The Nomadic Department of the Interior : Caches from the Landscape/Ce que cachent les montagnes

 

CACHES FROM THE LANDSCAPE
CE QUE CACHENT LES MONTAGNES
风物缓存

January 16 – April 12, 2025
Opening reception on Thursday, January 16, from 5 PM, in the presence of the collective, as part of the Winter Season Launch of the Belgo Building.


A first solo exhibition by the artistic collective:

The Nomadic Department of the Interior (NDOI)

 

Curatorial Team
Manolis Daris-Becotte, Adrien Guillet, Clara Lacasse, and Florent To Lay


Exhibition Text Author

Zihao Li

 

** A new limited-edition publication by Centre SKOL dedicated to this exhibition will be launched during the opening reception. **

 

The Centre des arts actuels SKOL is pleased to present the first-ever solo exhibition by the artistic collective The Nomadic Department of the Interior, titled CACHES FROM THE LANDSCAPE / 风物缓存 / CE QUE CACHENT LES MONTAGNES

The exhibition unfolds as a visual travelogue, inviting visitors to uncover hidden stories nestled within the majestic mountains of Guizhou Province, a remote region in southwest China.

Through videos, photographs, and printed textiles, the exhibition explores the deep relationship between the inhabitants of Guizhou and the landscapes surrounding them—particularly the mountains—while, in turn, reflecting on our own intimate connections to the environment.

Amid remnants of buildings or abandoned complexes constructed during the Cold War and the relentless hum of active construction sites erecting ultra-modern structures, Guizhou presents a landscape full of contradictions.

Today, Guizhou’s mountains are being reshaped by technological advancements. Ancient rock formations have given way to modern infrastructures, such as the data centers of China’s Big Data Valley—the province’s new identity. In this era of new technologies, these millennia-old mountains no longer solely preserve the memory of centuries past.

Through the works on display, the exhibition sheds light on the layering of temporalities that defines the Guizhou mountains. It unveils the tensions between nature and industry, past and present, permanence and change. How can we inhabit our environment and live with the temporal entanglements it holds?

This project was supported, in part, by a Foundation for Contemporary Art Emergency Grant.