Project Overview
This project focuses on the "Coal-to-Gas Poverty Alleviation Project" that has been forcibly implemented in rural Hebei, China, in recent years. It aims to further reveal the intense and deeply rooted contradictions between urban and rural areas, officials and the public, and industries in the context of China's new energy transition, through the presentation of oral history and sound installation.
Since 2013, due to China's severe air pollution and the high carbon emissions of coal energy, China began its social reform of energy transition. During the reform process, the government did not choose large enterprises for the transformation but targeted the most vulnerable grassroots rural areas in the economic and social structure. Political propaganda only emphasizes individual energy conservation without addressing the waste produced by capitalist operations. This undoubtedly places the blame and responsibility on individual groups for societal issues.
Based on this, I view the forcibly demolished coal stoves as relics of this historical policy. They silently and covertly record the stories of those forgotten and sacrificed under historical policies. In the sound aspect, I chose to use oral history, attempting to record the real individuals who were sacrificed, overlooked, and forgotten in this grand energy discussion, hoping to reflect the injustice in this structure.