的與人類社會、非人世界共同構成的「水文社會性」的龐大水系。珠江除是提供天然水資源與三角洲生物群落的棲息地外，更是人類為發展親水型兩棲經濟文化而高度改造的河川。隨著珠三角地區快速城市化（特別是大灣區建設），生態破壞風險日益增長，該地域已成為水陸動態交接、人類中心主義發展觀與非人世界持續協商的接觸地帶（Wang and Rainbow, 2020）。相應地，珠江的文化美學能動性對於理解該區域變動中的生態文化景觀及其跨地域影響愈顯關鍵。
本研究依託於環境人文學、海洋人文學與創意藝術的跨領域視野，試圖透過珠三角本土生態藝術實踐探討人與河流關係的複雜內涵。有別於當下研究多聚焦該區域的都市化特質，本研究將視角轉向該區域以水為核心的環境。同時其將相關藝術作品放置在生態批評理論之下與珠三角的河海交匯情境之中，進一步激活藝術作品的生態訊息、美學豐富性與社會影響力。
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