Li Jinghu's White Clouds. [Photo/Courtesy of X Museum]

Li Jinghu, 53, anative artist of Dongguan, South China's Guangdong province, has spent over 20 years creating art that honors his home city and the hundreds of millions of migrant workers who have earned Dongguan the title of the "world's factory."

An installation from the Whose Dream Did You Adorn series (2022) by Li Jinghu. [Photo/Courtesy of X Museum]

Li's ongoing retrospective exhibition at the X Museum in Beijing, titled I Am Here! A Witness of a City and 200 Million People, features 19 installations created between 2009 and 2025, all made of quotidian materials and industrial readymades sourced directly from Dongguan.

One example is White Clouds (2009), a cloud-like installation in the museum lobby made from a group of white fluorescent tubes, typically used to illuminate assembly lines in Dongguan. Similarly, the artist transformed 10 smartphone screens, vertically aligned together and each playing a video of a gushing faucet, into Waterfall (2015), a majestic piece evocative of a real waterfall in nature.

Waves by Li Jinghu. [Photo/Courtesy of X Museum]

In the Whose Dream Did You Adorn series (2022), Li enlarged locally made brooches and transformed them into installations crafted from metal and light bulbs. In the Gift series (2024), he unfolded corrugated cardboard boxes, used for packaging products made in Dongguan to be shipped worldwide, turning them into two-dimensional forms before molding them into brass. Both series emphasize the joy and value that Dongguan-manufactured goods have brought to people across the globe.

Artist Li Jinghu (center) poses for a photo with co-curators You Yang (left) and He Yujie during the exhibition's opening at X Museum in Beijing on Feb 28, 2025. [Photo/Courtesy of X Museum]

In the 2020 installation titled Waves, Li created a stunning display using approximately two tons of ceramic mosaics—a common material used to decorate building facades. The installation simulates waves that transition from blue to white, inviting viewers to admire the artist's creativity. More importantly, it encourages reflection on how an individual's fate is intertwined with the societal context of their time. The piece also highlights the contributions of generations of migrant workers in Dongguan to the city's relentless growth.

Companion by Li Jinghu. [Photo/Courtesy of X Museum]

In the same gallery, another work titled Companion (2019) features pairs of ceramic mosaics of varying sizes arranged neatly in a row. It symbolizes the diverse relationships and emotional connections that individuals depend on throughout their lives.

Li's creations are hailed as a testimony to Dongguan's rise from a sleepy town into a vibrant manufacturing hub and an emerging first-tier cityas well as a thank-you letter to all the young people who have travelled across the country to work there over the last four decades.

Li Jinghu's Gift series (Part). [Photo/Courtesy of X Museum]

Since China introduced the Reform and Opening-up policy in 1978, Dongguan's population has increased nearly tenfold. In addition to its 10 million permanent residents, more than 200 million young people have worked in Dongguan in the past 46 yearsas of 2021, according to official data.

According to co-curators You Yang and He Yujie, all works featured in the exhibition originate from the "lived site" collectively shaped and witnessed by the 200 million individuals who have grown alongside Dongguan.

The special exhibition Looking for One in 200 Million—an Invitation from Dongguan is held alongside artist Li Jinghu’s solo at the X Museum in Beijing until May 11, 2025. [Photo by Yang Xiaoyu/chinadaily.com.cn]

In addition to Li's artworks, the special exhibition Looking for One in 200 Million—an Invitation from Dongguan further expands the dimension of "witness." Through visual and textual materials, it tells the stories of the city's various migrant workers, outlining the social changes in Dongguan over the past 40 years and their impact on the individuals involved.

Li's solo, which premiered at the Tang Art Museum in Dongguan last November, has garnered much acclaim from art professionals.

Waterfall by Li Jinghu. [Photo/Courtesy of the artist]

"Li Jinghu's art illustrates the significance of art to urban memory. In his works, Dongguan is no longer a stereotyped image, but a vibrant city composed of hundreds of millions of young people with hopes and dreams. They resemble the small objects featured in Li's artwork, which may appear ordinary and commonplace, but collectively serve as musical notes that create a harmonious city song reflecting a remarkable era," commented curator Sun Dongdong.

Youth by Li Jinghu. [Photo/Courtesy of X Museum]

I Am Here! A Witness of a City and 200 Million People runs until May 11.

Artist Li Jinghu's solo is on view at X Museum in Beijing until May 11, 2025. [Photo/Courtesy of X Museum]

Source: China Daily
Editor: Lyu Yun