(Imperfect) China Dream by Teresa Eng

A collection of works by Canadian photographer Teresa Eng.

China Dream explores the split identity of second-generation diaspora migrants, torn between their country of birth and their home country.

Born to Chinese parents who emigrated to Canada from China via Hong Kong, Eng attempted to research her home country between 2013 and 2017. Theresa’s cultural knowledge of a country she had never lived in contrast to the reality of a country in flux.

The visits to Chinese cities gave Ng a new perspective on a home country in the midst of building its future by reconstructing and reinterpreting its past while creating a new type of culture. Historical monuments and buildings destroyed during the Cultural Revolution have been haphazardly reconstructed, often as replicas of the originals. The phrase "China Dream" was the title of a patriotic policy calendar Ng found in a newsagent's and was popularized by General Secretary Xi Jinping in 2013. It is a clear allusion to the American Dream, an ideal that has been upheld since the founding of the United States, that hard work and entrepreneurship lead individuals and the country to prosperity.

Limited to 800 copies.

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Title: China Dream
Artist: Teresa Eng
Skinnerboox, 2019
Hardcover, 220 x 290 mm
112 pages + gatefold and booklet
First edition of 800 copies
ISBN 978-88-94895-28-5